the Scott Stein

John Tickell, a "leading Australian nutritionist," is encouraging airlines to charge fat passengers more money for their seats because it "would highlight his country's obesity crisis and make commercial sense, as heavier loads increase fuel costs." Tickell's real motive, however, appears to be personal:

I fly Sydney to Perth - five hours - and being totally disadvantaged by some huge person next to me literally flopping over into my seat. Why should I pay the same as them?

How does requiring fat people to pay more for their ticket address the issue of them flopping on dear Tickell's seat? It doesn't. Only making seats bigger would address that. But doing so would make life more comfortable for obese people, which would encourage them to remain obese, if I am applying Tickell's logic properly. You see, Tickell thinks we're coddling fat people:

I think we're a bit too nice, we're a bit too precious about minority groups. I think the majority group must have something to say too.

I guess we could visit schoolyards in Australia, if they're anything like the ones in the United States, to find plenty of evidence of coddling of fat people--because, as you surely know, fat people are never teased, mocked, and humiliated by their peers. Construct your own mental list of the degradations and struggles a very heavy person endures every day and ask yourself if "coddling" quite captures it.

Anyway, since "67% of Australian men and over half of women aged over 25 are overweight or obese" and "[e]xperts have warned that by 2030 half of the country's children will be overweight or obese if the problem goes unchecked," maybe Tickell needs to rethink this issue of minority versus majority rights. Fat people are the majority. Just wait until they get organized and realize their political power, John Tickell, leading nutritionist. Sitting next to a fat guy will be the least of your worries.

Source: BBC News via Instapundit.