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Tired of traveling overweight? Try Tonga!
I just read a great article in the San Francisco Chronicle about overweight travelers and a way for them to get away from the judgmental eyes of the "skinny finicky foreigners." The answer? TONGA.
Apparently, in Tonga being overweight is not quite the disaster that we as Westerners say it is -- to the contrary, being larger in the island nation is a sign of "wealth and social standing," kind of like 17th century France. Perhaps they have yet to get the memo on heart disease and diabetes.
I don't mean to sound critical, but the whole idea of traveling to a place where you can be accepted for being overweight seems kind of like circumventing the real issue. The problem is still there; you've just gone to a place where people won't bother you about it. Is that helping you resolve the matter?
But my favorite part of the article is a quote from NAAFA, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance:
"When you get to your seat during pre-boarding, raise the armrest between seats. This may give you the inch or two of extra space you need. The chances are that the passenger who will be seated next to you won't say anything; if he does, smile pleasantly and say that you'll both be more comfortable if the armrest is up."
Will you be more comfortable?
Read Catherine's article on why Disneyland had to shut down It's a Small World After All this year here.
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Space most definitely isn't an issue in the new Singapore Airlines A380! Check it out:
Gallery: Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380
| Yes! | |
|---|---|
| No... | |
| I'm not overweight | |
| I'm overweight, but I'll travel where I want regardless! |
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Rosemarie Mar 1st 2008 4:30AM
I see myself everyday in the mirror and cry about my weight. I have been on more diets than I can count. I gained weight on Slimfast. Yes, I would definitely love to travel to a place that would have me without all the comments about my weight and at the same time accepting my money for hotel and food and entertainment. The only places that don't comment are the casinos 'cause thay know what side their bread is buttered on. Those so-called beautiful people are usually cheap. They don't spend or TIP like some of us fat people do. They're too busy looking for that rich guy or girl that's going to pay their skinny ways. Sometimes I think these companies make turnstiles, chairs, etc. smaller so they can aggravate us. Anyway, I always patronize the place that takes care of fat me.
George Feb 7th 2008 12:56PM
This nanny culture we have nowadays treats fat people like lepers or even child moesters. I prefer fat people over assholes. Skinny, finnicky Europeans are the biggest assholes in the world. They are arrogant, smug and condescending towards Americans, fat or thin. Even worse are the simpering, obsequious Americans sucking up to them for approval. For a fun vacation, try Costa Rica. I would have said Venezuela until "El Stupido" took the reins.
ellen Feb 7th 2008 1:09PM
My sister and I had to travel by plane recently and both of us being fat, decided to buy an extra seat - we didnt know if we would fit comfortably in one seat each. (turns out the seats were very roomy, so we would have been able to fit just fine).So we were in a section of 'three across', she sat by the window and i took the aisle and we had all our crap spread out in the middle seat. Some skinny broad came by and asked if she could sit there, as the plane was filled to capacity. I politely said 'no, we paid for that seat' ($700 to be exact) - and she went off in a huff complaining to the stewardess. So I did the 'right thing' (to all of you fat haters) - and I still got the 'attitude' that you all are talking about.
Janis Feb 7th 2008 1:02PM
There is two sides to this whole argument of heavy people on airplanes. My husband travels a lot and he is not obese but there has been times when he came home discussing an obese person sitting beside him and he felt squished the whole trip and could barely breath. This one particular time an obese woman's husband was traveling with her and even he had refused to sit next to her and he was a bean pole. Yes the stewardess finally made the skinny husband sit next to his wife which is what should have happened in the first place. Losing weight is hard but it can be done. America needs to get more health conscious.
Rosemarie Feb 7th 2008 1:09PM
There are worse things than having to give up an armrest. Try sitting in the middle where you have to have your arms in front of you because the people on either side want to use the armrests and one of these has an infant they want to pass back and forth between seats and the other wants his laptop and drink with room for his briefcase between his and your legs. Try that for comfort. I request aisle seats because of both my weight and a bad knee and God forbid you have to go potty.
Chris Feb 7th 2008 1:15PM
I am not a larg person. In fact, I am very small. Just under 4'9" and 90 lbs, to be exact. But when I fly, I want to have the entire seat I paid for, just like the 6'5" 185lbs. man next to me. I want to be able to enjoy my ride in semi comfort. Don't encourage people to take over their neighboors seat please. Have some respect for the rest of us.
Deafie Feb 7th 2008 1:11PM
It was interesting to read what other people reacts to obese people....I am from a hugh obese family that made me tried to exercise hard since I was a teenager till I graduated from the college...I gained tooo much due to no motiviation to exercise. For 20 years, I failed to lose weights down to under 150....
In the result, I am on process to have gastric bypass surgery next month....FYI, being a fatso caused me discomforting many times...So I wanted to go back where I was in an ideal young lady...So I can have less problems in me in near future...Wish me a best luck for my incoming surgery...
Deafie
SaharaRN Feb 7th 2008 1:18PM
It's very dangerous for the author to encourage readers to believe that diabetes and heart disease are attritubed to only people who are "overweight" by society's standards. Heart disease and diabetes are just as dangerous to the thin and people should be very much aware of their family medical histories regardless of their weight. The only people I know with both of those medical conditions happen to be naturally thin but the diseases run in their families. Other families, like mine, come from long lines of big ranchers who cooked with lard but lived to their 90's with strong tickers. So know your history, and if you're naturally thin don't be fooled into thinking it means you're healthy. I know lots of bigger, yet very healthy people! And I know a thin person who had severe heart disease who had struggled with not being able to give up his bad habit of thinking he could "eat whatever" he wanted like he had all his life because he was "lucky". He had a quadruple bypass, later a quintuple bypass, then a heart attack, and ended up dying of colon cancer. But he was THIN! So at first glance most of the judgemental people would assume he was healthy, NOT! Didn't your mothers ever teach you to not judge a book by it's cover?
This doesn't mean I necessarily agree with the NAAFA statement, it was really not very smart of them to put that out to public. But a warning to people who do fly and think they can leave the arm rest up, I have a dear friend who was forced by a very rude airline staff member in front of a ton of people, to prove whether she could sit in the seat with the arm rest down and if not she was going to have to buy a 2nd ticket. The clincher? She was flying with her husband and daughter so she wasn't even going to have an effect on a stranger, and yet they still singled her out of a long line of people to make a point. It was a horrible, gross, display of prejudice. Even after explaining that she was flying with her family and that's who she'd be seated with they still made her do it , even though she was limping from a brace on her knee, she had to walk out in front of a long audience line of strangers, walk down the ramp to the plane and show that jerk that indeed, the armrest could go down AND she could buckle her seat belt comfortably. If not, she would have been made to limp back up the ramp to purchase a second seat, even though her sweet husband and tiny skinny teenager of a daughter (who took up about half of a seat) were flying with her! Several female flight attendants were kind enough to go up to her afterwards and apologize on behalf of their rude male coworker and offered to give her their names if she chose to make a formal complaint. She was crying so hard and was totally humiliated. What a way to have to start a vacation? The judgemental people on here just have no clue how awful something like that would be to have to go through. It feels like a bad day on the play ground and yet these are adults , it's like the childhood ridicule just doesn't stop some times!!!
kay Feb 7th 2008 1:30PM
Your rights comes with a responsibility to honor other peoples rights equally! Thus, YOUR rights end where mine begin! When your rights infringe on mine, it's YOUR responsibility to "adjust" so my rights are not infringed (and vice versus of course). The armrest delineates space LIMITS (it's width provides extra "shared" space for spillover)! If YOU dont fit in the seat (with spillover space) allocated to YOU, then YOU need to find another seat! That said, I do lift the armrest for others comfort, and I always slide my seat forwards when I feel long legs bumping my seatback, and I lean away for broad shoulders (and big arms, wide elbows, laptop users, pillows, headphones, etc), and I switch my eating hand for other peoples comfort... I do it out of respect, courtesy and compassion for others... But I should not be asked or forced to share my SEAT space with someone who doesnt just fit in their seat! All airlines should have at least 2 seat sizes in economy class; alternating rows would solve MOST ALL weight and height issues! To be fair to the airlines, (considering fluctuating fuel costs, discount and pre-paid tickets, and row rearranging), maybe we should ALL pay a surplus fee (and/or get a discount) at the gate for "poundage" (or lack therof)!Then EVERYONE benefits and we'll all be happy to take our clothes/shoes off for the search)!
WJ Feb 7th 2008 1:43PM
I try to be tolerant but as someone who has had the large person next to them do this, raise the armrest, it is not pleasant to fly 5 hours compacted in an airline seat. I could barely use my arms when the snacks/drinks came because I couldn't bend my elbows sideways due to the person encroaching on me. Let's face it, we're becoming waaay too politically correct. Some people have physical limitations and they just need to deal with it. I myself am hearing impaired but I don't go to movie theaters and demand closed captioning on the screen. Why? Because it would ruin the movie for everybody else. I know this and accept that the greater good needs to be served. If you are obese and you are encroaching on my space, you are violating MY rights. Buy another ticket, upgrade to first class, or don't fly, simple enough.
adore Feb 7th 2008 1:45PM
i love when people feel they have upper hand knowledge on certain issues. im a plus size woman and i dont look for anyone tp pity me. but it seems that making fun of fat peple is the only accepable discrimination allowed. we dont say a word about underwight people because its p.c. or any other so-called disabilty. everyone lumps all fat people together. as if we all choose to be this way. unlike being a drunk or an acholic who can steer clear of their addiction, people cant steer away from food. i know for a fact i dont over eat and unfortunalty with the many medica probs i have my weight is a symptom of my illness not the the other way around. so before people make fun of others look at what your issues are and see if you would like it pointed out to you everyday or looked down upon for it. if they made the seats smaller on planes and the so-called norm weight people couldnt fit i bet they would take issue with it themselves. and to the 1 who said how disgusting we are, news flash plenty of thin people are disguting to me and its not cuz their thin. besides why should i have to sit to someone with screaming kids,snoring, drooling, and body odor and some1 knodding off on me. but for me to say that to someone wouldnt be kind would it
mrdickieweed Feb 7th 2008 1:45PM
I was sitting next to a great big gal on an overnight Quantas flight from L.A. to Melbourne....the armrests didn't come up in our section....she managed to get into her seat after two flight attendants pushed and shoved and at one point stood on top of her lap and jumped up and down a few times...as some of you may know, Quantas is a real airline, with real food available the entire flight....she had four steaks, two big sacks of potato chips, a half gallon of orange juice, about a quart of vodka by my estimation, an order of curried chicken, six omelettes, two pies and a chocolate cake, about thirty Snickers bars, and a dozen meat pies....she was still working on a gallon of ice cream when we landed....by then she was wedged in the sat so tightly that no amount of yanking and pulling could budge her....finally they had to get a mechanic with a welding torch to cut the armrests....she exited the plane and lumbered straight to the snack bar....
21villain Feb 7th 2008 1:48PM
I'm a fat man,and I'll travel wherever my fat backside pleases,thank you very much. Don't worry,all you insecure,shallow fat haters out there-I won't infringe on your personal space and you can leave your armrest down. And for the record,I wouldnt mind going to Tonga; not for this reason,but because I love island culture. Who's with me?
Eric Feb 7th 2008 1:52PM
Air transportation is a privat buisness that needs to focus on everyones comfort! But until they do, If you cant fit into one seat...buy two. They are not selling you a ticket to a destination. Look closely. They are selling "seats". It is extreamly rude to buy a only one seat you know darn well you wont fit into and then expect the stranger next to you to accomodate your issues. I guess if I move in next door to you and dont have room for all my stuff...Ill just store it in your garage. After all, Its not my fault I have way more stuff then you :p
Vy Feb 7th 2008 1:57PM
Basically it boils down to small seats no matter who you are .. The airlines make the seats smaller so they can pack more on an airplane .. i am a large man but have not always been so and i can never remember flying and being comfortable no matter what size .. bigger seats means higher flight costs because it means fewer seats on a plane .. no way around it so all the fat bashers can just drop it
NOSSAVP Feb 7th 2008 2:03PM
To adore and GC:
While I know how true and unfair it is that the overweight are discriminated against; they are not the only group. Short people are also targeted and are allowed no remedy. I don't know how many times I have been ridiculed and dissed because of my short stature, something I can't control. And no, I am not going to have my limbs lengthened to conform to a prejudice either.
The obese do have it bad as well, did any of you people hear about that bill in Mississippi that would ban restaurants from serving the obese? Imagine the outrage if the bill would prevent serving people of a certain race. gender or sexual orientation? That would be discriminatory wouldn't it?
Mike Feb 7th 2008 2:07PM
Obese people are the only ones without laws in this country to protect them? (Quoting another poster on this message board). In my best Chris Matthews voice -- HA!
Without trying to change the subject, but GUESS AGAIN, try, oh, I don't know, HOMOSEXUALS? While they may have laws in a few select places here and there, there are a MAJORITY of states in the U.S. where laws actually go out of the way to not only NOT protect homosexuals, but to SPECIFICALLY discrimnate against them.
So, maybe we need to elect an overweight, black, gay WOMAN to the White House -- will that cover just about everything. Nope one more -- an overweight, black, gay, NON-CHRISTIAN, woman for president -- now SHE would get my vote! Talk about hurdles to overcome.
Let's watch the bigotry and predjudice fly now. Don't think these responses have been prejudiced? Let's review the definition, shall we?
Prejudice:
1. preconceived judgment or opinion
2. an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion
3. an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics
KAREN Feb 7th 2008 2:07PM
FIRST OF ALL -- I FLY FIRST CLASS , SO I DONT HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO A RUDE PERSON WHO GIVES ME LOOKS , JUST BECAUSE I AM FAT.....SECONDLY, IM SO SICK & TIRED OF PEOPLE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST LARGE PEOPLE --IT IS WRONG !!!!!....IF YOU WERE ON OUR SHOES, YOU WOULS SEE WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ..... THE POINTS, THE STARES, THE LOOKS OF DISGUST....I DONT GIVE YOU A LOOK OF DISGUST, WHEN YOURE WEARING A TRASHY OUTFIT , AND BLEACHED YOUR HAIR, SO I EXPECT THE SAME RESPECT......IF SOMEONE IS FAT, LEAVE THEM ALONE FOR GOD SAKES ....... I AM FAT & I DONT GIVE A CRAP WHAT OTHERS THINK, BUT I AM TIRED OF THE LOOKS-- PEOPLE-- JUST GIVE IT UP-- STOP GIVING US "THE LOOK", IN ORDER TO MAKE YOURSELVES FEEL BETTER ..... YOU ARE PROBABLY THE SAME PEOPLE THAT STARE AT SOMEONE IN A WHEELCHAIR, OR SOMEONE WITH A PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT.......THAT IS JUST PLAIN RUDE TO STARE .... DIDN'T YOUR MOTHER TEACH YOU BETTER ???? ... APPARENTLY NOT !!!!
Mike Feb 7th 2008 2:18PM
TO WJ: I guess I missed the part of The Constitution that guarantees all Americans the RIGHT TO TRAVEL on AIRPLANES without obese people encroaching on their "personal space."
Remember this: No where in the constitution is ANYONE guaranteed the right to NOT be offended. You don't like an obese person? Oh well.
You don't like a black person? You don't have to, but tough.
You don't like a Muslim? Tough luck again.
But guess what? All those people have the SAME right as you have -- it's called "Equal protection under the law." Check your books - that one is actually in there. The obese person "encroaching on your personal space on an airplane" -- that one isn't. Perhaps a civics lesson is what's needed, right after, or maybe even BEFORE a lesson in civility.
WJ SAID: "If you are obese and you are encroaching on my space, you are violating MY rights. Buy another ticket, upgrade to first class, or don't fly, simple enough."
LIZZY Feb 8th 2008 12:00AM
It seems to me that most of you think it's ok to make fun of the skinny girl but it's immoral to say anything about someone that is heavier.
I am very petite, 5' and weigh 102 lbs. Not that I'm bragging about it. I've never been able to keep the weight on. I have to eat double the carbs than most people do and drink protein shakes every day in the morning and at night to stay healthy. As a child I always had to wear layers of clothing because I was always being picked on for my weight. Now as an adult I continue to wear the layers because of the dirty looks that I get from heavier set women.