I was kicked off flight for ‘fat shaming’ obese man who took up a good chunk of my seat – am I a bad person?
A PASSENGER claims he was branded “fatphobic” and kicked off a plane after complaining an obese man’s tummy rolls spilled into his seat.
The passenger took to Reddit to ask if he is a “bad person” after allegedly fat-shaming his seat neighbour.
After boarding his 12 hour connecting flight back to his home country he recalls having the “delightful sight of an obese man who was taking up a good chunk of my seat,” he wrote in his post.
The passenger, 18, said he was not a “small guy” himself, having “broad shoulders” and being around 6ft 2.
“I told the flight attendant about this issue, and she told me that the seat was paid for by this obese person and the flight was full,” he added.
“I asked the flight attendant how it’s possible that my seat [was] still rendered as available if it was being used for someone’s literal rolls.
“I then added on how this airline wasn’t absolutely terrible just a few years ago. (It wasn’t just this incident; they just went downhill in quality.)”
But the passenger’s comments ultimately got him kicked off the flight.
“These comments prompted the flight attendant to call me rude and just made her double down on [having me] kicked off the plane – though she reassured me I’d be compensated for this trouble, as I told her I wasn’t travelling for vacation.”
The Reddit user said he was called “fatphobic” by the other passenger, while others gave him the “stink eye”.
“I know they think I’m a bad person for this, but on the other hand, I’m having to pay for the lack of discipline of another person as well as this sh**ty airline’s booking system,” he said.
“The airline staff sent a letter of complaint that I got appealed and the consequences in the complaint (being a temporary ban) were removed less than an hour later.
“In the letter of complaint, it said I was being rude to other passengers and the staff. Since it got appealed so quick, I got to travel the next day anyway.”
The story has been making its rounds on Reddit after the man asked the online community if they thought he was in the wrong.
And viewers have been quick to leave their thoughts.
One wrote: “No matter the reason someone is fat (which they never owe anyone a justification for their existence. No one does) they deserve respect”.
Another fired back: “Or maybe he’s just fat. No one deserves to be spoken about like this. Not saying he shouldn’t have said anything if he really couldn’t sit comfortably for 12 hours, but he could’ve gone about this in a completely different way.
One more said: “I’m also a tall and broad-shouldered person. But learn some damn tact.”
But others came to the passenger’s defence and commented: “[He] needed his full seat and unfortunately the larger man, who should have bought 2 seats to travel due to his size, didn’t. Under no circumstance should OP have sat in half a seat for 12 hours”.
This comes after one plane passenger divided opinions after refusing to swap seats with a mum so she could sit next to her toddler daughter.
The fuming flyer said they had the window seat on a flight to Japan and the parent wanted them to agree to an “inferior trade” to a space in the middle of a row.
Another mum took “petty revenge” on a passenger who reclined their plane seat – but people didn’t agree with her.