Bob Shallit: Petite passenger booted from Southwest flight

Sacramento Bee. ^ | Jul. 24, 2010 | Bob Shallit

[george76]

Southwest Airlines made headlines earlier this year for kicking overweight actor-director Kevin Smith off a flight because he took up more than one seat.

Now we're hearing the airline recently removed a 5-foot-4, 110-pound Sacramento-area woman from a plane so a hefty passenger could have an extra seat.

[UCANSEE2]

[fullchroma]

The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.

Quick, get Michelle Obama on the case!

[Philo1962]

The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.

WTF!?!?!?!?!? Somebody report that kid's parents to Family Services. Any 14-year-old kid that fat needs to be removed from the household immediately.

[bwc2221]

Sorry, but in my world if you are so big that you need two seats, you should be charged for two seats. People's eating habits are not the fault of airlines.

[I see my hands]

These moo cows think their betters should bear the consequences of their sick indulgences.

[TribalPrincess2U]

I had to make sure this wasn’t satire.

We’re all going mad!

[alexander_busek]

[...] that fat needs to be removed from the household immediately.

You said it! Using a steam shovel!

Regards,

[HiTech RedNeck]

I see a bunch of apes jumping up and down pointing and making monkey noises but who have never heard of “metabolic illness.”

[GeronL]

I find that one hard to swallow.

[rawhide]

No way! No way!

[rawhide]

Whoa!!!!

[freekitty]

Talk about going from one extreme to the other.

Why don’t these people use common sense instead of politically correct? Don’t they have brains?

[Wilderness Conservative]

So what's the problem?

[Robert A. Cook, PE]

He ain’t buttkled in to that seat. Thought the plane couldn’t ake off (leave the terminal) until everybody was tied up.

[GeronL]

Yes, they should pay for 2 seats

[PA Engineer]

I see a bunch of apes jumping up and down pointing and making monkey noises but who have never heard of “metabolic illness.”

I agree, however I going to make a minor correction and call it "metabolic syndrome".

There were few if any medical articles on MetSyn or Syndrome X before 1994. I began studying it after I went on Atkins to control and out of control tryglyceride level. On the diet my levels went from 660 to 60. MetSyn goes hand and hand with insulin resistance. I don't blame people as much for their weight problems as I do "government medicine".

Under Carter (now maybe the third worst president after Wilson and Obowelmovement), McGovern was instrumental in pushing through the Carb based Food Pyramid. This was instrumental in Americans changing their diet from a balanced low glycemic one to a very high glycemic carb based lifestyle. People believed in their government and the numerous cardiologists who raised the red flags were silenced.

Numerous studies have now correlated the rise in obesity and insulin resistance to the adoption of the food pyramid. There is also a plethora of discussions to be found on google.

I think people should lighten up a bit on people with weight problems. These are people who truly are being "victimized" by government science and who feel they are doing the right thing, but can't get rid of the stubborn weight or slow down the process of type II diabetes. I think I would spend more time counseling them to go back to more of a "caveman" diet.

If you know someone who is obese have them get their blood tests prior to going on a low carb diet. Have them try it for one month without informing their doctor and get their blood work redone. I guarantee if they stick to the diet a few things will stand out during their next exam.

1. Immediately lowered triglyceride levels independent of BMI
2. Lowered LDL cholesterol
3. Immediate cessation of GURD symptoms
4. Weight loss
5. Improved insulin resistance
6. Improved hunger control (8 hours from 3 hours)

These are just a few of the improvements. Hopefully we can teach enough people that by now the government has been totally corrupted by special interests. Our current government and institutions are contraindicated for the well being of the American people.

[PA Engineer]

Why don’t these people use common sense instead of politically correct? Don’t they have brains?

Blame the tort lawyers.

[YouGoTexasGirl]

Had a guy in first class a few years ago who had to wedge himself into the seat. He was so large he could not even eat. It was a 3 1/2 hour flight and he did not eat or drink anything.

I think the majority of obese people want to blame someone/some disease for their problem. The ones I have known have horrible eating and exercise habits and when I see their pantry and fridge, it makes me sick!

[Southack]

Circus acrobats consume gallons of pure lard. Exercise levels change the foods that you need.

Good diet and good exercise will typically yield good health; sleep habits, stress-levels, and consumption of liquor/narcotics notwithstanding.

[BfloGuy]

Somebody report that kid's parents to Family Services.

I sincerely hope you're joking. Reporting people to the government because you don't approve of their child-rearing smacks me as pretty Soviet.

[ICE-FLYER]

Whats the problem? I can’t get to the bathroom and the drink cart never made it to my row!!!!!!

[luvbach1]

Reminds me when I was booted off an American Airlines flight in Warsaw, enroute to Frankfort, on a “buddy pass” (equivalent to standby)to accommodate over booking. I waited 26 hours on hard, plastic banana seats for the next flight.

[timestax]

[timestax]

bttt

[Beelzebubba]

I see a bunch of apes jumping up and down pointing and making monkey noises but who have never heard of “metabolic illness.”

---

Is that the one in which the laws of physics are violated, and more calories are stored as fat than are consumed?

There may be illnesses that make it hard to exercise, or to have a moderate diet, but you can’t get more than 100% of the energy out of food, no matter how sick you are.

[Philo1962]

I sincerely hope you're joking. Reporting people to the government because you don't approve of their child-rearing smacks me as pretty Soviet.

If a 14-year-old child won't fit in a standard airline seat, that child is probably being neglected as in "child neglect." Left at home alone with nothing but a Playstation system, a TV, and a full refrigerator. The child could be using food as a substitute for parental interaction. For other children in similar circumstances, it could be drugs, alcohol, or promiscuity -- or a combination.

In order to be unable to fit into an airline seat, that 14-year-old kid has got to weigh 300 pounds.

[DariusBane]

“Circus acrobats consume gallons of pure lard.”

Now I know what I want to be when I grow up!

[justlurking]

The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.

Aside from the obvious question about why a 14-year-old kid is that large, it also explains why the other passenger was "bumped".

The child may have been traveling unescorted, or with family. Either way, bumping the child would have caused a lot more logistical problems than bumping the passenger that was previously on standby.

To be fair, SWA should have asked for volunteers to be bumped, rather than forcing the issue with this particular passenger -- reportedly she had already paid for a full fare ticket in order to be seated.

[zerosix]

Amen to all that you say.

A number of years ago, after having a physical, my new doc told me that I had "high cholesterol" - 216.

At that time, my weight was very normal, (5'2" 104).

The doc inquired if I ate eggs, red meat, etc. I said, "yes," and he just said that I needed to be eating much differently with no eggs and only having red meat once every 90 days or less.

He said that I needed to "concentrate on whole grains, vegetables, low fat dairy, etc.

After doing as directed for 6 months, I went back to check up to see "how I was doing."

I had gained 10 lbs., cholesterol was now 238!

Doctor insisted that I was "not doing as directed." I told him that I definitely was and not only that, I had given up red meat entirely as well as had NO eggs.

A few years later, still on a variation of the "grain based" diet, my cholesterol numbers got as high as 265, blood pressure went up as well as accompanying weight gain for a total of 23 lbs!

Last fall, went on high protein, very low carb (under 40 per day), under metabolism-trained doctor: no wheat/corn/rice products. Results: weight back to normal, cholesterol under 200, no high blood pressure.