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Obese have right to 2 airline seats: Canada court (pg. 21)
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Skipper
Being overweight can be considered a disability because there are causes for it beyond stuffing your face. The problem is that, just like other disabilities such as being blind or otherwise handicapped, the cause of the disability is irrelevant under human rights law. The cause of being overweight is irrelevant. |
The cause is most certainly not irrelevant. I suggest you actually read some of these laws before pretending that you know everything about them.
From the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, section 2.1 (definitions):
“disability” means,
(a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,
(b) a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,
(c) a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,
(d) a mental disorder, or
(e) an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997; (“handicap”)
Let's see here. Obviously (b) - (e) don't apply - obesity is obviously not mental impairment, a learning disability, a mental disorder, or covered under the WSIA. So it would have to fall under (a).
It is also not caused by an injury or illness (OK, in rare cases it might be - those people will have documentation to support it). The only way you could possibly get away with lumping it into that definition is by calling it a "birth defect".
But honestly, if you're going to try to tell me that obesity is a birth defect, then I will very passionately tell you to go yourself. Everyone knows that a birth defect is intended to refer to cerebral palsy, NTDs, clefts, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, and so on.
You try telling someone with sickle-cell anemia that your weight is caused by a "disability". I think they'd tell you to go yourself too.
The article you posted was somebody's opinion. No more valid than anything you've written, so no, I won't go back and read it again.
| quote: | | It's only society's stupid attitudes towards overweight people that have caused this whole ruckus. I bet the only reason you aren't a judgemental dickwad towards people in a wheelchair is because it's socially unacceptable to be so. You're just using this opportunity to make yourself feel better by putting down overweight people, and are ignoring the actual issue. |
I think that society's "stupid" attitude toward overweight people is due to the fact that there are millions of people with real problems that really need help, and parasitic s like you think that people with a lack of self-control are helpless victims who should be entitled to all of the same gravy.
You want to make this personal? Fine, two can play at that game. For trying to tell us that being a fat because you eat too much and don't exercise is even remotely similar to having a congenital heart defect or losing both your legs because you served on the front lines or got rear-ended by a truck, you are a total bitch, probably trying to make yourself feel better because somebody hurt your feelings in the past. |
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| Vivid Boy |
| fat ppl would use a wheel chair to move around in, but they'll need 2 and they cant afford to pay for 2...ITS JUST NOT FAIR! |
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| MarkT |
how come our logical debates are always so polite...
I want to be able to name-call too! :(
douchebag!!!! :toothless |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
the height restriction is a safety issue. |
Of course it's a safety issue. But it's only a safety issue because the ride wasn't constructed to the physical specifications of dwarfs or very small children.
And in contrast to weight, our heights are characteristics we cannot change. If we wanted to, we could force the operators to accommodate these people. They could redesign all of their rides to be safe at lower heights. We'd all have to pay 5 times as much, but small price to pay for ensuring equal access, right?
Trying to fit a 1200-pound mass into one of those tiny airline seats is also a safety issue. The only appreciable difference between the size of the seat and the height of the guard bar on a roller coaster is that the airline has an option to combine two seats. So instead of refusing outright to allow the morbidly obese onto a plane, they can simply use a second seat. They do this at their discretion, because they do want to accommodate these customers - but why should they have to foot the bill?
| quote: | | transportation is also considered more of a 'right' (for lack of a better word) as opposed to riding a roller coaster. |
Yes, you're right about this, but only in the sense of popular perception. It's not an actual "right", so the courts have no business treating it as one.
| quote: | | the airline doesn't credit someone for being an outlier *well* below the average weight...so why should they be able to charge someone significantly above it? |
Because that is the way free markets work. Businesses have the right to impose surcharges if customers don't meet certain requirements. Landlords and telcos can require security deposits if a customer is deemed a credit risk. Insurance companies can charge you a higher rate if you are male or you are outside a certain age group. They can do this, and they are not obligated to provide discounts to people on the other side of the coin.
Think of it the other way around - take restaurants that give seniors discounts, for example. It would be ridiculous to say that they should be obligated to charge extra for children. Most of the time, children are also served at a reduced price; there's no balance, there doesn't have to be.
If that doesn't seem fair to you, then stay thin enough to fit in one seat! |
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| yankeeBaby |
| quote: | Originally posted by ChemEnhanced
reality is that people still assume that larger people are lazy and eat McDonalds everyday....even if they are not mobirdly obese.
People don't understand how demoralizing and frustrating it is when you eat healthier and workout more then your skinnier friends and you just can't loose any weight. Some people can accept that and will continue with a healthy lifestyle....others give up and stop caring. |
thank you ;)
diginut: I wasnt referring to anyone on this board, but I HAVE received bias and judgement throughout my life that implies that, because I am not at a socially acceptable (pleasing?) weight, I am lazy and shove my face with burgers on a daily basis. :rolleyes:
Just like Chemenhanced said, I was merely trying to tell/educate people that it is incredibly frustrating to live a healthy lifestyle and, still, people make assumptions. It is already hard enough to accept that I will never be at my desired weight (without starving my self and putting my finger down my throat, which I refuse to do). |
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| Skipper |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
You want to make this personal? Fine, two can play at that game. For trying to tell us that being a fat because you eat too much and don't exercise is even remotely similar to having a congenital heart defect or losing both your legs because you served on the front lines or got rear-ended by a truck, you are a total bitch, probably trying to make yourself feel better because somebody hurt your feelings in the past. |
LOL.
Did you just call me a bitch for thinking that it's okay that someone got two airline seats?
It's absolutely accurate for me to call out how retardedly judgemental you are towards overweight people. but you just take things to a whole other level! You must feel awesome eh? |
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| chimera66 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vivid Boy
And this is why I love chimera.m she gets it. |
kindred spirits you and i |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by yankeeBaby
um, no thats why I posted that I understand EVERYONE has struggles. Thats the difference between you and I. I dont make excuses, but its a FACT that I have weight issues because of predisposed factors. This is why I DO work out and maintain a healthy lifestyle, because if I dont, I would be in serious trouble both health wise and looks-wise. And yet I still receive judgement? You are clearly reading only what you want to read because I was never making excuses NOR did I omit the fact that others have their own issues. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
I wasn't directing any of that at you personally. My apologies.
edit: And I specifically said OBESE people. Unless you consider yourself obese, I don't see why you would have taken any of what I said so personally. |
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| Frenchie |
What happened here?
Meh, we should be so over it by now. |
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| failsafe |
To all the "I eat healthy and work out all the time" sob stories. You cannot possibly put on weight if you intake less calories than you burn. There is no exception to this, there are no special cases.
Certainly you can store every single last calorie that you consume as fat. However, if you burn more calories than you're consuming, the fat that you've stored will need to be burned to feed your bodies day to day functions.
You aren't some kind of magic perpetual motion machine. You don't store more energy than you consume, so let's not pretend that's the case.
Some people fail to draw the distinction between eating healthy foods and eating too much. You could could be the strictest organic vegan, it wouldn't matter. If you only consumed a single apple's worth of calories beyond what you requried each day for a year you'd be five pounds larger. That obviously compounds horribly year after year. At some point you'd become morbidly obese, by simply eating a healthy apple more than you needed each day. |
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| KaiLee |
| quote: | Originally posted by yankeeBaby
um, no thats why I posted that I understand EVERYONE has struggles. Thats the difference between you and I. I dont make excuses, but its a FACT that I have weight issues because of predisposed factors. This is why I DO work out and maintain a healthy lifestyle, because if I dont, I would be in serious trouble both health wise and looks-wise. And yet I still receive judgement? You are clearly reading only what you want to read because I was never making excuses NOR did I omit the fact that others have their own issues. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
I thought there was medicine to help with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism? I'm not too familiar with the subject but I do know people that got on the right meds and are now down to the weight they wanted combined with a good diet and exercise (such as you do). |
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| Skipper |
| quote: | Originally posted by failsafe
To all the "I eat healthy and work out all the time" sob stories. You cannot possibly put on weight if you intake less calories than you burn. There is no exception to this, there are no special cases.
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Sure, but there are illnesses that affect how a person burns calories, and therefore affects a person's weight.
It's a two sided equation that is not strictly about what you eat. |
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