Friday, December 22, 2006
Airspace
The official wire service caption to this picture reads, in pertinent part, "A passenger waits for a delayed flight at Heathrow airport's terminal four in London August 12, 2006."
I'm sure that any person who is this fat is tragically burdened by it. It does create problems for innocent unrelated people, not least of all on crowded aircraft. If the person in the picture attempts to occupy only one seat, he or she will displace a great deal of space that has actually been rented by the unhappy traveler in the adjacent seat. If the large person is to occupy two seats, should he or she buy the extra seat, or should the airline provide it without charge? Put differently, as between the airline, the fat person, and the innocent adjacent traveler, who should bear the cost of the fat passenger's requirement for more than the usual amount of room?
Undoubtedly, the answer depends where you sit.
13 Comments:
By 
Dawnfire82, at
Sat Dec 23, 11:40:00 AM:
Wow, thanks Hawk. What a nice thing to see as the page suddenly loads.
*scrubs eyes*
By Lanky_Bastard, at
Sat Dec 23, 01:11:00 PM:
On a less serious note, airlines also pay more in jet fuel to lift heavy passengers... maybe they should help pay for more gas too. Or maybe underweight passengers can have credits issued for more luggage.
By Deuce ☂, at
Sat Dec 23, 02:09:00 PM:
Use the Fedex solution. Charge by the pound.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sat Dec 23, 05:51:00 PM:
I'm overweight, and wish that the fair answer were that someone else had to pay. But fair is fair - charge by the pound.
By 
, at
Sat Dec 23, 06:19:00 PM:
I'm sorry, but I think this photo is exploitative and unfair. I understand that the photographer was trying to make a point. But it shows and arrogance towards the person photographed (who probably didn't give permission), treating her as if she were a freak on display.
By , at
Sat Dec 23, 07:04:00 PM:
"treating her as if she were a freak on display"
(To go along with your assumption that the subjecy is female).............
Well isn't she?
Everyone has a choice, - to eat, or not to eat.
Your body is your responsibility, and don't start the crap about "glands, or genes", you don't find "freaks" - (your words), in "calorie restricted" economies, only wealthy ones.
By , at
Sat Dec 23, 07:07:00 PM:
Hat tip to the chair designer. Well done.
By , at
Sat Dec 23, 07:13:00 PM:
The ancient Chinese had a useful method of torture for their captives.
"String vests" made of metal would be progressively tightened, and protruding bits would be cut off.
Today we pay thousands of bucks for a qualified quack to do almost the same.
You have to wonder at the lazyness and the vanities.
By , at
Sat Dec 23, 07:16:00 PM:
Tis almost the season for New Year Resolutions.
Mine is to reduce by 40 pounds over 2007.
How's yours going TH
By , at
Sat Dec 23, 08:28:00 PM:
I think Sir Mixalot said it best:
"I like big butts....."
David
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Dec 23, 10:21:00 PM:
blogger - I'm not doing so well in the losing of weight, but I have done a much more regular job of serious exercise, including weight-lifting, so I think I'm getting into better shape -- by a little -- even if I'm only down a couple of pounds so far. Gonna climb a mountain tomorrow, I think.
By , at
Sun Dec 24, 10:52:00 AM:
TH -
I was pretty stable on the weight for a while too until I happened upon a really quick and easy way to drop some pounds. That's right, food poisoning!
Spend about 3 days completely unable to eat anything & keep it down. Just watch those pounds melt away.
The only faster way to weight loss I can think of is amputation.
Good times.
By , at
Sun Dec 24, 08:37:00 PM:
TH, if you've been hitting the weights heavy, be aware that muscle is more dense than fat, - it weighs heavier, so maybe that's an explanation for lack of weight loss. Since lean tissue is "living", it requires calories for its continued existence. More tissue increases your basal metabolic rate.
However, gaining lean tissue is far more difficult than many imagine, Initial stength gains can be best explained by adaptation, and increase in efficiency of the signal transduction pathways. High-end omega threes help marginally here. (But doen't overdose, they are prone to autoxidation, - free radical damage)
Lean tissue accretion occurs only after everything is working efficiently, and then only slowly. There are also a myriad factors which come into play once everything is working efficiently. A trainer has to get to know the metabolism of the student to be really effective.
Keep a very detailed log to learn about your body. Be aware that every workout is also an attack on your immune system, and that bugs are opportunistic. Be aware that during the period of your exercise, your natural testosterone levels will fluctuate wildly, depending on the intensity and duration. Your endocrine balance will move from anabolic to catabolic. The trick is to stop befor the catabolic phase kicks in. Time and intensity are key.
Also humans tend to hang onto fat as the weather gets colder. - usage of input gets more efficient. Fat loss is easier in warm weather.
Merry Xmas to you and yours.
