I shouldn’t really respond to a post where I am only referred to by the dismissive and presumptive pronoun “him”, but hey, KellyM’s such a pleasant guy to chat to.
When I originally said:
I might have expected you to read the paragraph that immediately followed
From this I hoped for the reader would understand Calories in: the calories contained in “the food we eat” Calories out: the calories we metabolise (you can add to this the calorific content of what we expel from our bodies)*
None of this is particularly obscure, and no technical meanings have been intended by commonplace words.
If you wish to deny such a broadly received understanding then it is you, not I, who should be providing citations. Whatever, on this subject I will contribute no more to this thread, please, feel free to start another, I may join you there.
would you like me to define the term “expel from our bodies”?
And whatever you may claim to believe, I do expect as part of my ticket price not to have my personal space intruded into past a reasonable level, and having strangers pressed into me is past that level, and indeed past the level of most people judging by this thread.
Gary Kumquat, I don’t consider my ticket price to be adequate as to guarantee me my personal space uninfringed. I can get that if I want it by paying a larger ticket price (flying first class for a better guarantee, or charter for a near-absolute guarantee). You get what you pay for. Whining about what you didn’t get because you didn’t pay for it is silly.
And to now move back to the OP (which is NOT fatbashing)…
Regarding asking a women to stop bumping into you-
I don’t think the OP (or anybody else) said or implied that the person next to the OP was trying to be offensive. However, this women’s contact with you obviously DID cause you “pain or anything like that.” It pissed you off - enough to mention it.
It seems your tolerance for discomfort or personal space violation is a higher than others. That is great but just because others have a lower tolerance for personal space violations does not make them a fatbasher.
So, if I am sitting on an airplane next to you, I can feel free to swing my legs over onto your lap? Well, your ticket doesn’t guarantee that your personal space is uninfringed, right?
Fin_man, I distinguish between avoidable and unavoidable intrusions. The fat man who overflows the seat is unavoidably intruding on my space. The woman who crosses his legs and jams her three inch spike heel into my shin is avoidably intruding on my space. He is a victim of circumstance; she is a jerk. The latter deserves ire; the former deserves sympathy.
The woman who brushed my thigh in her sleep didn’t “piss me off” although it did make me briefly uncomfortable.
Hold on a second. If you are standing in a line and a person takes a step back and unavoidable smashes your toes, are you not upset? Sure as hell you are. Are you angry at them - maybe not. They didn’t do it on purpose BUT they still injured you.
Sure, if the three inch spikes are repeatedly jammed into my leg, I’m going to slap the bitch - she is being KNOWINGLY rude. But just because somebody cannot help the fact that they invade your personal space does not give them free reign to do so - nor does it mean we have to accept or like it.
So yes, I feel bad for overweight people. I know they have difficulties in health, comfortability, discrimination, etc. but that doesn’t give them the right to invade my personal space.
I get to make irrelevant xenophobic generalizations too? Goodie!
It’s evident that the Irishdrink to excess because they’re trying to forget that they don’t have anything decent to eat.
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that KellyM’s girlfriend is physically incapable of dropping her body mass below the level considered “obese.”
Look, this thread isn’t about bashing overweight people, regardless of anyone’s personal beliefs on the matter. Two issues are the crux of the matter, here:
Airlines are redefining “personal space” so as to be measured in microns.
Many airline passengers are not comfortable with this plan, and are complaining about it.
Huh. Could have fooled me into thinking this was a thread about people discussing the pros and cons of economy air travel, specifically when dealing with passengers who, for whatever reason, infringe on another passengers personal space as defined by the size of the seat they paid their hard-earned cash for.
And then, some people started to take things personally, and it was a “fat bashing” thread all of a sudden.
Fuck that. It’s nonsense, it’s over-PC-ness, and it’s insulting to those who have to deal with the consequences of being unable to discuss a topic like this without being called a sizeist, or a “fat basher”.
There is a genuine issue at stake here, and people are trying their damn best to discuss it as politely as they can. Yes, weight is a sensitive issue. Yes, we should all avoid judging others by their physique. But you know what? If they’re 400 lb’s, they’re still going to have a hard time fitting into an economy size chair, whether they’re large as a result of overeating, a thyroid problem, a genetic disposition. It doesn’t matter, and it’s not what we’re discussing here.
Frankly, I don’t know what you’re trying to gain by dragging this discussion towards “fat-bashing”, but it has fuck all to do with the real problem at hand: passengers of significantly different proportions, and the seats that fail to accompany some of them properly.
Now, cast off that PC armour, and add something of value to the discussion. Diet debates are entirely interesting, I’m sure, but they’re irrelevant here.
Coldfire, just wondering, by continuing the “fat bashing” conversation here, are we not hijacking the thread? Should we allow this thread (if possible) to return to the OP? That is what I was trying to do. Was I wrong?
I just wanted to comment on this… I don’t find this all that questionable. I’ve had Crohn’s disease since I was 10, and I also have polycystic kidney disease. Most of my life I’ve been off and on powerful steroids. When I’m having a Crohn’s flareup I can’t eat–period–which means I go on a crash diet that lasts about a week and doctors say that’s pretty bad for you and your weight. I get a flareup whenever I make a major change to my lifestyle or go through a time of heavy stress. I can lose maybe 5-10 pounds, but if I push it I’ll just have another flareup, lose 15 pounds in starvation, and gain 20 pounds on the steroids while puffing up like a balloon with water. And the kidneys don’t help… I’m not sure how much size they add to my belly, but I’ve had at least one cyst get over 6 inches in diameter. (Pretty funny in the hospital, they all came into the X-ray room to gape at the pictures. They’d been trying to get a shot of my digestive system, but the cyst got in the way.)
I don’t mean my weight is completely off my shoulders, of course. I can still lose weight slowly, and I can exercise some. But I’ve come to accept that 185 pounds is about as good as it’s going to get, on average, for me. I doubt I’m the only person in the world who has medical problems that make it hard to lose weight.
And for the record and back on topic, I try to keep out of other people’s way on airlines. Usually my biggest problem is the dorks who think their dick deserves a seat of its own, and spread their legs out wide. Sometimes I’m seated next to a person more overweight than I am, but I usually just try to deal with it. Listen to music, read a book, try to chill. I’m probably unwittingly doing something to annoy them too. If someone really bugs you, smile at them a lot. It’s friendly, it’s harmless, and it might freak them out. Either that, or choose ‘interesting’ reading material. I love flying, especially if I get a window seat. Whoosh!
And on preview, the penis-size issue has been brought up. Somehow, I’m not surprised.
