An airline passenger took to Reddit this week to share a story of what he described as an uncomfortable flight experience.
The post on the subreddit AITA (“Am I the A–hole?”) from last week quickly gained traction and has garnered over 6,200 reactions and 2,700 comments as of April 4.
The story revolves around an 18-year-old Reddit user posting under the handle “L4l0_Salamanca” who claims he was forced to share his seat with an obese passenger during a 12-hour connecting flight.
Self-described as quite broad-shouldered and almost 6 feet 3 inches tall, the poster said he found the cramped conditions unbearable.
He brought the issue to the attention of the flight attendant, who informed him that his seat had actually been paid for by the obese person.
Most airlines require passengers who cannot buckle their seatbelts without an extender or cannot lower the armrests between the seats to purchase two seats, per iFly.
While it is not known the exact circumstances under which the other passenger purchased his second seat, the flight he and the Reddit post’s author were on had been over-booked. The second seat was given to the Reddit user, according to his post.
With this new information, the Reddit user proceeded to ask the flight attendant how the seat had been made available to him despite being occupied by someone else’s “literal rolls.”
The flight attendant reportedly responded by calling him rude and threatening to have him removed from the flight. This led to a heated exchange between the two parties, with the obese passenger apparently chiming in to call the Reddit user a “fatphobic s–t.”
After the flight, the Reddit user received a letter of complaint from the airline. It accused him of being rude to other passengers and staff, and he was temporarily banned from flying with the airline again.
He appealed the letter and the ban was lifted. He was also apparently compensated for the “trouble,” per his post.
While arguing that he shouldn’t have been the one disparaged by the airline’s booking system and “the lack of discipline of another person,” the Reddit user put it to other Redditers to decide whether he was at fault (“the a–hole”) in the situation.
The majority decided that he was.
The top-rated comment from a fellow Reddit user opined that he hadn’t handled the situation correctly and lacked tact.
“I know air travel can make people turn into idiots, so please everyone, don’t be that idiot,” the user wrote.
The Federal Aviation Administration actually tracks unruly passenger incidents. In 2022, there were a total of 2,456 reports logged and $8,449,543 in fines distributed. These types of incidents have declined since the second half of last year.
Another Reddit user suggested that the young man lacked empathy for the obese passenger.
“The fact that the poor man knew you were complaining about him tells me you were loud and rude. You are also fat phobic how do you know there wasn’t a medical issue causing him to be larger?” wrote the user.
Yet some Reddit users sympathized with the young man.
“[You are not the a–hole] for making a ‘fuss’ about it. It’s the airline’s responsibility to make sure you have the seat you paid for,” said one post.
However, the same user added, “[You are the a–hole] for making personal attacks, you should be mad at the airline and whoever handled your complaints, not the person sitting next to you. If he’s occupying your seat, say that he’s occupying your seat, you don’t have to attack him and [judge] his discipline, you know nothing about his struggles.”
Another user argued that the young man was not at fault, claiming, “Reddit has this weird obsession with pretending obesity isn’t a problem and the world should adjust for them.”
Obesity is an ongoing public health crisis in the United States, which ranks 12th for having the highest number of cases in the world. Over 36% of the population has a Body Mass Index of over 30.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to the causes of obesity as being complex, with lifestyle factors, genetic makeup, illnesses, and medication all playing potential roles.
A similar debate to the one appearing on Reddit emerged around a video posted on Instagram by a physical trainer and former reality TV star, as The Dallas Express reported.
Daniel Holmes came under fire for allegedly “fat-shaming” a plus-sized mannequin appearing on the sales floor of a sportswear retailer.
“Those that say this is empowering are completely delusional. It’s promoting early death. There is no power in that,” the now-deleted post read.
In a temporary Instagram story, Holmes defended himself, saying, “The problem is when brands start to cater to this unhealthy body type — my concern is where does that lead?”
Some have similarly suggested that incidents of childhood obesity are as high as they are right now because of mainstream culture’s increasingly lax attitude toward being overweight.
For instance, children’s entertainment has begun featuring obese characters and hinging plots on “fat acceptance,” as The Dallas Express previously reported.
Texas ranked 10th in the United States for childhood obesity, with 20.7% of children ages 10-17 classified as obese in 2020-2021. This represented an increase of nearly 4% over the national rate of 17% for the same period.
