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Kevin Smith thrown off airplane

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Smallpotatoes, Feb 15, 2010.

  1. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Top of the list is short people . . . who REALLY can do nothing about it (and inconvenience no one, BTW).
     
  2. Jesus_Muscatel

    Jesus_Muscatel Well-Known Member

    I fly Southwest all the time.

    Great fares, good service, lovely flight attendants, although it was a bummer that I think all of 'em who wanted to talk to me, at the Lauderdale Sheraton during Super Bowl week, were married. But it's all good.

    I gotta fly outta New Orleans to take Southwest, and when I go home, to D.C., gotta fly into BWI. Which sucked, right before Christmas, on account of the fact that they got two feet of snow, and the travel misadventures that ensued, when I got there, included an $85 cab ride, (snow surcharge and tip part of the freight), from the BWI Amtrak station to the northernmost Metro stop.

    It's still a good way to go. Check in online, get a low number, post up in an aisle seat, hope a smaller person -- preferably a child or a woman -- wants to sit in the middle seat. Give a guy of a similar size the evil eye if he thinks that middle seat has his name written all over it.

    Flying has potential problems, for pretty much all of us, at least those of us who are not rich, white Republicans, but they go first class or private jet most of the time, anyway. Sometimes it makes more sense to drive, if it's a manageable distance. But if you're not spilling out of the seat, making people around you uncomfortable, it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

    I have laughed my ass off at some of Kevin Smith's movies, well, figuratively, at least. The "SAT question" scene in Chasing Amy is worth checking out that movie by itself. I don't pretend to know the particulars. But yo, Kevin, I know where you're coming from, man.

    And thank you, oscar.
     
  3. Mystery Meat:

    Sheesh. I would imagine you do look like a human being unless there's some issues other than weight going on, such as coming from a different planet or something.

    Just because you're freaking overweight doesn't mean you don't "look like a human being" despite what all the insensitive bastards who spit out fat cracks like sunflower seeds want you to believe.

    Now as for the issue of being considerate of a fellow passenger, that's admirable. I hope all the other types of inconsiderate passengers -- loud talkers, drunk passengers, rude passengers, parents with crying babies and the like -- have just as much consideration and ban themselves from flying. But I guarantee you won't see as much of a callous attack on those groups.

    I've said this before on here, but the Kevin Smith story makes the point further. The problem isn't just people are too big. The seats are too small. And if society wasn't so quick to pounce on overweight people because of the shallow disdain for the visual being fat brings, people would recognize there should be seats made to accommodate all sizes within reason.

    The seats are small, even for "normal-sized" people. Charging an overweight person for two seats when what they really need is one that's a little larger is lame. Take a couple of rows and make the seats a little larger for heavier passengers.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    You've never flown Aeroflot.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    For the record, other than Jet Blue, I'd rather fly Southwest than any other airline.

    Still, what happened to Smith never should have happened.
     
  6. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Short jokes have never bothered me...I've always figured they say more about the jackass making them than they do about me.

    And sorry, "inconvenience" is not a valid reason for discrimination.
     
  7. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    How did they get there?

    For the record: I'm almost always in love with short girls and some of my best friends in life need me to grab things from the top shelf. They can and do make fun of my humongousness. All good.
     
  8. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member



    No, but I was around her a hell of a lot, as well as her mother. I have no doubt there were incidents, but her mother was extremely involved in the school and was a pretty beloved figure. Suffice it to say, I spent a substantial amount of time around her for about 9 years, and that person bears little resemblance to the angry person I see now.
     
  9. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    Unless anyone actually knows what Kevin Smith weighs, there's really no good, fair way to discuss this.

    Nevertheless, this is an incredibly difficult issue, and will continue to be so as long as the country's obesity problems remain, and escalate to include more and more people of more and more backgrounds and age groups.

    In capitalists' terms, the result will be that enterprising business opportunists everywhere, most notably some in the medical and insurance industries, and, in this case, the aeronautics field, will find ways to profit from and/or discriminate against such people.

    It's a business opportunity put under the guise of "policy."
     
  10. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    What's with everyone taking Smith's side in this? It's bullshit.

    He bought two seats because he knows he's a fat guy. That's admirable. When he tried to move to an earlier flight, two seats weren't available but he said "F**k it" anyway and tried to get away with just fitting in the one seat.

    He knew he needed two seats and, when they weren't available, should have stuck to his original plan rather than try to get by and hope no one notices.

    Look, I don't like the policy but it is what it is and, if you don't like it, either don't fly or get your ass on a treadmill.

    And I have no sympathy for Smith. He's one of my favorite directors but there's no excuse for letting yourself go like that. At some point you have to have some self respect and put down the junk food and get to the gym.

    It's hard but so is life. Either do something to change yourself or deal with the consequences.
     
  11. Some of those points are fair, especially about consequences, but they should not include humiliation or the degree of discrimination that exists against overweight people. The consequences should be limited to the health issues you might encounter as well as the physical limits you might have.

    That is on you when you battle this problem. But, again, it's not always as simple as getting on a treadmill for a lot of folks. A lot of people do get on a treadmill and lose weight, but then gain it again. It's an issue and it stems from many factors.

    One that doesn't help is society's condemnation of people who just happen to look differently. That plays a role in this. The policy is bogus and there should be efforts made to accommodate people of all sizes. But this is an area where it's hard to get a good fight going because if you gather a bunch of overweight people together, they will be the subject of jokes that will help drown out their message even if it's a valid one.
     
  12. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    Would have figured Michael Moore as the first fat director to get bounced from a plane.

    PS to Jesus Muscatel: There are rich Democrats. Piss off.
     
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