To dread flying because of my size?

[annauk1]

I am going on holiday in a few days. I should be really happy but the flight is really making me not want to go.

I flew last year and needed a belt extension which was fine, wasn't much of a problem, but the thing that petrifies me most is that DP and I won't be able to sit together and if I end up sitting next to a nasty person who is ' a fat-phobe' and huffs and puffs at me the whole 3 hours for taking up more than my (tiny) seat space. I am flying with Monarch who are notorius for their tiny seats. I am a size 26 btw.

Mallory Towers was a favourite of mine. I longed to be a sturdy girl like Darryl.

Taps fingers and waits in vain for OP.....

I had a nine hour flight experience on a plane where I was in a seat next to someone who substantially encroached onto my space with his tum which wedged me into perhaps less than half my seat. It was really unpleasant to be in that much physical contact with someone you don't know for that length of time. I couldn't move because the plane was full.

It just seems to me to be a polite thing to do, not to take up someone else's seat, if you could do otherwise.

Some people here are just rude. The OP is not asking for insults or to be told to lose weight, that is her own private business.

We frequently see threads about babies/children on planes and the overwhelming response is that if the parents are considerate and do all they can to be minimise the impact on others then fellow flyers should be considerate. This is exactly the same.

The baby is not squeezing them out of their seat!
There is a solution. They sit in the same row and book 3 seats.

Ohh did you, VivPru. I always admired Alicia and Felicity; Alicia was fun, Felicity was nicer though - and super-talented.

Oh yes St Clare's too, but there was something magical about that swimming pool carved into the cliff at MT.....

You are morbidly obese and need to book 3 seats for you and your husband and get rid of your attitude towards 'fat phobes' who just want the space they paid for.

Have a great holiday.

LyingWitchintheWardrobe - I longed to be a musical genius in the manner of Irene. I LOVED the one where they put on the panto.

I wanted to go to Mallory Towers. I was incredibly jealous of my friend who went to boarding school.

It's not the same though is it. A baby annoys people by crying, which it, usually, only does for a short portion of the whole flight. There are lot of things the parents can try: dummies, bottles, food, distraction, trying to get them to sleep. You yourself can take steps to mitigate it - put headphones on and listen to music/watch a movie, put ear plugs in, try to sleep.

Having someone sitting next to you that encroaches into your seat is a constant, physical imposition that won't let up throughout the whole flight.

I feel sorry for people in this position but I think, much like someone with long legs, they probably should pay the airline to sit them together, or book a third seat. This is a physical consideration like being very tall or having a bad back. My 6'5 BIL always pays the extra to have aisle or front row seats.

I think the OP genuinely wants to know what it is like to sit next to a physically larger person - or why would she ask? and I don't think there is any point sugar coating the fact that people dread it, for obvious reasons. That's not the same as being mean to the OP. I often see people cringing when me and my large family arrive and sit down somewhere - but its not a constant annoyance and I can control/minimize it.

I don't feel comfortable with someone spilling over onto my seat. I fly alone quite a bit and I remember once someone who was sat next to me said 'I am glad you are a little one it gives me a bit more space'!! WTF?? I paid the same price and wasn't able to enjoy the 'pleasure' of my armrest.

Can you not buy two seats OP?

I flew home once with a broken leg and I had to buy three seats to accomodate me, I wouldn't expect anyone to put up with a broken limb taking up thier space. Just a thought.

oooo Alicia was so my fave. And that girl Carlotta (who Blyton called a "gypsy") when she snuck out to ride her stallion all night!

The bottom line is; someone objecting to being compressed into two thirds (at best) of the space they've been allocated is not the real problem here.
Being significantly larger than a huge percentage of the population (not that many people can't fly due to their excessive size) is a problem.
It's your problem, op. Projecting it onto your unfortunate travelling partner won't change that.

Fleta, you're right! It was Irene in Mallory Towers, Felicity was St Clare's.

VivPru oh yes, that swimming pool in the rocks, fresh salty water with each new wave. What's not to love?

Lego... I felt like that too. I would have loved boarding school... ... Hmm, I'm sure there's a niche there somewhere, bit like 'Laddette to Lady' but in Enid Blyton school-stylee? Any billionaires reading?

Federation absolutely, such healthy disrespect for rules and authority!

I loved the different coloured Summer dresses for each girl, to flatter her best in colouring and complexion...

I have scoliosis, if someone was spilling into my seat I would absolutely have to ask the stewardess for help in being moved.

I think the fact that I you are already annoyed with the person who's flight you are going to affect is not fair. Just imagine if you were sat next to a person bigger than you, spilling into your seat so you couldn't sit straight, how would you feel?

And to not sit by your husband, if the reason is that you can't fit together, than you are likely in convincing so many more people

Vivipru and LyingWitch - you're both MAD, that swimming pool was a health and safety disaster waiting to happen - even some 40 years ago when I first read those books my blood curdled at the thought of it!

I was with Gwendoline Mary all the way on that one. And on most of the other sporting activities too - really pissed me off the way you were written off at that school if you were no good at games...

Somerset..you're morbidly rude.

I quite admired Gwendoline Mary's devious streak... but totally typical of me to relate to the sensible, fair, reliable boring Darryl.

If I had a very fat person sat next to me on a plane squashing me, I'd just accept it, even if it was uncomfortable. I feel the same way about people being grossly overweight as I do about people who suffer from any other physical disability or health problem - that as a society we need to find a way of accepting them and meeting their needs. Most people don't choose to be fat.

I was going to hijack the thread last night but thought it inappropriate, but now it's become a free-for-all it seems the right time to say that after, what... 7? 8? years on MN I've only just fallen in with your name Fanjo. Ha! Fanjo for the Mammaries! chuckle chuckle

Depending on the size of a baby, of course they can encroach on you.

I have had a flight where a baby next to me would only sleep crossways (across her lap) in its mother's arms rather than up against her shoulder and, believe me, the baby's head against me quite unsettling as I was scared of waking it/hurting it/bumping it.

DD had a night flight where all the seats were reclined but the woman behind her created a real fuss that she and her baby felt crushed if DDs seat was back. DD is a very nervous flyer, was upset, disturbed by this howling baby and agitated mother and by the arrogant twunt in front who reclined his seat regardless of the fact that she was then enclosed.

My point really is that flying on budget airlines is often uncomfortable and we all have to make compromises and respect others.

Some of you should be ashamed of your rudeness

Why am I morbidly rude?

I honestly don't understand. The OP is morbidly obese. She has stated so. She is size 26 and can't fit into a plane seat and already hates the person next to her who may complain.

I am not rude. The OP definitely is.

ViviPru..oh no..did you just think I was weird oerv before

Or even "perv"

If I wanted to cause a hoo-ha about fatness I'd start a thread just like this and then disappear. I'd probably have numbers in my name too.