Air Travel

So... when were the last planes built?? I think some of them as recently as last year - in fact, I know that the Continental Airlines 777 WAS built last year. I felt very privileged to be on one of the maiden voyages. So how big do you think the width of the plane seats were? And how long do you think the seatbelts were? No longer than the one I am sitting in now (not the 777 mind you). That made me wonder whether the travel industry is ever going to realize that people have grown! I mean, I can understand not overhauling the New York Subway system to make the seats and extra inch wider, but if you are starting fresh, why not try to make the seats a bit more comfortable?



To me, it makes perfect sense. Take the United States for example - 60% of all Americans are overweight, almost as many "clinically obese". That's a huge market group. Yet why are airlines refusing to accommodate us? It reminds me of that car commercial… "are rich people taller?" "do they have more friends than others?" "why are their cars made more comfortably?" That leads me to ask "do fat people NOT want to travel?" "does it make sense to exclude so many people from traveling comfortably?" and most quizzically, "won't it make the companies more money in the end because everyone will finally be more comfortable in a plane and willing to travel more?"



Let me state that I am totally qualified to have an opinion on this subject. I travel in a plane a minimum of once every two months. But only because I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE to travel. Otherwise I wouldn't fly coach if you paid me all the money in the world (but then again, that would mean I could afford not to fly coach - but I digress and that's not my point anyway). If not for my intense desire to travel to lands far unreachable by car or train, I would NEVER NEVER NEVER get into a plane. Why?? Because it is sooooo damn uncomfortable, humiliating, and embarrassing.



I'd like to think I'm a very cool person, but that coolness disappears the moment when I reluctantly work my way to my seat… praying "please, please don't let anyone sit next to me!!!!" Wondering is the seatbelt on this flight going to fit? Will I have to saunter cowardly back up the aisle and as quietly as possible inquire about an extension? Will I lift up the armrest when I squeeze my big butt into the seat, making the person next to me wish they didn't have to sit next to me? I even get concerned about really stupid things like "will I get too bloated on the flight and not be able to rebuckle my belt?" - especially on those really long flights when I there isn't a chance in hell that I'll ever even get my shoes back on!! Again, I hope that I am not passed that thin (pardon the pun) line of not "fitting in".



I am writing this now - airborne. Fortunately, I have a travel companion and I am on a flight that isn't more than 80% full. This is such a benefit, that sometimes I have considered traveling at the oddest hours just to ensure non-full capacity. So, what do I do to ease the uncomfortableness? Well, first I have learned to say that I am claustrophobic. This way at least they put me in the Emergency Exit Row and that allows me to bring down the tray table comfortably. Kelly (my current companion who is contently strumming through a fashion magazine right now - completely oblivious to the fact that I am writing a story on the tortures of travel. It would be hard for her to understand in her size 8 jeans, but I love her anyway) and I opted to try to get lucky and request the aisle and the window - hoping against hope that they wouldn't sit anyone in between us. It worked thank goodness, but it was close call with the seat belt. Have I gained a few pounds? Nope, don't think so - guess its just another one of those things.



Now, from the way I am ranting you would probably think I at least well over 300lbs? Nope again - not even close. For a fat chick, I am pretty average. Very proportionate… I wear about a size 20/22. That's really scary when you consider that I am in the middle spectrum of overweight people. How many people do you think are bigger than me want to travel or worse yet HAVE to travel. An average width of an airplane coach seat is 17.25 inches! I'm not good at math, and I even I can figure that one out. And taking into consideration the many variations on width vs. circumference, it can be frightening. No wonder I get so many fearful e-mails from fat travelers wondering whether I think that they will fit into those tiny airline seats.



So, what's my point you might ask? Well, unfortunately there's not much of one. Except that unless we make ourselves a bit more vocal and take a stand against the continuation of making seats that aren't wide enough, booths with the tables too close, seatbelts that can't even go around a person that does fit in the seat, nothing WILL change. Don't get me wrong either. I'm afraid that there's not much that can be done now, and me moaning about the current situation isn't a plea to do so - its for FUTURE REFERENCE. New planes, trains, and automobiles, along with movie theaters, restaurants, office chairs, and a multitude of other things that I am beginning to find excruciatingly uncomfortable are being built new every single day. Maybe these companies are actually made aware (though they are pretty daft if they can't tell by looking around) that Americans have gotten bigger, maybe they'll think about making things bigger. Maybe the first step goes back to a previous story I wrote about us not having many role models. Perhaps if we did, they could be our voices to the corporations and airlines - and hell, maybe if we just learned to accept our bodies as is, there wouldn't be millions of Americans continuously dieting, losing unhealthily, and gaining make even more. Hence, we as a nation will FINALLY STOP GETTING FATTER!!!! Makes sense, eh? Wish someone would tell Jenny Craig to just shut the hell up!






SoshBfly@hotmail.com