A question for those who love sitting next to fatties on planes...

[Los Feliz Slim]

MEMO

FROM: LOS FELIZ SLIM

TO: UNIVERSE

RE: AIR TRAVEL

Please be advised that traveling via air sucks. If you're headed to the airport, please prepare yourself for an unpleasant experience. Your time in the airport and on the plane, etc, is going to bring you into contact with all manner of undesirable people and situations. Unfortunately, if you wish to travel long distances in a relatively short amount of time, this is the only option currently available. As such, please emotionally prepare yourself for this experience prior to arrival at the airport. Just chill the [censored] out and don't sweat it and we'll all be better off.

Xanax helps.

[blinden84]

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That's really nice of you and your gf, but I think that's taking things way beyond the level of common courtesy.

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Just saying this makes me think you have no idea how really uncomfortable it is. People shouldn't have to be in the kind of pain and torture I've experienced in an LA to Philly flight. Seriously, it shouldn't happen.

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"Think about it from the perspective of we paid the same amount for this ticket, yet, I'm drastically more uncomfortable then you by no fault of my own."

That's sorta silly. A big guy is going to be a lot more hungry after eating the same meal as a petite woman. They are paying the same amount, yet the big guy has a far less satisfying dining experience. Should he get more food to make things equal? In the case of the plane trip, both people are paying a certain amount for a certain amount of space on a plane. Oftentimes there are options to plan ahead or pay extra that allow for additional space. Everyone is getting what they pay for. Being tall on a plane is suckier than being short. In other situations, being short is suckier than being tall. Should all tall people at concerts have to stand at the back to provide a better viewing experience for short people?

If the person behind me is really cramped, I generally won't recline at all. But if the person in front of me reclines and their seatback is now right up in my face, I will sometimes need to recline as well to be comfortable. If the tall guy wants to go ask the guy in front of me not to recline, he's welcome to do so.

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I don't like this eating out comparison because when I eat out, and I AM, obviously, a 'big guy', the situation is usually I get enough food to eat, and my girlfriend has way too much, I thought this was standard, she's always taking food home, and so I do occasionally, so, by that argument, everyone should be getting the exit row?

[Blarg]

He probably doesn't know. I think lots of people can't imagine there's any real problems with being tall sometimes. Others probably bear some resentment about others being taller. Either way, not wanting to hear it puts the kibosh on any possible empathy for a lot of people that they would readily lend to others with similar types of discomforts.

[CrazyEyez]

Grunch

I'm a convert. The last time we did this thread, I was ardently against people reclining. But I've seen the light. The people in front of me didn't invent the seats that recline, and they didn't cause me to be 6'2". No one is forcing me to fly on the plane. Little-to-no legroom goes with the territory.

I hate most people for many reasons, but I'm letting them off the hook for seat-reclining. Chances are I can find 3 other reasons to hate them anyway.

[El Diablo]

Blarg, blinden: Of course I understand it's uncomfortable, but perhaps not the exact degree. However, I still think that having his girlfriend move seats is above and beyond what is required to be courteous.

Blinden: You did not address my question of whether or not tall people should have to stand at the back of concerts. Have you ever stood near the front/middle of a show? Should tall people let all short people move in front of them at a concert?

[blinden84]

I didn't see the concert question, but whenever I go to concerts, they venues have a seriously slanted seating/standing area that the people behind me don't have any problem seeing in, and I move for people all the time if they ask, that's why the stage is raised.

now that you mention it though, I do remember going to a few shows in high school that were smaller stages, club shows, and yeah, I definitely stood at the side, I know this because I always stood on the right side next to the speakers, and my right ear is irreparably damaged because of this.

Tall people are generally aware that they are tall, what started as a conscious, has become an unconscious effort to not disrupt or inconvenience people. I think if everyone in the world just might a slightly higher effort to be more conscience and aware of how their actions affected others, everyone would be a lot better off.

[El Diablo]

blinden,

Based on your behavior at concerts and planes, you seem like an incredibly nice and considerate person. Unfortunately, you are definitely the exception, not the rule.

[Blarg]

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Blarg, blinden: Of course I understand it's uncomfortable, but perhaps not the exact degree. However, I still think that having his girlfriend move seats is above and beyond what is required to be courteous.


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I agree that it's going above and beyond. I commend him for that, but understand if others don't feel much temptation to do the same. I usually try to be nice this way, but the truth is sometimes I'm just not paying any particular attention to strangers and am unintentionally oblivious.

[El Diablo]

Blarg,

I'm very considerate on planes in general, but my "above and beyond" courtesy on planes is pretty much limited to inconveniencing myself so families w/ kids can sit together.

[blinden84]

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blinden,

Based on your behavior at concerts and planes, you seem like an incredibly nice and considerate person. Unfortunately, you are definitely the exception, not the rule.

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Maybe, maybe not, I would say more considerate then nice, but it's just little, I would say VERY little things that make other people's lives a lot easier to live. If everyone did these, then, goddamn, the world would be a lot easier of a place to live in. If a minor inconvenience makes my day unnoticeably worse, and someone else's significantly better, I will take it every time.