I am obese and I purchased two seats to myself during a work flight… not to be luxurious but to be in peace. A patronized couple took away the available seat and referred to me as a fat jerk. They believed that they could shame me and no one would be safer. I ensured at 35,000 ft. they wished that they had not spoken so smugly.
My name is Carly, and over the past 32 years, I have had to learn how to live in a body, which society writes off. I’m obese. Not the chubby that is the cutely nicknamed kind in romance novels.
I am the type of fat that attracts the right of strangers to make comments about my groceries. The type where I trained myself to become lesser in the outside world, even in the times when it is physically impossible.
That is why I never travel without reserving a couple of plane seats.
With my boyfriend, Matt, I have never felt that I required two seats whenever we are flying. He will remove the arm rest, push me against, him and inexplicably erase all my worries of occupying space.
However, to attend this marketing conference in Westlake alone? Different story.
Not waiting longer than I should, I strained to lift the armrest between my window and middle seats on the Flight 2419 to make my space Yellow comfort zone.
I paid an additional 176 dollars just to get that one in the middle… not because I could not physically fit in there but because I did not want to spend three hours jammed squarely against a person that would look at me sideways every time the turbulence would make our bodies connect.
Suddenly they appeared as I was leafing through the safety card.
“Babe, look! You see, instead I can sit by your side!” airbombs said a man, full of unmerited assurance.
My eyes made a sweep upwards to a couple that was in the aisles; a groom with a slicked back hair and a shirt that was a size too short and the bride with a blowout and jewelry that glittered on fluorescent light.
They were both gazing at my available middle seat as though it was a treasure.I said, with humble voice, Sorry, I did pay for these two seats.
The man aka Mr. Entitled did an am dram double take. You have purchased two places? For yourself?”
I grew warm over the scruple. Yep, to be more comfortable. The second seat is a paid ticket.”
He laughed showing his perfect teeth. It is empty, I guess. Nobody is sitting here.”
It was because I got it paid so as not to have anybody there. Move out to your seat.”
Rather than reacting to this he just took a seat in the middle seat and showered me with his cologne. Cmon be dramatic. There is a full flight. There is no use of wasting a seat.”
His lady friend–Miss Entitled–slipped into her aisle seat opposite him, leant forward and entered into our conversation.
We only want to be sitting together, she said pouting her lips, as though I was simply being absurd. It is not a very big thing.
Yet it was. His arm was already on mine and his leg touched my thigh. The luxury I had paid my money to… dissipated.
I know that you want to sit and all that but I went out of my way to pay extra to make sure I did not have to put up with situations exactly like this.”
“Ah, c’mon! Go just a little aside,ddhe grumbled, spreading out his legs. I can not help the fact that you require an additional room.
“Excuse me?”
Miss Entitled leaned down the aisle. Oh my god, will you quit already. Fat jerk! you are!”
The words, exclaimed in a tone loud enough to have been overheard in the neighbourhood of other passengers had cut like ice. A woman sitting on the opposite aisle turned in embarrassment. Two rows up a business man turned to stare.
I should have raised a stink, however… or called on the stewardess. I merely smiled instead.
“Fine! Take the seat.”
The aircraft was cruising at altitude and I pulled the carry-on out and got a family-sized bag of extra crunchy kettle chips.
Hope you don’t mind, I said to Mr. Entitled, and tore the bag open with a great noise. When I am flying, I will always have some snack.
I have produced the assumption of getting myself into a comfortable posture, which entailed occupying every bit of space that was my due. Whenever he moved off the situation I grew into the gap.“Could you..?” he began, his elbow feeling again my pushing elbow the third time.
“Sorry!” I answered, not a bit of it. Close in quarters, you know?”
I took out my tablet and held it in a way that made me have a wider spread in my arms. At that point I grabbed my water bottle, bumping him as I opened it.
In twenty minutes you could see his indignation mounting. He continued to take secret glances at his girl friend who kept rolling her eyes more and more.
Almighty please cease shifting around. then at last he broke.
I stopped my crunch in midway. I am only adjusting myself in my seats.“Seats? It is a single seat. You sit in one position.”
I was in one and a half seats, actually, I said, reaching another chip. the half you now stood in? I have been paying that also.”
He turned dark. And this is preposterous.
I will concur.
He punched the call button in front of him.
The moment later a flight attendant with slicked hair and weary eyes presented herself. What can I do?
It is impossible that I can sit here, said he, gesturing at me in the manner of a suspicious package, because this woman is making it impossible. She is elbowing me, broadening, dining in my face.”The stewardess stared at me anxiously.
In two fingers I held up. Both these seats were paid by me.
There was a slight alteration in her expression. I will look up that for you. She drew a tablet out, tapped and nodded. Sir, on our system 14A and 14B were bought by the same passenger.
The face of Mr. Entitled relaxed. It is impossible to be serious.
I am afraid I am not. You will be required to go back into your allocated seat which is…” on her tablet she read, again, 22C.
That is insane, said he, yet he stood up.
Good luck with your flight, I answered to him squeezing between his girlfriend towards the aisle.Miss Entitled was not finished. Really, you paid an extra seat because you are too fat to have one? It is the worst thing I ever heard.”
The body of the flight attendant became stiff. Ma,am that is the sort of language that simply is not allowed in our flights. I would like to request you not to make personal remarks of other passengers.”
“Whatever!” she muttered, but she blushed.
They returned to the back of the bus in their respective seats, and I heaved a sigh of relief. The flight attendant with the name tag of Jenn- hung around.
I am sorry about that, remarked she.And it is none of your fault. Thanks checking.”
She nodded. You just press the call button in you need anything further.
I repossess my seat and I can stretch myself over the two seats as if I was winning the battle.
We were about an hour into the flight when I saw something of a commotion near the back. Turning my neck, I saw Mr. and Miss Entitled in the aisle talking animatedly with another flight attendant.
Using glimpses they were making of their conversation which was becoming louder, I realized that they were attempting to get other passengers to exchange seats in order they could sit together. The flight attendant, a younger man with a buzz hair-cut continued to shake his head.
Sir, go to your seat. You are standing in the aisle.”
All we want to do is to sit together! The voice of Miss Entitled reached up to the fore. There was someone who was happy to change but now you do not allow us!”
The procedures, as I have described, require approval of the crew in the event of a mid-flight assignment of seats, so at this moment we need you to leave the aisle so that the beverage service can take place.This ended to my satisfaction and with some residual anger over their previous actions. Thereafter, I depressed my call button.
Jenn came up beside me. What do you want me to help you with?
I spoke in a lower tone. Just to tell you that… the other day, they were sitting here? The female yelled that I was a fat jerk. I understand it was probably impossible to do anything now, but it just annoyed me a lot.”
Professional smile was lost in Jenn. In fact there is one thing we can do. It comes in the category of passenger harassment; something that we take seriously very seriously. Will you make a formal complaint of landing?”
“I would.”
She nodded. I will put it in the record now. And what it is worth I am sorry about that. Nobody should be addressed in such a manner.”
It is that straightforward admission that I had not been given my due and yet I have received this kind of treatment that shocked me with emotion that I was unaware of. Years and years of shrinking with the thought that it was my duty to take up as little space as possible and here was someone explaining that the front row seat I paid to attend is the seat I am entitled to.
I manged to say, “Thank you.”
I had to wait by the time we landed in Westlake till I got my chance to deplane. By this time Mr. and Miss Entitled had some way up the aisle, when I rose.
I hailed them by name, not in a hue and cry, that they should turn; but with so much projection as to get the attention. Other famous people in the ship gazed. I just can tell you… next time you should perhaps consider twice before stealing one’s seat and offending them. We just want to survive without being harassed,” says some of us.
The face of Miss Entitled flushed that color which is so incongruous with a blouse. Mr. The overhead bins became the new obsession of entitled.
A woman standing near me slightly older than me gave me a discreet thumbs up.
True to my word, I reported a complaint at the customer care office as I left the airport. Mid way through my conference, three days later, I had received an email message on my account with the airline:
We went through the misconduct that was filed on Flight 2419 and have had a record of this encounter on the profiles of the passengers. This form of verbal bullying goes against our passenger code of conduct and it could influence their future rights to board. We are very sorry to have you undergo that and have credited you with 10,000 bonus miles to your account.
I sent the email to Matt and he sent me an instant reply: “That is my girl! Seizing out just as much as you merit to be !
And that is what space is such as physical space in an airplane or emotional space in the world. No one is entitled to tell you that you are consuming too much of it especially when you have paid your admission fee. Other times the greatest thing you can do is to not shrink to make someone feel good to know you are here.
It taught me a lesson that, I wish had been taught to me long before that flight to Westlake however I am glad that I finally got the lesson.
Related
