Should fat people be taxed?

[Grace]

Should fat people be taxed?

By RACHEL GOODCHILD

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/losing-it/3983274/Should-fat-people-be-taxed

Pre-reading question

What was your first thought on reading the title of this article?

Do you agree that overweight people should be charged more? Why? Why not?

What problems could come from this?

Can you think of any other solutions?

What is your biggest peeve about flying?

Expressions, idioms and vocabulary

hopping on                                                get on to (planes, trains, buses, boats)

size 16-18                                                 US size 14, Euro size 42

BMI                                                           Body Mass Index

Backtrack                                                 to change your mind

NSFW                                                       not safe for work

haven't made a call                                have not decided

Draw the line                                           set a limit

I'm currently spending a lot of time on planes. Actually, to be more accurate, I'm spending a lot of time at the airport, before hopping on a plane.

Most of that time is spent reading a magazine with the smell of coffee creeping up the aisles, eating some fruit flakes and then sucking on a lolly.

At size 16-18, I don't feel like the seats are too small. I find them comfortable: I can do up my seat belt without any issues, and don't feel like I'm elbowing the person sitting next to me.

As I'm classified as obese on the BMI scale, in the push to tax fat travellers, I would be in the category of having to pay more for my seat. It's one of the things that bothers me about BMI, labels and trying to classify people by size.

Some European airlines are suggesting some fat tax schemes for flyers, (which appear to focus on those who are significantly heavier than me).

American airlines are considering it too, though after Kevin Smith was refused a seat they did backtrack a little (that link isn't NSFW) Australian airlines haven't ruled on it as yet. New Zealand airlines haven't made a call one way or another, although I do notice Air New Zealand often have seatbelt extensions ready to go on flights (I had to use one once when I was heavily pregnant, much to my embarrassment.)

Where do you stand? Personally, if you are too big to fit in one seat, it stands to reason that you'd pay for your own extra seat - right? Is it the job of the airline to make sure the seat is one size fits all? But where should they draw the line? How do you find the seat sizes? 

Tony the Trainer   #8   11:09 am Aug 03 2010

If I have a bag that is overweight (over 20kg) then I have to pay extra to the airline for the extra kg's or get rid of them. I suppose it is reasonable to say that the airline has to calculate how much cargo (be it people or luggage) they are to carry, how much fuel it will use, how to distribute the weight of the cargo across the plane so there is a balance and so that it is safe to fly.

Some people take fat taxes quite personally, but at the end of the day it is the airline's job to move cargo from A-B in a reasonable and safe manner. Any excess weight should be charged accordingly.

CN   #34   11:41 am Aug 03 2010

How come mothers are allowed to bring a screaming infant in on their lap for free? Why aren't tall people charged more? Or there was that time that I was seated next to a security worker on his way back to Afghanistan who was as big as the incredible hulk. People are inconvenienced by others when on a plane.

Why should overweight people be the only ones that are being singled out?

Links in article

http://current.com/entertainment/comedy/92145429_awesome-nsfw-kevin-smith-southwest-airlines-rant.htm (maybe NSFW bad language)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/international/2342445/Airlines-mull-passenger-fat-tax

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/3981568/Airlines-We-won-t-pick-on-the-obese