Should obese people who can't fit in 1 seat pay for 2?

GasMasterFlash

Cigarette taxes are a way of deterring what is deemed an unhealthy behavior.
...
There are talks already of taxing fast food to deter unhealthy behavior.

By this token, they should also be taxing fast food and candy bars. If they are going to legislate everything we do that affects our health, will they mandate that we have to eat our veggies too? Will I go to jail if I don't finish my broccoli? Where do you draw the line. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Seat belt fines are a way of deterring an unhealthy behavior.

The justification here is that we're using public roads, owned by the gov't.

If you want a nanny state, head to Europe. The United States was founded on freedom of the individual, and it's important that we keep it that way.

Ready2Rock206

Buy two seats! I don't want to share my seat with you! I shouldn't have to suffer because you're in denial about your size.

412HeavyLifter

Its business nothing personal. If you occupy 2 seats then of course you should pay. Just like those who choose to suck on cancer sticks(cigarettes) all day should pay more in healthcare and higher cigarette tax.

KatiD83

When I got to the point where I needed 2 seats.....I stopped flying!

mamamc03

If someone is taking use of two seats, then yes they should pay for the use of two seats. Simple as that.
If you're "offended" because the airline is "bringing your obesity to attention", uh then change that & lose some damn weight.

Wow you're a nasty person.

GasMasterFlash

Its business nothing personal. If you occupy 2 seats then of course you should pay. Just like those who choose to suck on cancer sticks(cigarettes) all day should pay more in healthcare and higher cigarette tax.

Why the tax, though?

mamamc03

Its business nothing personal. If you occupy 2 seats then of course you should pay. Just like those who choose to suck on cancer sticks(cigarettes) all day should pay more in healthcare and higher cigarette tax.

Ok...so EVRYONE chooses to be fat??? Really?? I guess fat people have extra money laying around in their cheeseburger stash. It's people like this that cause suicide in obese people!! You are judgmental, rude & inconsiderate.

BondBomb

I fly very often for work. It's already miserable and uncomfortable on those flights. If a really large person sits next to me to the point where I am losing the space that I paid for it is not fair.i sat next to a very nice man on a flight that really needed two seats. He was very apologetic and I really felt for him. At the same time I literally could not move. I didn't get up to use the bathroom because honestly I didn't want to embarrass him further. It's a tough situation but we all need to own up to who and what we are.

GasMasterFlash

Ok...so EVRYONE chooses to be fat??? Really??

Whether they choose to be obese or not, it's only fair that someone pay for the 2nd seat if their body overflows into it. Please explain how that would not be fair.

Sabine_Stroehm

I'm not going to comment on the policies of the airline.
That's their game (their for profit game).

However: I paid for a seat. I deserve a seat. I've had several experiences with plus size folks, some fine some not so fine. One, which stands out, was I was flying to a JOB INTERVIEW in a high stress situation. I boarded and found myself in the middle between a stocky man and a rather large woman (with, and I'm not kidding) a pizza in the box on her lap, which was making me nauseous....you know the heated cardboard melted cheese smell ). The seat cushion material had a...pattern. Two smallish side parts and one middle part. I arrived and found I had about half of the middle and the other side part near the stocky man (he was about 6;4"). That's it. I couldn't go to the right because the stocky guy was there, and I couldn't go to the left because the woman with the pizza was there. She was about 4-5 inches past the arm rest on the back, and a bit farther on the seat. I had about one cheek on the seat. I was flying across the country to a job interview, and I have a bad back. And given my line of work, that sort of strain would not work. I tried.
I politely went to the flight attendants and simply said: "I'm going to a job interview. I need to be the best I can be. I paid for a seat. A whole seat. I expect one." and they made it happen. They didn't humiliate the woman. They didn't make me feel bad. They made it happen. Kudos for them.
I don't want to make larger folks shamed or anything like that. But on long flights, (overseas! in particular) I need to be comfortable (as can be) as well. I can't afford first class. I don't fly well. I need some comfort. The most comfort economy class (1400bucks or so) can buy.
HOW the airlines handle that is not something I will argue with them at this point.
But, yes, I'd like my entire seat. The airlines need to figure out how to make this all happen.

I hope I've not offended anyone. That's certainly not my aim. Just sharing my thoughts.

cmriverside

Its business nothing personal. If you occupy 2 seats then of course you should pay. Just like those who choose to suck on cancer sticks(cigarettes) all day should pay more in healthcare and higher cigarette tax.

Why the tax, though?

We all pay for bad health decisions with higher health costs. Come on, now you're baiting. Those who make poor health decisions like smoking cost all of us. They are more likely to become ill, disabled, unemployed, etc.

tropaze

No. I think that's messed up.
In that case, why can't I get on as a child, if I'm that small?
There's no need to put people on the spot like that.

Because you're still taking up a whole seat. Maybe you could sit in someone's lap?

Could. Or put my bony azz in a carseat.

No if it's in a carseat you have to pay for another seat! The only reason I know is because my family was looking to fly out CA for a friends wedding. The airfare for 2 adults and 3 children was ridiculous, I just sent my DH on his own.

littlelily613

If you can comfortably fit in one seat, then you should pay for one seat (I was considered "morbidly obese" at my biggest, but when I went on the plane, I paid for and sat in one seat). If the person spills over so much into the next seat that no one else can sit there, then it is only fair that they have to pay for it. It might suck for the individual, but if you use two seats, then you need to buy two seats. With obesity on the rise, the airlines can't just give two seats for the price of one to everyone if it comes to that....

Lord007

the short answer.... Yes.

I work in transportation. Regardless of your emotions about it, the airlines are in the business of moving cargo from one location to another. That cargo is often a mix of people and luggage (which you usually see) and freight (down below with your luggage). Those planes have a limited weight capacity for carrying all of that. Most airlines base their passenger alotment on an average of 170 lbs per person. Between a mix of passenger of both sexes, that usually works out (figure 340 lbs combined weight for an average couple). Those airlines, and any other transportation company, will charge more for heavier or more spacious cargo to move the same route. It requires more energy to move a heavier object the same distance. So if someone or somethin is consideably heavier or takes up far more than the alotted space, then higher charges should apply.

tabulator32

When it comes to fair air fare, we should all be treated like freight.

Everyone should be charged by the pound!

Not only is it the only true fair way, but it would incite America to lose weight!

:bigsmile:

TheFunBun

Where do you draw the lines at taxing unhealthy behavior? =P
I'm taxing risk takers since I have to pay for their orphans. I'm taxing anyone who drinks, has had any kidney or liver issues, or has any public intoxication. Double if they have a DUI, 'cause they're making more orphans who I have to pay for. Uhhm, I'm taxing anyone who doesn't eat what the FDA currently likes. That includes hippies because they drink that raw milk and eat crazy natural foods that the consensus is not to agree with. Taxing smokers. Taxing worriers. I'm taxing depressed people, for their propensity for substance abuse, which leads to all of the above issues.

TAXIN YOU.

Oh, oh, oh. Edited to add that they should buy another seat. A private company charging you is one thing. I have the right to fly on a plane that doesn't charge me for being fat, if I want. Or a plane that charges you if you touch the arm rests... Your governing body charging you is a whooole nutha issue.

GasMasterFlash

We all pay for bad health decisions with higher health costs. Come on, now you're baiting. Those who make poor health decisions like smoking cost all of us. They are more likely to become ill, disabled, unemployed, etc.

The high cigarette taxes are not justified.

Are cigarette taxes "good"?

Goldberg also points out that "smoking is unpopular, and smokers are politically weak," so why not raise tobacco taxes? Is tyranny of the majority, the classic danger of democracy that Alexis de Tocqueville warned about, really something Californians want to embrace? Of course not. Instead, we should ask, what is an equitable division of the tax burden? Presumably we all benefit from government services. Then we should all pay for them.

A special tax on cigarettes could be justified if smokers were foisting some costs onto their fellow citizens. This subject has been studied extensively by some of the nation's leading economists, who have found that there is indeed a small "externality" associated with smoking -- about 35 cents per pack. However, because federal and state cigarette taxes are far in excess of this amount, the current fiscal system transfers billions of dollars from relatively low-income smokers to higher-income nonsmokers. If anything, tax fairness calls for a reduction of the cigarette tax, certainly not a higher one.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-fleenor29-2009jun29,0,4519873.story

Also, it hasn't reduced smoking rates at all.

GasMasterFlash

Where do you draw the lines at taxing unhealthy behavior? =P
I'm taxing risk takers since I have to pay for their orphans. I'm taxing anyone who drinks, has had any kidney or liver issues, or has any public intoxication. Double if they have a DUI, 'cause they're making more orphans who I have to pay for. Uhhm, I'm taxing anyone who doesn't eat what the FDA currently likes. That includes hippies because they drink that raw milk and eat crazy natural foods that the consensus is not to agree with. Taxing smokers. Taxing worriers. I'm taxing depressed people, for their propensity for substance abuse, which leads to all of the above issues.

TAXIN YOU.

:drinker:

StatutoryGrape

Where do you draw the lines at taxing unhealthy behavior? =P
I'm taxing risk takers since I have to pay for their orphans. I'm taxing anyone who drinks, has had any kidney or liver issues, or has any public intoxication. Double if they have a DUI, 'cause they're making more orphans who I have to pay for. Uhhm, I'm taxing anyone who doesn't eat what the FDA currently likes. That includes hippies because they drink that raw milk and eat crazy natural foods that the consensus is not to agree with. Taxing smokers. Taxing worriers. I'm taxing depressed people, for their propensity for substance abuse, which leads to all of the above issues.

TAXIN YOU.

Oh, oh, oh. Edited to add that they should buy another seat. A private company charging you is one thing. I have the right to fly on a plane that doesn't charge me for being fat, if I want. Or a plane that charges you if you touch the arm rests... Your governing body charging you is a whooole nutha issue.

"Let me tell you how it will be...it's one for you, nineteen for me."

bellygoaway

They should post their policy: Anyone who weighs over "x" including cloths or anyone with a waist or chest measurement has to purchase an additional ticket, or pay an additional fee. The scales should be owned by the airport and not an airline and subject to strict certifications. If it was clearly stated up front, then you would know what you are getting into.

One of the reasons I never fly is my size, both height and weight. The planes would not be comfortable, and this is the reason I like to sit on ends when I go places.