Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Man surprised he didn't kill ticket agent who laughed at his weight

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by SLA, Aug 9, 2003.

Tags:

Page 1 of 2

SLA Member

Joined:

Dec 19, 2002

Messages:

3,021

Likes Received:

0

By Carrie Levine
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Kristopher Banks contributed to this story.

August 8, 2003

It was bad enough when the Southwest ticket agent told 333-pound Mike Pollack he was too big to fit on the plane and needed to buy an extra ticket.

But the last straw, he says, is when the man pointed to his stomach and started laughing.

"It was a miracle I didn't kill him, but I can't do my job from jail," said Pollack, 35, who works for DSA Community Publishing, a subsidiary of Newsday. "I'm dieting, and this didn't help my morale."

Pollack, of Farmingdale, tried to redeem a voucher for a free flight at the ticket counter at Long Island MacArthur Airport on June 14. He is taking a trip to Baltimore later this month and wanted to use the voucher to book the flight.

Instead, he bought his ticket on the Internet to avoid a similar situation at the ticket counter, and is hoping the gate agent doesn't make him buy a second seat to accommodate his 6-foot, now 290-pound frame before he gets on the flight.

Pollack is the latest to complain about a Southwest Airline policy that requires heavy customers to purchase two seats, but does not provide a weight limit or standard guidelines to apply the long-standing policy, which the airline announced a year ago it would start enforcing.

Many overweight frequent fliers say that over the past few years, airlines have begun aggressively discriminating against fat people, and since the number of available flights offered by troubled airlines has been shrinking, overcrowding is worsening the problem.

Frances White, a board member and spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, said she expects to hear horror stories as the group's members squeeze into 17- to 20-inch wide seats and fly from all over the country to a convention this month in Los Angeles.

"It didn't used to be this bad when there were all kinds of flights every time of the day and night," she said. "Now that flights have been reduced and fill up faster, you have problems with people dealing with spatial issues."

Whitney Eichinger, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, said the policy affects less than 5 percent of Southwest's customers.

"For both sides, it's a sensitive subject," she said, adding that employees are supposed to discuss the issue privately with customers.

"It's just handled as well as it can be because it's a very difficult situation for the customer and Southwest Airlines," she said. "We see how the customer will best fit and make a judgment."

But some advocates for the overweight say the judgment of gate attendants and untrained airline employees is inconsistent, resulting in uncertainty and fear of humiliation every time an overweight passenger checks in for a flight.

"It's a huge problem," said Sondra Solovay, an Oakland-based attorney who has written a book on what she terms "fat prejudice."

Solovay said she has looked into representing passengers in weight-discrimination cases against airlines and "this is a very hard situation to combat. There's no protection in the Constitution or in most federal regulations that prohibits weight-based discrimination. The general public has to become aware of just how unfair the treatment is."

White said part of the problem is uneven application of Southwest's policy. "If you get someone who doesn't like fat folks, you're going to get hassled. If you get someone who loves their fat mother, they'll go out of their way," she said.

Airlines have yet to coalesce around a single industry standard on the issue. For instance, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Delta Airlines said the airline tries to provide a second seat free when needed, and provides frequent-flier miles for the second seat when a customer decides to purchase one - something Southwest says it does not do.

But David Stempler, the president of the Air Travelers Association, an industry watchdog group, said the problem is two-sided. "I represent all the passengers, and a lot of times fairly heavy people are trying to get in these seats by raising the armrests and encroaching on the space of the other passenger," Stempler said.

Stempler said he believes it is fair for passengers to buy the extra seat when they cannot fit in the confines of the armrests.

He acknowledged that standardizing the way the regulation is applied is important, but said it is extremely difficult. "Unless you want to get a tape measure out and measure people's [behinds], I don't know how you're going to do it," he said.

Stempler said that to be fair, airlines should award double frequent-flier miles to people forced to buy a second seat - currently a bone of contention - and be as courteous as possible when enforcing the policy.

"Maybe there's an opportunity for some entrepreneurial airline to have extrawide seats," he said.

Staff writer Kristopher Banks contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

#1 SLA, Aug 9, 2003
Last edited: Aug 9, 2003

Timing Member

Joined:

Jul 30, 2000

Messages:

5,308

Likes Received:

1

They should just have a seat there at the ticket counter. The whole airline ticket counter judgement call thing is ridiculous.

#2 Timing, Aug 9, 2003
bigtexxx Member

Joined:

Jun 12, 2002

Messages:

26,980

Likes Received:

2,365

Originally posted by Timing
They should just have a seat there at the ticket counter. The whole airline ticket counter judgement call thing is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

True. Seems very subjective.

As somebody who took over 100 flights last year, let me assure everybody here who didn't already realize this, but sitting next to Fatty McGhee on a flight SUCKS. Each person should pay for the space they consume, and not flop their fat into the next seat.

What's ridiculous is that people weigh 300 lbs. You do not see people this size anywhere but in the good old USA. We single-handedly invented the hyper-obese human about 20 years ago. Sickening.

#3 bigtexxx, Aug 9, 2003
Red Chocolate Member

Joined:

May 29, 2001

Messages:

1,576

Likes Received:

309

Yeah seriously, if you are 300+ lbs and not in the NFL, you shouldn't be b*tching. I don't want to sit next to a fat a$$ on the airplane. Give me a break.

#4 Red Chocolate, Aug 9, 2003
LeGrouper Member

Joined:

May 24, 2002

Messages:

2,423

Likes Received:

5

I think if someone did do that to me I would kill them too. If they don't get some sort of system in place, attendants will die.

#5 LeGrouper, Aug 9, 2003
alaskansnowman Member

Joined:

Nov 25, 1999

Messages:

1,961

Likes Received:

9

Oh wow that is freaking hilarious... cruel but hilarious.

#6 alaskansnowman, Aug 9, 2003
Texas Stoke Member

Joined:

Aug 16, 2002

Messages:

5,743

Likes Received:

18

actually i dont think its hilarious,,,i mean for any man to point and laugh at the way a man looks, his stomach, or whatever, under any circumstances,,, he should be ready to take a good beat-down. I have a heavy set neighbor and he is one of the most beautiful humans one could ever meet, so i when i imagine this no good f-ing punk, pointing and laughing, at another man because of his physical structure,,,,,it pisses me off to the max. some punks in this world were not raised right and they just need their heads pounded in. ..by men that have commmon sense, an instictive human nature, and a human sensitivity still flourishing within their souls.

#7 Texas Stoke, Aug 9, 2003
Last edited: Aug 9, 2003

YoYao Member

Joined:

May 22, 2003

Messages:

662

Likes Received:

8

Yao is over 300lb now, hehehe he needs to either buy 2 tickets or sit next to min me

#8 YoYao, Aug 9, 2003
BALLhog 247 365 Member

Joined:

Nov 5, 2002

Messages:

1,065

Likes Received:

269

im pretty sure if we were as big and he did that to us we would be just as mad

#9 BALLhog 247 365, Aug 9, 2003
Behad Member

Joined:

Feb 20, 1999

Messages:

12,358

Likes Received:

193

What is the average # of oversized people on any given flight? 2? 3? Why can't the airlines have one row of oversized seats to accomidate them? If the flight fills up, and no one has those seats, then give them to those flying standby.

#10 Behad, Aug 9, 2003
Faos Member

Joined:

May 31, 2003

Messages:

15,370

Likes Received:

53

Does Charles Barkley pay for 2 seats when he flies?

#11 Faos, Aug 9, 2003
mateo Member

Joined:

Jun 20, 2001

Messages:

5,968

Likes Received:

292

I think it has something to do with the fact that the last few seats sold are the ones that make profit for the flight, so to install some fat people seats mean that you lose one ticket per flight. Why should the airlines lose money because somebody has a crappy lifestyle choice? Or why should I pay more for my tickets because of some fat people who need bigger seats? Hell my family has a history of obesity but my siblings and I work our asses off to keep the weight off.

I agree that the airline employee was a dick but if you are an extremely fat person you need to suck it up and buy the extra ticket. Plus you may want to see a doctor. Hell if that local comedian kid could lose 300 lbs. there's hope out there for anyone.

I flew back from DC last month next to a giant man who ended up depositing a bunch of his extra body fat on me. Thank god I had an Ambien....nighty night. Better living through chemistry.

#12 mateo, Aug 9, 2003
fadeaway Member

Joined:

Apr 25, 2000

Messages:

14,705

Likes Received:

1,193

Originally posted by bigtexxx
What's ridiculous is that people weigh 300 lbs. You do not see people this size anywhere but in the good old USA.
Click to expand...

I have a cousin and aunt who are each over 500 lbs.

They should either force them to buy first class (which has larger seats) or make a row of "fatty seats" at the back of the plane.

#13 fadeaway, Aug 9, 2003

TheHorns Member

Joined:

Oct 9, 2002

Messages:

1,774

Likes Received:

0

I think the best thing to do would be allow them to sit where there is an open seat next to theirs. If they are too large to fit in one seat and the plane is full, they must then take another flight.

If they want to avoid not having to take another flight, or it is crucial they get there at a specific time, then they should reserve another seat at the time they make the reservation.

To FORCE them to pay for another seat when there is one available is a bit much.

#14 TheHorns, Aug 9, 2003
TheHorns Member

Joined:

Oct 9, 2002

Messages:

1,774

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by fadeaway
make a row of "fatty seats" at the back of the plane.
Click to expand...

That is about like saying "sure, allow Rosa on the bus just put her ass in the back."

The last thing I want the airline to do is put all the 500# people in the back so the ass of the plane slams down. However, the idea of having a row or two of larger seats is not a bad idea, but those seats would ultimately be right over the wing for balance purposes.

#15 TheHorns, Aug 9, 2003
coma Member

Joined:

Jul 17, 2001

Messages:

3,347

Likes Received:

10

They should make a new airline for bigger people. Seriously, this way the whole plane would have bigger seats and you can just charge a little more for the flight.

Just like there are big people clothing stores, if you have big people airline, big people won't have to go through all this. They can skip past the BS, buy a ticket on the big people flight, and everyone is a lot happier.

You guys are my witnesses. I will patent this idea, and buy Clutch a new server.

#16 coma, Aug 9, 2003
RIET Member

Joined:

May 20, 2002

Messages:

4,916

Likes Received:

1

Originally posted by coma
They should make a new airline for bigger people. Seriously, this way the whole plane would have bigger seats and you can just charge a little more for the flight.

Just like there are big people clothing stores, if you have big people airline, big people won't have to go through all this. They can skip past the BS, buy a ticket on the big people flight, and everyone is a lot happier.

You guys are my witnesses. I will patent this idea, and buy Clutch a new server.
Click to expand...

Make sure you include a complimentary buffet.

#17 RIET, Aug 9, 2003
DarkHorse Member

Joined:

Oct 9, 1999

Messages:

6,756

Likes Received:

1,303

The thing that you may or may not be aware about is that Southwest airlines has no business or first class seats. That's how they make their money, by squeezing a lot of people into tightly packed coach. I've flown Southwest a LOT, probably around 100+ flights, and I've heard people complain many times about space issues, and they weren't in any way overweight, nor were they sitting next to someone who was.

Obviously, this ticket counter guy crossed a line when he laughed at the guy's stomach, that was clearly uncalled for. But the issue is that it's really unreasonable to say that people who are very WIDE can be given equal treatment in the seating on those tightly packed planes. If that's the case, then you're really punishing the person who is forced to sit next to them (it's been me many times) for the whole flight, which is a VERY uncomfortable situation, both because you're stuck there and not going anywhere and feeling miserable, but because it's extremely rude to address the situation with the person in question. So you just sit there and endure it.

How "fair" is it that someone who doesn't have a weight problem gets punished for it, so that we can make the poor overweight man/woman feel better about themselves?

It just seems a poor sitation to cater to the minority.

#18 DarkHorse, Aug 9, 2003

Behad Member

Joined:

Feb 20, 1999

Messages:

12,358

Likes Received:

193

Originally posted by coma

You guys are my witnesses. I will patent this idea, and buy Clutch a new server.
Click to expand...

The airlines are in serious financial trouble. Starting a new one now would be a disaster, investmentwise.

Besides, who, other than large people, would fly on it?

#19 Behad, Aug 9, 2003
Behad Member

Joined:

Feb 20, 1999

Messages:

12,358

Likes Received:

193

Originally posted by DarkHorse
The thing that you may or may not be aware about is that Southwest airlines has no business or first class seats. That's how they make their money, by squeezing a lot of people into tightly packed coach. I've flown Southwest a LOT, probably around 100+ flights, and I've heard people complain many times about space issues, and they weren't in any way overweight, nor were they sitting next to someone who was.

Click to expand...

You've oversimplyfied Southwest's business plan. They make money by keeping costs down. One way to keep costs down is to have every single plane in their fleet be exactly alike. They are all Boeing 737's. This cuts down on maintenance, upkeep, and labor. Having less space per passenger on the plane is a byproduct of this plan.

#20 Behad, Aug 9, 2003

(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Page 1 of 2

Share This Page