I'm with you Piglet - I'm a big fan of most of Lindy's writing, but sometimes I start to suspect that she'll drive around the internet block 3 times looking for a fight or a slight. I'm sure that once she moved from the Stranger to Gawker it became partially a traffic building strategy to spark fights and fan…

Not that I need to present my Fatty Credentials to you, but I AM OVERWEIGHT. I know what it's like to be fat in America, for fuck's sake.

Umm...nope.

getting to the plane late, invading his space by stowing the luggage away (everyone gets their space invaded when doing this, itd be nice if she said excuse me though), passively aggressivly kicking him.....?

Yep. There's a principle in social psychology called the fundamental attribution error. It states that when judging other people's behavior we pay more attention to stable, internal factors ("that guy's a jerk who hates fat people") than to situational factors ("that guy's probably in a bad mood right now, maybe cuz…

Yeah, I only got to the part where she said she deliberately kicked him for no reason, before I gave up.

Neither person was behaving well, but the author, who has the additional benefit of telling the story through her perspective, looks like way more an asshole than the other guy. So I'm standing by my, "It's because the author was acting like an asshole, not because the other guy thought the author was too fat."

I don't really have an interest in getting into a "merits of people being jerks to 'fat' people" argument, so I was hesitant to post at all. Especially since the point of the story - airline seats not accommodating a variety of individuals - is valid. However, the introduction just raised a huge "huh?" to me because…

Yeah, but the most obvious reason for the guy being upset is the author acting like they said they acted, not anything with size

That's true. But I'm not going to argue a hypothetical. I'm saying, that AS WRITTEN, it comes off like Lindy looking for a fight. Which is fine, everyone needs a hobby, but my sympathies, they are limited.

And little fairies that fluff your pillows.

I have never flown first class. It's like a magical, mythical world to me. I imagine there are dragons and leprechauns there.

I feel like this should be two separate stories - the beginning is more about being rude and the rest is about being a fat person on a plane. I could have done without the rudeness bits, because if you read that part AS WRITTEN, it doesn't seem like it has so much to do with someone being fat so much as being late…

Yes, sorry Lindy, but this post is a miss compared to what you usually write. He might have disliked you because of your weight, but that's pure speculation based on what you wrote. You were the one who delayed the plane (even 1-2 minutes can feel like a long time for everyone else), you're the one who has no idea…

Get your own seatbelt extender. I am a will-I-or-won't-I size, as well, with the sealtbelts. Sometimes they are fine and sometimes there is no way. My husband got me an extender, and it really helps the anxiety. I don't have to check the belt and then ask for one, thereby calling attention to myself and possibly bring…

Yeah, the first half of this post reads classic projection, which is a bit unfortunate because it does detract (at least for me) the larger issue of shrinking airline seats in an age of burgeoning waistlines in the latter half of this post.

This. I'm 5'10", I fly economy because I'm a poor-as-folk student, and I never have enough leg room to be comfortable. My knees are always bent and pressed against the seat-back in front of me. My only hope, I believe, is someday being able to upgrade to business class.

He was tired and cranky, and he probably would have been in this situation regardless the size of the row-mate, and the author decided to over-react like fuck over the entire situation.

I missed the part about where he said something about your weight.

But, Lindy, if you're kind to them, they'll think they're people!!!!