Checking in from the airport…

November 14, 2009

Checking in from the airport…

…to say what the F is with airline personnel looking at me like I’ve sprouted an extra head for having purchased a second seat? If I’m not obviously fat enough for the seats maybe it’s not that I’m so fat but that the seats are so small!

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BeingSuperFat, DayInTheLife, travel

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Living 400lbs

I blog about what it’s like to be live life at about 400lbs. :)

9 responses to “Checking in from the airport…”

Cassi

November 14, 2009 at 6:29 am

Oh good lord… you know that if you hadn’t purchased that seat they’d be looking at you funny thinking about how crappy it was going to be to deal with the person next to you. Some days, you just can’t win.

Hope you enjoy your flight or at least enjoy where ever it gets you!

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Jill

November 14, 2009 at 7:09 am

I’m sorry you got funny looks! I’m glad to report that my experience with buying two seats the one time I did it was much better than that — I had to push back against requests to use the kiosk checkin machines (which don’t understand two seats for the same person), but otherwise it was treated as normal. And I had a lovely unexpected benefit, which was the opportunity to give up one of my seats on an overbooked plane and still go on the same flight.

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Regina T

November 14, 2009 at 9:57 am

What? You DONT have two heads???

Seriously….damned if you do….damned if you don’t. They are probably just pissed that your two seat ticket will mess with their math skills when bumping their overbooked passengers. Or they are just pissed that they don’t get to humiliate you in public by telling you that you HAVE to buy two seats!

You’re wearing your “Im not being fat AT you!” tshirt, right??

Have a great trip!

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crookedfinger

November 14, 2009 at 12:46 pm

If you don’t buy two seats, you’re a problem. If you do buy two seats, you’re still a problem. Sheesh. What are fat people supposed to do, not go anywhere?

Perhaps fat people just don’t ride that airline due to seat size, so you showing up and buying two seats was an anomaly?

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MaryLeigh

November 14, 2009 at 2:31 pm

Ugh, flying these days is such a royal pain in the ass. I agree with the other comments, either way they’d look at ya funny, damned if you do….Hope it gets better for ya!

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jaed

November 14, 2009 at 3:49 pm

I’ll tell you, this is why I’m taking the train to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. The last time I flew was about five years ago, when I was the same size or a little bigger than I am now, and it wasn’t a problem – the seat was a bit of a squash but I was able to sit in it without, er, overflowing – but I know the seats have gotten half an inch narrower since then, and socially it seems to be much worse than it used to be.

And I have a hard time being publicly embarrassed and shamed anyway. I envy and admire people who are able to just deal with that, express their annoyance, and go on with life. I’m not looking forward to taking a train, but I’m not able to drive at this time, and I just start shaking when I think about what’s likely to happen taking a plane.

I am nothing but a big ‘ol baby sometimes.

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Giussi

November 15, 2009 at 2:31 am

I think they’re stunned that a fat person would actually do such a thing as buy the 2nd ticket.

Sure there’s all this vitriol spewed by the public at large and in online forums about the damned fatties and how they should be forced to buy an extra ticket but then they don’t do anything to make it easy or likely for that to happen.

I looked into taking Bolt Bus (run by Greyhound) for a trip from NYC to Baltimore, they informed me, via email, that they don’t sell 2nd seats to Customers who might need them because, 1) the arm didn’t fully recess in between the two seats so Customer would be uncomfortable and 2) it might “concern” other passengers to see Customer taking up 2 seats.

I told them they were being flat out discriminatory and should refer their Policy to Legal for reconsideration.

I think in general, the public would rather we fatties didn’t exist. By paying for that second seat or asking for a chair with no arms at the nail salon (like I did yesterday) messes with the shame story we’re supposed to be wearing.

There’s a lack of apology in acknowledging one’s actual size – we buck the expected charade by buying the 2nd ticket.

Good on ya & Safe Travels!
Giussi

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