Obese Passenger

My dh (sadly passed away) was overweight when I met him and I liked the fact that he was cuddly. Over the years his weight went up and down but I did prefer him when he was bigger by which I mean carrying an extra stone.

Sadly when he had cancer he became so thin it was heart breaking.

My mother was border line anorexic and her thinness was a constant worry to me all her life.

It's not good obviously to be too overweight but on the other hand it's distressing to see people who are too thin.

I try to keep a balance. My largest was 12 stone and I'm only 5.3" and now I'm about 10 stone seven which is about right. My auntie always said it was good to be carrying a little extra weight to provide a ballast against illness.

People who are too big or too small probably have all sorts of emotional problems. My husband loved his food too much and mum had a major problem with it and ate very little.

Keep the toys in the pram wb and get back to the panto. We need you.

But this issue does need addressing, Wobblybits. As I said earlier, we are as a nation, on average, way bigger than most (though as Ana pointed out, not as big as the Americans yet ). Sometimes I think that being too aware of other people's sensitivities isn't helping. The couple NanKate mentions above, for example - they already do know how to eat well, they just choose not to. And in the vast majority of cases, this isn't down to a health issue, it's down to greed. I had an aunt who ate very little and was morbidly obese - this was always put down to a glandular disorder, and certainly wasn't her fault. But this is not the norm.

The OP's poem is hideous, cruel and offensive, but it's sparked an interesting debate. Please don't take any of it personally.

How can Wobblybits and others not take remarks on this particular thread personally though, when it actually is about them? And that is not even taking the poem into account.

Plane seats are designed for size 10 bottoms. Blonde had just suffered a flight squashed into half a seat. I think she was entitled to have a bit of a go at the company and the bloke who'd taken half her much valued space. It's a pity that no apology was forthcoming - from any direction.

I have had a similar flight, Five hours next to an enormous Haitian gentleman who couldn't even use the extended seat belt. He had about two inches clearance between his tum and the seat in front so the chap in front couldn't put his seat back. The difference was that he was a lovely bloke. He was profuse in his apologies, funny and charming and I really couldn't mind too much being buried under his bulk. I did wonder how it would be in an emergency as he took up half the isle too. Luckily it was a daytime flight. It would have been impossible at night.

My DD1's MiL (there should be an easy way to say that) is very large due to health problems and no longer flies as she would need a double seat which she can't afford. I think if a doctors letter can be provided a second seat shouldn't be charged for.

I agree the issue needs addressing, but not with a thread of this manner and sensitivity[lack of].

obieone, we all have our own issues and problems in real life. I bet we've all been hurt at some time by remarks made about subjects that happen to relate directly to us. They're not aimed at us personally though, so shouldn't be taken as such.

Or should we just close down all discussion on any subject you could name, just in case someone is offended?

Nfkdumpling whilst I totally agree that the original poster had a legitimate grumble how she worded it was totally despicable and disgusting You don't mention that in your post defending her. I can't say how low and truely from the gutter that poem was

Maggiemaybe of course contentious issues such as this need discussing, of course there are going to be fors and against, that's life and of course debates/arguments are great interesting and necessary BUT when they degenerate to name calling, personal insults and in the case of the original poster awful discriminating words to get a laugh it is well out of order and beyond a human approach

If people can read that poem and think it's ok then I m blooming sorry for you I was shocked when I read it as I thought people in 2016 whatever age had a bit more understanding of words and how powerful they are

I thought we had all agreed that the wording of the poem was nasty. Are we going round in circles?

I wonder if the poster of that poem is lurking or whether it was a post and run? Hmmm...

I have not defended the OP, BlueBelle, I have stated my disgust (twice) at the "ode", and I have not said anything offensive about anyone. Perhaps you should aim your comments at those who have.

I agree with Bluebelle - that poem was appalling especially as she posted it on facebook. That poor man and many others would have been seriously upset if they read it. I'm sure he was conscious of making others uncomfortable.
As far as I'm concerned, as others have said, there are many people who can make you uncomforable on a plane. I once sat next to a young man flying back from hongkong who continually sniffed and blew his nose on his hand. In the end i gave him a packet of tissues which he accepted. At the end of the flight he said he was always like this on flights - due to the airconditioning. So why didnt he bring any handkercheifs??!!
Many others are annoying but its only for a relatively short time. There is no need to use such offensive language as ws used inthe poem which the op is apparently proud of.
Wobblybits please dont take offence - this is not about you!
Also I was at school in the early 1950s with several very overeight children so its just not true that there werent any then, though perhaps not so many as now.

Is it just the fat posters who don't like the poem, I'm not fat and I thought it was very funny, well done that person.

The blame for being squashed into a too-narrow plane seat belongs squarely with the airlines, who would pack us in vertically, standing on our luggage, to jam more of us in.

Or perhaps it belongs with everyone, to all those passengers who expect cheap travel to the ends of the earth and back, just for a vacation.

I must be obese too, then, as my BMI is 30. I don't overeat, I don't consume piles of chips or sugary soft drinks. I am not a couch potato, without a car that is impossible. Yesterday I walked at least 5 km, (mostly uphill) checking out our route for Friday, and tomorrow I shall do it again. Whenever I go out to buy a pint of milk, I walk a kilometre each way, the return journey being uphill with a bag of shopping.

And I don't reckon I give the impression of a humungous sweaty heap of bricks.

Im68Now If it had been lampooning a disabled person staggering in front of the writer up the steps to the plane on their two sticks, would you have thought that funny? Or a poem expressing disgust at the strange ethnic features of someone of a different race? Or the liver-spotted hands and shaky legs (and possibly shaky memory) of a nonagenarian?

Weight is now the outcast on the block, expected to smile at being the butt of what would be called misogyny or racism or religious intolerance if it had a different victim.

elegran you're technically obese, yes. As are many! I'm not far off myself, and although I struggle to get into the magic "normal" range of 18-25 (and stay there) I wouldn't call myself big either.

It's about time that this system of labelling people was reviewed, surely? People ARE bigger these days, due to better nutrition and muscle mass. Female shape has changed too.

Yes, some people are well and truly carrying dangerous amounts of extra bulk, but on the whole, the trend is downwards, I thought? Amongst children, anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I still think that it's funny.

I would have moaned like hell if it had being raining.

You've got a BMI of 30, I'd would worry at that, mines 24 but I'm 68.

I've got no time for fat people, nor smokers, nor drinkers, nor people who won't help themselves.

Feel free to start a slagging discussion. I'm not going anywhere.

Slagging discussion? The slagging is in the OP.

I read this thread to see what had upset WB, and there is a cure. Less seats with more room in planes, put prices up to cover this, less people will fly which is good for environment and people might holiday in UK which is good for the economy.

Sorted, end of discussion

Well good for you im68now (your BmI)
I''m able bodied, capable of lifting and carrying and can walk a fair distance. Doesn't reflect any particular virtue though nor would I mock the disabled or infirm.
It's how you speak to and about people.

I've got no time for fat people, nor smokers, nor drinkers, nor people who won't help themselves

All ????? .

Raining?

In other words deny those of us who are not very well off any chance of a foreign holiday Tizliz. Hardly a solution.

Nor time, I assume, for people with broken legs, depression, chronic illness, poverty, abusive partners . . .