SW Airlines gives morbidity-obese passengers a full row of free seats

[Catemus]

I am curious. Do you think that the person who is morbidly obese doesn't recognize they are fat? Do you think they haven't felt the pains both physically and mentally of carrying around that much weight? Are they also supposed to stop participating in life because of their condition? A company made a decision to address a problem that impacts some of their customers. Why is that such an issue?

When it comes to accountability, where is the discussion regarding food companies that have specifically engineered their products and marketing to make you addicted and to crave more of it, while also deceptively trying to convince you that the food is healthy or wholesome? More importantly, where is the outrage over the FDA for allowing companies to continue to get away with it?

Obesity is a serious epidemic in our country and across the globe. If it was as simple a solution to solve as many on here are suggesting, then it would not be a problem that continues to increase. Hopefully new awareness with process foods, new approaches to nutrition and new breakthroughs in medication will help alleviate the issue. One thing that has certainly not worked has been shaming these people.

A company made a decision to address a problem that impacts some of their customers. Why is that such an issue?

It’s an issue because we are a more interconnected species than ever before. The choices we make don’t always affect just us. They can affect everyone.

Being fat is a choice, and an unhealthy one. Smoking is a choice, and an unhealthy one. There are many choices that we make that affect the population at large.

The general effect of our unhealthy choices on others is a rise in costs of health insurance, costs to use transportation, etc. No one wants to pay for others’ bad choices.

 

[bthaunert]

I didn't think Southwest had assigned seats, just a numbered boarding system. If the flight is full, somebody is getting bumped, unless "Full" isn't really "Full" and they've held back a handful of seats for such circumstances.

Nobody is getting bumped so an overweight passenger can have a complimentary second seat. The airline has said they will accommodate if an adjacent seat is available. In order to guarantee a second seat, they need to purchase it. You are correct in their seating as it's a numbered boarding system. Honestly, in that system the seat next to the obese person is probably the last seat taken anyways.

 

[Freetaxreturn]

I am curious. Do you think that the person who is morbidly obese doesn't recognize they are fat? Do you think they haven't felt the pains both physically and mentally of carrying around that much weight? Are they also supposed to stop participating in life because of their condition? A company made a decision to address a problem that impacts some of their customers. Why is that such an issue?

When it comes to accountability, where is the discussion regarding food companies that have specifically engineered their products and marketing to make you addicted and to crave more of it, while also deceptively trying to convince you that the food is healthy or wholesome? More importantly, where is the outrage over the FDA for allowing companies to continue to get away with it?

Obesity is a serious epidemic in our country and across the globe. If it was as simple a solution to solve as many on here are suggesting, then it would not be a problem that continues to increase. Hopefully new awareness with process foods, new approaches to nutrition and new breakthroughs in medication will help alleviate the issue. One thing that has certainly not worked has been shaming these people.



It’s an issue because we are a more interconnected species than ever before. The choices we make don’t always affect just us. They can affect everyone.

Being fat is a choice, and an unhealthy one. Smoking is a choice, and an unhealthy one. There are many choices that we make that affect the population at large.

The general effect of our unhealthy choices on others is a rise in costs of health insurance, costs to use transportation, etc. No one wants to pay for others’ bad choices.

Easy answer to this, Mounjaro/Zepbound 🍺

 

[Deeeefense]

Airlines should charge per pound. It cost more to transport a lard then a regular person.

 

[PhDcat2018]

I am curious. Do you think that the person who is morbidly obese doesn't recognize they are fat? Do you think they haven't felt the pains both physically and mentally of carrying around that much weight? Are they also supposed to stop participating in life because of their condition? A company made a decision to address a problem that impacts some of their customers. Why is that such an issue?

When it comes to accountability, where is the discussion regarding food companies that have specifically engineered their products and marketing to make you addicted and to crave more of it, while also deceptively trying to convince you that the food is healthy or wholesome? More importantly, where is the outrage over the FDA for allowing companies to continue to get away with it?

Obesity is a serious epidemic in our country and across the globe. If it was as simple a solution to solve as many on here are suggesting, then it would not be a problem that continues to increase. Hopefully new awareness with process foods, new approaches to nutrition and new breakthroughs in medication will help alleviate the issue. One thing that has certainly not worked has been shaming these people.

Put the fork down.
Exercise.

This isn't a mystery.

 

[PhDcat2018]

Airlines should charge per pound. It cost more to transport a lard then a regular person.

Yep. Weight effects flying in many ways. More weight=more fuel. Balancing said weight evenly is actually important too. Remember the cargo 747 that crashed and was caught on camera? Well, the weight shifted heavily, and there we are.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Airlines should charge per pound. It cost more to transport a lard then a regular person.

Look who believes in the free market now!

 

[Deeeefense]

Look who believes in the free market now!

? I've been a free market capitalist all my life a small business owner that built two businesses from the ground up, degrees in management and marketing and stock market investor for over 30 years.

 

[Hank Camacho]

? I've been a free market capitalist all my life a small business owner that built two businesses from the ground up, degrees in management and marketing and stock market investor for over 30 years.

Not when it comes to the minimum wage...

 

[Deeeefense]

Not when it comes to the minimum wage...

There is nothing about a regulation like min wage that contradicts a market based economy. Every country with a market based economy has regulations. Min wage is no different than health and safety provisions or child labor laws. We have a system that allows entrepreneurs great freedoms to build their dreams, and corporations to become dominate world leaders in their fields, but that doesn't include the freedom to abuse.

 

[Hank Camacho]

I'm just teasing you, buddy.

 

[Ron Mehico]

When it comes to accountability, where is the discussion regarding food companies that have specifically engineered their products and marketing to make you addicted and to crave more of it, while also deceptively trying to convince you that the food is healthy or wholesome? More importantly, where is the outrage over the FDA for allowing companies to continue to get away with it?

I do agree with some of your points for sure, I don’t think it’s black and white. However, I find this paragraph contradictory. You are saying food companies deceive us to think their food is healthy, yet you obviously know that they are deceiving us, so how did you educate yourself to learn that? I don’t think it takes an astronomical amount of effort to educate yourself about proper nutrition, especially nowadays. Being fat? Ok, fine, whatever. But morbidly obese? That’s just a whole different animal that I think involves some deep psychological issues as well, and needs to be treated as a disease, not ignored with grace or given excuses about. Just my two cents.

 

[Perrin75]

Here is an example of how food companies deceive us. In the 1990's there was the a push against fat as being a bad thing for you. Nabisco took advantage of this opportunity and introduced a line of products called snackwells. These had less fat in them, but significantly more sugar. Specifically High Fructose Corn syrup. They had also been specifically engineered to trigger a bliss response in the people who ate the products, and they had developed an entire marketing campaign around this line of products to promote them as a healthy alternative to fatty foods on the market. This program was incredibly successful for the company, leading to the product being a huge hit because folks trying to lose weight thought they had a tasty alternative to the unhealthy foods they had been eating. Instead they were consuming something that was specifically engineered to make them addicted and was significantly worse for their health.

In the 1950's, the tobacco industry started buying up food companies as a way to diversify their holdings. The medical industry had started to label tobacco products as unhealthy, and they could see the writing on the wall. They delayed this situation as long as they could, but they also hedged their bets by putting money into other industries. Once they took over food companies like Nabisco and Nestle, they started applying the same techniques they used for cigarettes to make their products more appealing and addictive to consumers.

This was coupled with the creation of multiple cheap sweeteners and oils. Rapeseed oil, Cottonseed oil, Soybean Oil, Corn Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Aspartame and all of their ilk have led to massive increases in inflammation, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. These are in everything, including products that are supposed to be healthy for you.

You can't exercise your way out of a bad diet. And a bad diet doesn't mean you are just sitting around knocking out boxes of twinkies. Many people find themselves buying and consuming products that they believe will be healthy for them, but instead make their health worse.

 

[Catemus]

Here is an example of how food companies deceive us. In the 1990's there was the a push against fat as being a bad thing for you. Nabisco took advantage of this opportunity and introduced a line of products called snackwells. These had less fat in them, but significantly more sugar. Specifically High Fructose Corn syrup. They had also been specifically engineered to trigger a bliss response in the people who ate the products, and they had developed an entire marketing campaign around this line of products to promote them as a healthy alternative to fatty foods on the market. This program was incredibly successful for the company, leading to the product being a huge hit because folks trying to lose weight thought they had a tasty alternative to the unhealthy foods they had been eating. Instead they were consuming something that was specifically engineered to make them addicted and was significantly worse for their health.

In the 1950's, the tobacco industry started buying up food companies as a way to diversify their holdings. The medical industry had started to label tobacco products as unhealthy, and they could see the writing on the wall. They delayed this situation as long as they could, but they also hedged their bets by putting money into other industries. Once they took over food companies like Nabisco and Nestle, they started applying the same techniques they used for cigarettes to make their products more appealing and addictive to consumers.

This was coupled with the creation of multiple cheap sweeteners and oils. Rapeseed oil, Cottonseed oil, Soybean Oil, Corn Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Aspartame and all of their ilk have led to massive increases in inflammation, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. These are in everything, including products that are supposed to be healthy for you.

You can't exercise your way out of a bad diet. And a bad diet doesn't mean you are just sitting around knocking out boxes of twinkies. Many people find themselves buying and consuming products that they believe will be healthy for them, but instead make their health worse.

Great post.