I liked the article.
“I tried. The arm rest. Tried to get it down. He looked at me, kind of grimaced. And when a 300-plus guy has you effectively pinned in and you can’t even run for it, when they grimace at you, your first thought is: “Oh, man. He looks hungry.”
Been there, done that! When I pay for a seat, I expect to be able to use it. I don’t expect to share it with someone who needs at least 1.5 seats for his belly. I’ll cheerfully make full allowance for anyone who has problems that prevent modest exercise. But otherwise: I buy enough seat for me. Not enough for me and someone else who hasn’t paid to share mine.
If the guy next to me wants 1/2 of my seat, he can at least offer me 1/2 the price of my ticket. I’ll give him my package of peanuts (do they still offer those) as a bonus.
That isn’t “fat shaming”. Just property rights!
“Large numbers of people were upset something like that would run in their paper.”
Correction: “Large numbers of LARGE people were upset something like that would run in their paper.”