Certainly immobility can increase weight if someone doesn’t adjust consumption.
The longshoreman/fireman comment is absurd. HWP people fit in the seats reasonably well. I am large (often 200+), but don’t take up anybody else’s space because I work hard to make sure it is hard weight. I could easily gain 40-50lbs of fat because of my metabolism, but I work at limiting caloric input and maximizing caloric output.
There is no “entitlement” to 2,000, 3,000, or any other number of calories a day. Michael Phelps could eat 12,000 calories a day and be slender because of his training schedule. Someone who is sedentary has to make adjustments on the downside or find ways of being more active. I’d really enjoy eating more than I do, but I don’t have time to devote more time to exercise and I don’t want to gain weight. If your level of activity and metabolism justify 1,500 calories a day, then that is what you ought to consume; if your level of activity and metabolism justify 12,000 calories, then that is what you should consume. It is no more complex than that for anybody.
Here’s a little insight so you can know that I’m not who you probably think I am. I am a Conservative, a former Sgt in the US Army. I do not believe in entitlements.
Of course, one has to adjust for immobility. The longshoreman/fireman comment is far from absurd. Those guys are hugh. Don’t you acknowledge that the airlines have made the seats smaller?
We don’t know what this poor kid was like?
The bottom line was the lady did NOT have a seat on that flight. She was flying standby. Too bad that more folks felt like piling on the kid rather than being a little tolerant. Just because you walk on water doesn’t mean everyone else can. It’s hard enough being a kid. Thank God he didn’t encounter further abuse from those on this thread.