dadw5boys's Comments (11879)

“Hey Dad...long time no see ; -)

Well the SEC has been ineffective for longer than the Bush years...fa­r longer. But It was just a suggestion on my part.”

“Of course it is...that is the whole purpose of the media...Li­beral my a$$”

“Being overweight and grossly obese are worlds apart, especially as far as infringing on other people's space.”

“Dadwboys,
Perhaps the average adult American is obese because our whole society has become enablers. It used to be that men with big waist sizes couldn't buy clothes in most stores--now Walmart and KMart carry xxx sizes. Hamburgers got bigger, as did other restaurant and fast food offerings. cars got 'roomier'.

In the skies, the physics of air travel meet the Supersize me! mentality, and physics have to win. Moreover, it doesn't take a genius to realize that large obese people are at risk in traveling--they'll have trouble getting through the aisles, they're at risk for blood clots, they don't fit into the seats and their extra bulk makes life difficult for those around them.

Airline travel may be nature's way of telling us that there are limits to how we can consume. I'm sorry that this guy's confrontation with reality didn't happen until he got on the plane, but his presence on this flight is not only unpleasant for him--it makes everyone else on that flight at risk if there's an emergency. An extra fare charge isn't enough--if he's too big to fit in the seat, he's too big to fly.”

“What argument??? I only put forth a proposition for solving
the problem of who should pay, and how much.
The fact of "American obesity" is hardly the problem since the majority of people still only require one seat, despite their growing girth and the airlines propensity for downsizing seat size for the purpose of cramming more of us on any given aircraft.
The gentleman depicted is obviously out-sized, and unfortunately not so much the exception anymore. As unfortunate as that may be, however, he represents an actual depiction of the populace as a whole, and it would do the airline industry well to adjust to that fact, lest they want to go forward and charge for crying babies, annoying toddlers, and any of a number of social or personal factors with which to drain our wallets further.”

“You don't have to be overweight when you have diabetes. Being insulin resistant contributes to being overweight, but once you are diagnosed, simply watching your carbohydrate intake and taking meds as necessary should control your weight. When I was diagnosed with early Type 2 diabetes, I stopped eating grains and starches and lost 45 pounds EASILY.”

“There are many problems with extremely obese airline passengers besides the uncomfortable seating issue. I would imagine that someone like the person pictured would also be a risk in any emergency situation. That risk would be not only to him, but to anyone whose egress from the plane was blocked by him. And would a flotation device even fit such a person?

Re the disease argument, the extremely obese have some options (laproscopy comes to mind) that aren't available to many of the wheelchair bound. If you want to make the handicap/disability argument (i.e., that people weighing in excess of, say 250 lbs are victims of their own body chemistry), go ahead. But in this case, an individual has made some choices regarding his/her condition, including the refusal of medical relief. I don't think we want to travel down this slope--if a person under treatment for extreme psychiatric disorder has voluntarily gone off meds, do the airlines have an obligation to put the person on a plane that's going to be in the air for several hours?

The Travel industry has been pretending this isn't a problem for a long time--walk into a Trailways or Greyhound terminal some time. Somebody has to get realistic about the expectations extremely obese people can have regarding accommodation.”

“when you have a disease, sometimes it costs you money. maybe it's unfair, but you have to be responsible for yourself. Most people that are obese can lose weight. They just don't.”

“Exactly!”

“no! we want single payer !!”

“"So you support Senators who spend thier time talking about nothing and will actually hold a press conference to talk about nothing? Then spend days planning how he is going to vote on something that does nothing ?"

And yet you support Obama, don't you?”