Dan Jurgens Calls Out Fat People on Airplanes

[PyroTwilight]

Ehh....I don't even think he can be accused of fat shaming either. Did he name the passenger or take a photo? No

It'll always be up to each person to decide but it seems like it to me.

You certainly don't need to name the passenger or take a photo etc... to fat shame.

If your comments are about someone's size/weight exclusively on how they impact "you" the commenter with the rather obvious but implied idea of you shouldn't be that size and on the plane (or at least next to "me") I'm not sure how else to take it.

That being said it's not the END OF THE WORLD but it's something he should apologize/address hopefully sooner than later.

[PyroTwilight]

It'll always be up to each person to decide but it seems like it to me.

You certainly don't need to name the passenger or take a photo etc... to fat shame.

If your comments are about someone's size/weight exclusively on how they impact "you" the commenter with the rather obvious but implied idea of you shouldn't be that size and on the plane (or at least next to "me") I'm not sure how else to take it.

That being said it's not the END OF THE WORLD but it's something he should apologize/address hopefully sooner than later.

And hands up everyone here that's never made any insulting cracks or comments in some of your observations/conversations with your friends. His mistake was using Twitter to vent. If he was just having a conversation with a friend and said the same thing there wouldn't be this internet drama.

There's always places where some type of talk are better to be said. And yes to the latter drama quite true.

And yeah I make cracks about many things and people but certainly not about what makes the person the person. Make fun of something dumb they're doing instead. It's a lot easier, and to be honest a lot funnier. "And he dropped his headphones because he wasn't paying attention for the zillionth time again."

[PyroTwilight]

Aaaand his comments are deleted from his twitter now. Still no new mention of the event from him though.

(Also my prior post looks a bit messy but for some reason the computer on won't let me edit as I'd want to)

[The Darknight Detective]

If I were an "immense fat guy," would I be upset over Jurgens' tweet? At best, I believe I would be ambivalent over it. IMO, it's not really something for the pitchfork-and-torch brigade to get all apoplectic about, either.

[Iron Maiden]

There's always places where some type of talk are better to be said. And yes to the latter drama quite true.

And yeah I make cracks about many things and people but certainly not about what makes the person the person. Make fun of something dumb they're doing instead. It's a lot easier, and to be honest a lot funnier. "And he dropped his headphones because he wasn't paying attention for the zillionth time again."

Well I confess I am no saint. I'm not going to lie and say I've never had a private conversation where I say something like " I saw this person today and......." or "Did you see the *fill in the blank* on that *fill in the blank *

I'm sure people may have said something or made a crack or observation about me at some point that I never knew about (and I mean some chance encounter when you're out in public)

[Scott Taylor]

I think it is of interest that in most cases, airlines have a rule about overweight passengers. Jurgens post doesn't get specific about whether or not the passenger he was next to had to use a seatbelt extension and couldn't put the armrest down. In most cases, the passenger who can't fit has to buy a second seat at the time of booking or if they can't be seated they have to book two seats on a later flight.

Airlines that require a passenger to buy a 2nd seat when they can't fit into a seat with the armrest down include

Allegiant
American
Frontier
Southwest advises the customer to discuss their situation at the gate and if there is room available they will accommodate with a complimentary 2nd seat. Sounds good but most of the time when I've flown SW they're flights are full. It's possible they may ask for a volunteer to take a later flight to make room.
Spirit Airlines advises to buy a second seat at booking or book their
United requires that the passenger buy the extra seat for each leg of their journey. They also can buy a first class seat or business class

Notice that in each case the passenger that is overweight that has to be to make the proper booking, not their fellow passengers.

I think a lot of you are also ignoring that it is a safety issue also.

Jurgens was wrong to tweet about it without bringing it up to the flight attendant. The airline was wrong for not accommodating him if they weren't going to have the overweight passenger take a later flight and book two seats or move them elsewhere.

Yes, he should have brought it up to the airline, exactly what many of us are saying. The airline still has to enforce their rules, the rules don't enforce themselves. The fact that said fat guy made it onto the plane tells me that he wasn't in violation of the rules.

Or (probably more likely) that its a stupid rule that is never enforced but rather is put in place only to make people feel like the airlines are doing something when in reality they won't. I've never seen a fat person kicked off a plane or heard of it happening much, if ever.

Either way - not the fault of the alleged fat guy. And going to Twitter to complain about him is just bad judgement, doesn't solve a thing.

[Michael Watkins]

To which I say....so what? Maybe those people just plain don’t want to live up to someone else’s body image and are happy with who they are. Who the hell are we to criticize them for their lifestyle choices, for the way they choose to live? What idiosyncrasies do you have that would cause you to be looked down upon, to be derided, laughed at or humiliated? That’s not a road I want to go down like Jurgens had done.

I don't want anyone to be humiliated. but I also wasn't in Jurgens' position. it sounds like he was made physically uncomfortable by a large person encroaching into the seat that he paid for. would you be cool with someone clipping their toe nails in the seat next to you? how about flossing? where do you draw the line?

[Zero Hunter]

This is why Twitter is a cancer. People post stupid things in the heat of the moment without thinking about what they are really saying. It happens time after time after time and people are still too stupid to just stop and think. What was the upside of this for him? Not a god damned thing, and in fact not he has to deal with blowback for something that would never be and issue if he had just stopped and thought for a second instead of getting all worked up and tweeting.

It just seems like people who work in the comic profession have the hardest time keeping their mouths shut on twitter.

[Osiris-Rex]

This is why Twitter is a cancer. People post stupid things in the heat of the moment without thinking about what they are really saying. It happens time after time after time and people are still too stupid to just stop and think. What was the upside of this for him? Not a god damned thing, and in fact not he has to deal with blowback for something that would never be and issue if he had just stopped and thought for a second instead of getting all worked up and tweeting.

It just seems like people who work in the comic profession have the hardest time keeping their mouths shut on twitter.

And people that were reality show hosts who get elected president. If we can live with that we can live with the occasional comic book personality who flies off the handle from time to time. Why should the later have their career
ruined when the former gets off scott free?

[ed2962]

And people that were reality show hosts who get elected president. If we can live with that we can live with the occasional comic book personality who flies off the handle from time to time. Why should the later have their career
ruined when the former gets off scott free?

I'm pretty sure his career is not ruined over this.

[The Darknight Detective]

And people that were reality show hosts who get elected president.

If Trump had never said "You're fired!" on TV, he would have had just about the same number of votes he actually had. His legend (or myth) was written long before that.

Why should the later have their career ruined when the former gets off scott free?

Like ed stated, it's doubtful his career will be ruined by this. At worst, he'll do a mea culpa and move on.

[DrNewGod]

If Trump had never said "You're fired!" on TV, he would have had just about the same number of votes he actually had. His legend (or myth) was written long before that.

There is absolutely no way to support your claim.

The impact of The Apprentice on Trump's brand equity with the electorate favorable toward his candidacy can't be adequately measured, but it certainly helped.

I will agree with you to the extent the electorate was primed to support anyone who was anti-political establishment, and especially among the rural electorate, anti-Clinton.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I don't want anyone to be humiliated. but I also wasn't in Jurgens' position. it sounds like he was made physically uncomfortable by a large person encroaching into the seat that he paid for. would you be cool with someone clipping their toe nails in the seat next to you? how about flossing? where do you draw the line?

Look, I get it, Jurgens was seriously inconvenienced, I understand that, and more. But he lost any compassion I might’ve had for his situation when he whined like a little bitch on Twitter instead of going to the airline to file a complaint which was his right as a consumer. When you go out of your way to denigrate a group of people, some of whom are victims of genetics instead of debatable lifestyle choices, that’s when you lose anything remotely resembling sympathy from me.

[The Darknight Detective]

There is absolutely no way to support your claim.

The impact of The Apprentice on Trump's brand equity with the electorate favorable toward his candidacy can't be adequately measured, but it certainly helped.

I will agree with you to the extent the electorate was primed to support anyone who was anti-political establishment, and especially among the rural electorate, anti-Clinton.

The guy was famous as far back as '77 in the NYC metropolitan area (I remember reading about him in the local papers as a 12-year old) and a national name as early as the early '80s. By The Art of the Deal, he had people thinking he was a business genius non pariel and could do anything. Not that I think that, mind you (his business record isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination), but that's the principal reason why he's president. He was a major-league celebrity years before The Apprentice.

When one of the Kardashians is elected, then we can talk about a reality-TV president.

[Adam Allen]

The guy was famous as far back as '77 in the NYC metropolitan area (I remember reading about him in the local papers as a 12-year old) and a national name as early as the early '80s. By The Art of the Deal, he had people thinking he was a business genius non pariel and could do anything. Not that I think that, mind you (his business record isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination), but that's the principal reason why he's president. He was a major-league celebrity years before The Apprentice.

When one of the Kardashians is elected, then we can talk about a reality-TV president.

What was it he had, before the presidency, that the Kardashians don't? Being famous for being rich, right? Wow, Kim K might just end up our first female prez...