When reading other people’s blogs I have often thought of them as self indulgent and arrogant. \u00a0 I don’t know that mine will be different. \u00a0 I started thinking what do I have to offer people that would be of any interest. \u00a0 Besides my upcoming travels to Amsterdam what is it that would make people be interested in what I have to say? \u00a0 What is it about me that is different? \u00a0 Uhh, the obvious thing is, as Bob Goen said over and over \u00a0 again on Entertainment Tonight about me, “…and she weighs over 300 pounds!!” \u00a0 Yes, I do. It isn’t that miraculous actually. \u00a0 Honestly, I have lived a pretty charmed life. \u00a0 Sure I am big but it really hasn’t stopped me…except when it has. \u00a0 There are things that smaller people never consider and if they do they don’t consider the magnitude of how it would affect someone larger. \u00a0 For example, airplane bathrooms are very small. \u00a0 Most people find them to be uncomfortable and cramped. \u00a0 For me, it is like I am the last sardine in the can, so-to-speak. \u00a0 Other common considerations in life are restaurant booths, armed chairs, the dentist chair, movie theatre seats, life jackets, roller coasters and my favorite – seat belts. \u00a0 (Remind me and I will tell the story of the Torrance police officer who pulled me over for not wearing my seat belt years ago…)<\/p>\n
While I am excited about this trip to Amsterdam, to see my sister and my BIL, there is for me a level of apprehension and fear (more than the plane falling out of the sky but I have drugs for that.) \u00a0 You know that feeling when you are all settled in your seat on the airplane and you see the fat girl squeezing down the aisle trying not to hip check any of the passengers she is walking by and you cringe knowing she is going to try and climb over you and squeeze into the seat next to you undoubtedly ooozing some of her copious flesh onto your seat, or leg, or arm? \u00a0 Well, I’m her. \u00a0 Believe me, I certainly don’t want to disturb your travels or make your flight any more uncomfortable than it is. \u00a0 I have in the past bought two seats so as to not disturb anyone. \u00a0 When I fly with my husband, he doesn’t care that I need a bit of his seat. \u00a0 But for a stranger it is uncomfortable. \u00a0 Believe me, I know.<\/p>\n
With the airplane seat issue it raises the question of whether or not I am buying a seat to my destination or am I purchasing passage. \u00a0 There have been a lot of ugly fights in the media about this issue. \u00a0 People have found themselves at a midway point in their trip when suddenly a gate agent decides they must purchase an additional seat to finish the last leg of their trip. \u00a0 The rules are rather discretionary. \u00a0 So, a big guy flying from LAX to JFK with a stop in Chicago may have no problem getting on the first leg of his flights. \u00a0 He asks for a seatbelt extender and luckily there is an empty middle seat next to him so no one says a word to him. \u00a0 He flies in comfort to Chicago. \u00a0 He gets off the plane in Chicago and races to his next gate. \u00a0 When he arrives and attempts to check in for the 2nd leg of his trip to JFK, the gate agent informs him he must buy a second seat on the plane because the flight is full. \u00a0 If he doesn’t he can’t carry on to his destination. \u00a0 But you see, this is an error in logic. \u00a0 If the flight is full there shouldn’t be an additional seat to purchase. \u00a0 Ostensibly, he should be stuck in Chicago until there is a flight that has empty seats. \u00a0 Should he then be forced to purchase an additional seat on a flight with empty seats? \u00a0 I know when I have purchased two tickets to a destination I was told that if the flight had empty seats they would refund my money for the additional seat purchased. \u00a0 I don’t know the answer to these questions. \u00a0 Bigger seats all around? \u00a0 Bigger seats for larger people? \u00a0 What about seats with legroom for taller people? \u00a0 What about a sound proof area for those flying with small children? Obviously, the airline is a business. \u00a0 They have the right to run their business as they choose. \u00a0 I also understand an average sized person who already feels cramped in their seat doesn’t want to feel infringed upon by someone else using up what little personal space they have. \u00a0 It’s a conundrum. \u00a0 One that I am going to face over the next couple of days and then again in two weeks. \u00a0 \u00a0 While I doubt I will come up with a solution for this situation that affects all travellers in one way or another it will definitely be an interesting time. \u00a0 I will keep you all posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When reading other people’s blogs I have often thought of them as self indulgent and arrogant. \u00a0 I don’t know that mine will be different. \u00a0 I started thinking what do I have to offer people that would be of any interest. \u00a0 Besides my upcoming travels to Amsterdam what is it that would make… Continue reading Fat Girl Travels<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,10,11,26,27,28,40,53],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip-to-amsterdam","tag-300-pounds","tag-airline","tag-amsterdam","tag-fat","tag-fat-girl","tag-fat-girl-travels","tag-lisa-brounstein","tag-travel","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}