I love to travel. In July, I was headed out to San Francisco, where I indulged in too much of wine country and good eating.
On my last day in San Francisco, things were going my way. I had yet to see a giant redwood, and a nice park ranger provided me the opportunity to do so when I didn't think I'd be able to. The lady at the airline counter changed my flight to DCA, a blink of an eye from house, rather than its original BWI, more like a nod of the sleeping head on the hour long train ride.
After professing my love to this lady, I board the first leg of my journey home. I grab the first flight from Chicago in the morning straight to DCA. I'm jazzed to be making the short way home, until...
I realize I'm sitting beside another woman of size. I admit it, I overflow the average coach seat. If it's a window seat or an aisle, I can lean in the appropriate direction to get out of the way, but let's face it, there's always, shall we call it, overflow. I was blessed with a flight nearer to my house, but with a middle seat between this lovely larger lady and an older gentleman who quickly realized he would be the thin slice of cheese on top of our open face sandwich. There was no way he wouldn't be pushed into the aisle with all the cart bumps and bruises that brings with it.
There has been a lot of new about how those rocking the extra mass look should pay for two seats, but I don't understand why we aren't uniting against a common enemy. By my best estimate the average coach seat in an airplane are 18 inches from armrest to armrest. I've got no problem admitting my ass is probably in the 24 inch range. But a good size full grown, normal size man's shoulders are around 23 inches. What? A perfectly normal size guy overflows by six inches? Mr. Thinly Sliced deserves just as much room as Ms. Spreads while Sitting!
Come on skinny folks, unite with us on this cause! Stop insisting we should pay twice as much, and start insisting people shouldn't be treated like animals on a commercial crammed farm. Give us the space we deserve. I think additional coach class inches can be universally recognized as a good idea.
The last great thing that happened on my trip is that Mr. Thinly Sliced ponied up the extra cash for a bulkhead seat. I don't think he should have done it, but because he did I rode from Chicago to National in comfort and grace. For that I'm eternally grateful.
1 comment:
Totally agree! I am a lady of size but those seats are smaller than your average fold out chair. I understand it's a manufacturing thing and all that. This isn't stadium seating. The airline industry is in the need to downsize anyways, make the seats bigger. Then you'll have full planes of people.
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