Tiffany and the City: Adventures of a Fat Shopaholic. Too Fat to Fly?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hello, thanks to an idea brought to me by Cid of Chunky Curlz here is the first  installment of Tiffany and the City: Adventures of a Fat Shopaholic. I find often find myself stuck in a lot of sticky situations and although these may not always be about fashion I hope you guys can relate.


If you follow me on twitter you know that for spring break at the end of March I will be in New York for a little over a week. I was extremely excited. By excited I mean that I had already planned some activities to do while I was there; I had even planned what I was going wear on the plane. Then a big fat snag was put in my plans. If you don’t know, film maker Kevin Smith was recently thrown off a Southwest airlines plane for being too fat. After the story was released it had been discovered that Kevin Smith was unjustly thrown off the plane because he in fact could fit in his assigned seat fine and in addition neither of the women sitting beside him complained about him invading their personal space.
For some reason though I was still horrified. My heart felt like in was in my feet. I almost might have felt it thumping down there but, I was to consumed by the prickly nervous feeling that was traveling through my body and the salty tears that were about to fall from my eyes and on to my cheeks. 
At that moment I was realizing that I weigh well over 300 pounds and that when I ride public transit my arm does go over into the next seat a bit. My mother had only allotted $600 for the trip or about $200 for airfare and $400 for me to spend while I was in New York City. Being the shopaholic that I am I did not want to cut into my spending money and I definitely didn’t want to be anywhere for eight days with only $200 dollars because two seats would have been about $400. So, instead of getting practical and researching a better and cheaper way to fly I went into my moms room and cried. When I say cried I mean like a loud cry fully equipped with sniffles, moans, and whining.
I have been called fat a countless amount of times but, the most embarrassing  thing is being told you are to fat to do something. Once at Disney Quest I was told I was to fat for the virtual roller coaster but, the young woman who informed me was super nice. She did her best to try and get me into the ride and when I didn’t fit she handed me a ticket to pass the line at another ride accompanied with a huge endearing smile. Maybe the girl at Disney Quest was really nice or maybe that was a well applied lesson from the Disney World boot camp about tolerance.
I didn’t have the same hopes for the folks at Southwest though because if they were throwing fat people off their aircrafts just for being fat and for no other reason then I knew they would be ruthless when it came to me.
However, a couple days later I had sucked it up and prepared to buy my two tickets. When I went to my computer the Southwest website wouldn’t let me order two tickets under the same name. When I called Southwest I was informed that because the last time I flew I could fit in the seat and seat belt that I would be fine with one seat. I was so excited because one ticket means more money for clothes but to be honest I’m still a tad nervous about my take off date because you never know until you get there how things will turn out but, it will certainly make for another adventure.  Do you have a similar experience? Can you relate? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading! :-)

Incase anyone wants to take a look here is the statement on Southwest airlines website about "customers of size".


6 comments:

Dating Tondalaya "The Steve Harvey Way" said...

I understand and feel your pain. I always say I'm one sandwich from not being about to fit on a roller coaster. After I heard about southwest I was thinking what if I get on a plane and my hips cross the seat crease are they going to embarrass me on the plane. Makes me think about 8th grade year when the silly boys loosened my screws in my chair causing my chair to break in fron of the whole class!(who is in jail now)this is all I can think about when it comes to traveling! Good think I'm getting my curves back - 1 lbs ata time. Yes we have embraced out curves taking all things negative about plus-sized & made it positive, but it's time to live a healthier life style!I have and down 45 lbs! Confident Curvy & fit. Them we including me won't have to be scared of getting on a plane!

JayBoleyn said...

Hey Tiff Tiff i mos def understand. i havent been able to get on the batman for a while now bcuz of my weight and my height... after reading this post it automatically took me to WHY DID I GET MARRIED when Shelia had to get off the plane... its rly hurtful to see that we still arent fully accepted in society...loved your post

Unknown said...

Moments like this I wonder why the world is soo accepting of others but have no problem pointing out someones weight??? Do they not know that is super hurtful!

thefatandskinnyonfashion said...

I hope you don't have this problem. That would be horrific. Hopefully airlines will change this rule.

vc said...

Great Post Tiffany, I know sometimes its hard to share experiences like this with others but we all have had some type of issue in regards to our weight. I know when I fly I always have that fear in the back of my mind, will I be asked to got off plane? I fit fine in the seat, but sure is not much room to move around and seat belt fits just barely. But I aways go places with confidence I decided years ago I am gonna live my life and do what I love, not gonna hide just because other people are uncomfortable with my weight. Its my body, my weight, my fat, for those that don't like or accept it....can go (bleep) themselves. I am normally very nice, but sometimes you just have to stand up for yourself and tell people off. I am sure you will be fine flying, just be confident and true to your self,

L said...

I can relate, I was humiliated at a theme park because I couldn't fit into a roller coaster ride, unfortunately the man who told me was completely tackless. As for plane rides, I always get away with not having my seat belt on. I pull the seat belt over, and if it doesn't clasp I keep my hand over the buckle to make it look like it does. But I hope you don't experince what Kevin did, it was wrong and cruel. And I agree with Chunky Curlz, just be confident and you'll be fine :)
x