Pre weight loss surgery I dreaded flying. Before I even left the house, size 26/28 garments took up a lot of room and when you have only a few stores to shop in, that may not be in the city you are traveling to all the "just in case" items have to be packed. There was no such thing as a little carry-on for me, even weekend trips turned into several suitcase productions. I'd get to the airport where if I was traveling with others the comments would start "Wow!?! you pack a lot" "You do know it's just for the weekend right?" Ummm yeah. Thanks.
On to the ticket counter...now I never actually had them make me pay for another seat but I've had a few threats of it and comments like: "Will one seat be adequate for you ma'am?" I stopped flying when this started.
We're off right? wrong. Upon entering the plane, I would discreetly ask the flight attendant to give me a seat belt extender and often it was passed quietly to me but every once and awhile I'd get a flight attendant who would call down the length of the plane to her co-worker "Janet do you know where the seat belt exxxxxtttteeeennnnddderrrr is?" Can I die now?
OK I've got my extender and heading down the aisle. Here come the stares and nasty looks by the people that saw me coming. You could just read their face, "Please don't let her have seat 9B" and then "Damn!" with a look of disgust when you do indeed have seat 9B. BE KIND TO EACH OTHER, since 93 million Americans are affected by obesity chances are one of them is your mom, grandma, pop, uncle, best friend, daughter. Think about them being on the receiving end of those looks.
Finally you are snug as a bug in your seat and ready for takeoff. It's all good until drinks and food begin. Try balancing a cup of coffee and a hot meal on your lap because the tray table down and my body in the seat weren't happening at the same time. I prayed no one was sitting next to me or someone I knew so I could share their tray table. Now I won't even begin to talk about if God forbid I had to pee.
I am thankful those painful memories are memories but so many of my friends are still living it. I'd like to see airlines stop overbooking flights so that reasonable accommodations can be made for situations like someone needing a little extra space. I once had to sit next to a woman with very strong perfume (a migraine trigger for me), another time I had a very tall man's knees pressed into the back of my seat for 6 hours. I would have loved to have moved seats but the plane was overbooked. Save a few seats for situations instead of cramming us in like sardines. We are people. We come in different shapes and sizes.
