Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Entitlement...

I read an article the other day and shared it on my podcast, 'The Fattening of America" about airlines beginning to charge overweight passengers more for passage on their planes. They reason that if you cannot fit into one seat, you should be required to purchase the additional seat you will be occupying.

Now I can see some backlash coming down the pipe with this arrangement. Some lawyer could create a class-action suit claiming discrimination on the airline's behalf by making obese people (the poor people that cannot stop themselves from being obese) pay more for their flights. As if they have entitlement to not having to pay more.

Hey, 5 years ago I would have had to pay extra for a seat on an aircraft and probably wouldn't have made a stink about it. It's embarrassing enough to have to ask for an additional seat plus a seatbelt extender. It was my own fault I became obese and being "soft" on me is no way to help me make better choices but rather it would only allow me to wallow in my obesity.

Maybe I'm rambling, but we all have choices to make. Sometimes we make the right choices and other times we do not. We need to pay for the consequences of those choices regardless. If that means paying more for health insurance or an airline ticket - so be it. Maybe by hitting people where it hurts most - the pocketbook - we could begin a trend of people making healthier choices in their lives and reduce our nation's obesity ranks.


MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com

No comments: