Obesity | Productivity501

I hadn't heard of Kevin Smith until reading in the news that he had been asked to deplane a Southwest flight because he was too big. Evidently, he directed and acted in some movies I haven't seen. For those of you who missed all the "excitement," here is what happened. Due to his ample girth, Mr. Smith buys two Southwest tickets when he flies. (Correction: Kevin says this is the first week he bought two tickets and he does it because he is shy. Southwest says he routinely buys two tickets. Doesn't matter for the point of this article, but I thought I'd be clear.) That way, it guarantees him an open adjacent seat. If the flight sells out, Southwest keeps the price of the empty … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: health, obesity

Fat People to Pay $25 Per Month

Back in May I mentioned American Airline's new charge for checked luggage and asked if people would mind paying for their flight based on their weight. In the comments many people thought this was discrimination against people with a "disability". Well Alabama is now going to charge fat people $25 per month for insurance unless they are working at shedding the extra pounds. They have a pretty generous definition of who is fat enough to pay the fee--your BMI has to be over 35 (30 is usually considered obese). If you are 5'6" that means you are probably over 220 pounds. They already charge $24 per month to smokers. What would you think if your insurance gave you $25 for being at a … [Read more...]