So, if I decide to fly in the US, I have to buy two seats. It’s been that way on a lot of airlines for a while. I remember a story of my parents, who were also of sturdy stature, telling me on one flight they had back in the early 1980’s on Rich International Airways, that they were actually weighed before boarding.

But can we blame the airlines? They are businesses. They are all trying to maximize profit and minimize costs. Giving big person 2 seats costs them money. Even from the standpoint of giving a big person one seat, the weight costs them more money in terms of fuel.

When I go to a movie theater, I have to go to one where the arms raise. There are 2 theaters that I tend to frequent in my area, one being Cinemark and the other Rave Motion Pictures. Both have arms that raise, but Cinemark has a fin of some sort on the back part of the seat, so it makes sitting there uncomfortable, The Rave is a great place for seating, very comfortable, arms rise, no hint of constriction. Another “mom and pop” dollar theater in my town has arms that do not rise, so they do not get my business. But, they may not want it. After all, I do take up 2 seats.

Sometimes I have to go out and shop, I guess we all do. When the need presents itself, I have to use one of the courtesy electric carts to shop with; a wonderful innovation and an amazing idea that these stores came up with, by the way. Especially with a large demographic of day time shoppers being elderly, this makes sense. But some stores have more room than others, so I choose them, which may cost a little more, but I guess that’s that price of comfort.

Restaurants can be the same way. Stationary seats too close to the table, booths, they are all barriers to comfort. So I don’t eat at restaurants a lot.

So, businesses that aren’t size friendly (and I do mean both big and tall) get a rap for not accommodating us. And that’s a shame, because we all like to think we are valued. But the truth is, we are perceived to cost them money. And in an economy that is crawling on all fours right now, we have to face the fact that change will come slow if at all. If anything, they will start increasing fees to nickel and dime everyone. So what do we do?

Well, losing weight is what everyone tells us to do (if you are tall, losing height really isn’t an option obviously). When someone suggests that I usually respond with a slew of obscenities that would make a sailor blush. We could write our legislators. Maybe join a grassroots size advocacy campaign, but that all takes time.

Since my weight gain, I have not flown on a plane. I don’t eat at restaurants that have stationary seating. I don’t shop at stores without electric carts that I fit into. They have made an economic decision and so have I. They don’t want to accommodate me, so they don’t get my money.

Businesses can claim that persons of size cause economic hardships on them and I’m sure that they have some data to back that up. But do you know what? There was a school of thought in the United States in the 1800’s that said that to give freedom to black persons would kill the Southern economy. And, after a war and the granting of freedom to blacks, there were some economic hardships. But you know what? They adapted. They became stronger. And it did take a while (laws are one thing, attitudes are another.) And now we have black President. It is amazing that a people that were enslaved and mistreated for over 400 years now has one of their own leading the country that oppressed their forefathers. Imagine what would happen if we just judged a person by the content of his or her character instead of their appearance.