On Sunday, I rode New Jersey Transit and SEPTA back to school from New
York, taking the more thrifty alternative to Amtrak. As should be
expected for Thanksgiving weekend, the train was packed. After changing trains at Trenton from New Jersey Transit to SEPTA, my friend Katie and
I were squished into a seat by a third “seat partner”.
But then I noticed that, while some of us were struggling for oxygen, other riders had all the space in the world. This is because many passengers were obese and felt it was their right, their honor and their privilege not to share their seat with anyone.
A few years ago, Southwest Airlines caused quite a
storm with their policy of forcing overweight passengers to purchase a second seat.
This is a great idea and should be implemented on public trains.
It encourages weight loss and, though I’m certainly no twiggy myself,
I certainly don’t think it is fair for some people to sit in utter
discomfort while other people pay the same price for much more space.
Maybe all of this is on my mind because my dad recently purged our
house of products with trans-fats. All of my favorite snacks were
gone when I arrived home for the holidays. But I think we all want to live
long, healthy lives, so why not give it a shot?
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November 28th, 2006 at 11:29 am
This post wreaks of snobbery. I seriously doubt that an obese person refused to let you sit next to them. It is more likely that people refused to sit next to the obese person because of their weight, and because they did not want to be squished into a seat next to a fat person. If it isn’t someone fat, it will be someone with fifty bags or a baby. The bottom line is that if you ride public transportation, it will be crowded and you will sometimes have to stand or be squished into a seat, so stop complaining you spoiled, elitist prick
November 28th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
I would veto this in a second. Not because I disagree, but because I still need to be able to afford a ticket.
November 28th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Stephen–riding on public transportation will not always be one of life’s great travel experiences. I am sorry that you have to pick on obese people in your column–why not pick on easier targets–men with moustaches named Stephen? What is the point that you are trying to make? If you are in utter discomfort–just don’t ride SEPTA.
November 29th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I ride SEPTA at least twice a day because I live downtown. I can tell you that the thought of doing somehthing about the fat/obese ppl has crossed my mind more than once. It is extremely disturbing to have a fat man’s leg basically on top of yours… It’s easy to defend the obese when you actually are not a frequent user. But trust me on this one…something must be done about it..
Being obese should be greatly disincouraged. If you prohibit cigarrettes which are bad for your health, then stricter measures should be put in place when it comes to food. You are killing yourself too by being obese.
November 30th, 2006 at 1:38 am
Why does there need to be any official discouragement of obesity? What ever happened to personal responsibility? Get over it already and just don’t sit next to the fat people on the train. Stand in the aisle if you must — it’s more comfortable there anyway when the car is packed and you get off a lot faster.