Nutritionist Fed Up With Secondhand Fat
Jacob Sullum | November 15, 2007, 12:29pm
The BBC reports that John Tickell, a "leading Australian nutritionist," thinks "society should take a more hardline stance against obesity and get tough on fat airline passengers." Specifically, he thinks it's only fair that fat passengers pay more for their seats than thin passengers do, since they contribute disproportionately to fuel costs. "I think we're a bit too nice, we're a bit too precious about minority groups," says Tickell. "I think the majority group must have something to say too."
Scott Stein suggests that Tickell visit a playground, where he could "find plenty of evidence of coddling of fat people—because, as you surely know, fat people are never teased, mocked, and humiliated by their peers." In any case, Stein notes, thin people are no longer "the majority group" in Australia or the United States; two-thirds of adults in both countries are considered "overweight." Then, too, if fuel consumption is the real issue, airlines ought to charge tall people more than short ones. Why focus just on width when height also contributes to weight?
One reason, apparently, is that Tickell wants to "highlight his country's obesity crisis." But the head of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Tim Gill, objects to Tickell's punitive approach. "It's not fair to single out those people who have a problem, which is already impacting greatly on their life, and make them feel like pariahs," he says.
Why is it that public health types rarely raise similar objections to propaganda that mocks and denigrates smokers, smoking bans that push them into the street, and taxes that punish them for behavior that, according to anti-tobacco activists, they can't really control? Before you say "it's the secondhand smoke," consider Tickell's tirade against fat fellow fliers:
I fly Sydney to Perth—five hours—and being totally disadvantaged by some huge person next to me literally flopping over into my seat. Why should I pay the same as them?
Tickell's proposed solution, of course, does not really address the problem of secondhand fat. It makes more sense to assign obese people two seats, and then the question is whether they should have to pay for the extra seat. Of course they should, Michael Lynch argued on reason online back in 2002, when Southwest Airlines announced that it would start enforcing a longstanding policy to that effect. My own view (Mike's too, I think) is that airlines should neither be forbidden to charge people above a certain size for an extra seat (based on anti-discrimination laws, say) nor required to do so (to satisfy social engneers like Tickell). As with smoking rules in bars and restaurants, each airline should have to weigh the negative and positive reactions from its customers in deciding which policy makes the most sense.
JLR | November 17, 2007, 4:19am | #
To begin with, I believe that all people should be allowed to do whatever they want to their own bodies, whether it is taking drugs, getting tattoos, or becoming obese. It's your body, your life. It is the only thing you truly have any control over, apart from getting ill and eventually dying.
On the other hand, that supposed right comes with social responsibilities. If you take drugs, or drink alcohol, then you must avoid [potentially] harming others in the process, e.g. driving.
As for obesity, get as fat as you want. I don't care. But like the above, it does require some social responsibility. If I pay for an already cramped airline seat, then I quite rightly expect to have that seat all to myself. I don't want someone encroaching my personal space, which I paid for. I've already been treated like a criminal before I even boarded the plane, and the last thing I want is someone's arms and legs in my 10 inches of seat making me rather uncomfortable. It's inconsiderate and socially reprehensible.
Actual flight story: Flying from London to Sydney (with a stopover in Hong Kong, thankfully, otherwise the 23-hour flight would have killed me), I'm in the middle seat with a 300-pound woman in the aisle seat next to me. Behind me, some kid with ADD is constantly kicking my seat, and slamming his tray table, too.
The woman next to me smells terrible, like she's soiled herself. I begin to wonder if it's possible that she's so fat that she is unable reach behind and wipe herself. This seems likely. She's reading a newspaper; she can't read it without holding it over my seat space. Meanwhile, *kick* *kick* *kick* from behind (do the parents say anything to their kid? No. When I turn around in my seat -- no easy feat, mind you -- and tell them what is happening, they glare at me as if it's my fault). I need to get up or else I'm going to be arrested for murder. I ask the massive woman if I can get by. She grumbles about it. It takes her 5 minutes to extract herself from the seat. But I'm finally free.
I approach a stewardess (see, it used to be stewardess, and it was good then, because you would know immediately that I was talking about a woman, not a man, and I don't need to add any further adjectives to describe the person -- it was never meant as derogatory or demeaning to someone's gender), and ask if I can please be seated elsewhere after explaining the situation. "The plane is full," she said rudely. *Turbulence* -- the seat belt light goes on, and the captain makes announcement. I begin to panic.
"Please take your assigned seat, now," said the stewardess.
"Yes, but, see..."
"There's nothing I can do," she said, and she turns away, already forgetting about me.
"Look, I'd like to upgrade. Here's my credit card. There must be a seat in Business or First Class. I'll pay any amount of money. Please," I said, with genuine tears streaming down my face.
"We cannot do that." No apologies. "You must take your seat right now."
Left with no choice, I go back to my seat, wait for 5 minutes so stinky fat woman can let me pass, and have my seat kicked for the next 10 hours.
So while you have every right to get as obese as you want, if you're obesity affects anyone else, such as what happened to me, then you're an inconsiderate bastard. I don't care about fuel costs and weight limits. What I care about is getting what I paid for in the first place, which should have been only a cramped seat and really crappy airline food.
I will now only fly in Business class or higher. I can't afford it, but it's the only way I can guarantee that all of the passengers will arrive safely at their destinations.
