Kevin Smith

I shockingly have not mentioned the Kevin Smith stuff up to this point. He is my personal lord and savior, and so when someone not only takes his name in vain, but take his entire body in vain, I take offense. The short version of the story is that Kevin was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for being too fat. There is a lot of debate on whether or not SW was correct in removing a passenger for their size. Really, what should be discussed is just what does an airline want to provide their customers? As of right now, flying sucks. You have security issues, you have the price which seems to include no amenities even though it is expensive, wait times, delayed flights, lost baggage, have I convinced anyone yet that flying is a better alternative to driving?

SW has maintained that a larger passenger poses safety risks and makes the other passengers around them uncomfortable. Have they considered that there are plenty of other passengers that do the exact same thing? Babies are loud and often scream and cry on flights. There are obnoxious toddlers. There are people who snore. There are people who stink. There are people with broken legs. There are people with colds. There are people that are rude. Overall, most flights have one or more of these people on them, and we have always accepted them because in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a luxury flight. We are using air travel as a way to get from point A to point B in a relatively short time. This isn’t supposed to be a limo in the sky.

If the women sitting on either side of Kevin had a problem, shouldn’t they just suck it up? It was a 45 minute flight. Plus, I can safely say if they didn’t want to sit to my man, Silent Bob, there was probably someone on that flight who would be more than willing to trade seats with them. Why didn’t SW consider that to be an option? I was on a flight with SW once in which I happened to be seated in the emergency aisle which has more leg room. A young guy got in the plane who couldn’t be shorter than 7 foot. The flight attendant asked me very nicely if I would mind sitting in the back of the flight so this taller guy could sit in the roomier area. I was more than happy to oblige. Plus, they made it up to me by giving me free drinks and a giant bag of their snack peanuts just to thank me. I am not kidding when I say, that was the greatest flight of my life, and I would tell everyone how great they were as an airline. Where did this level of service go?

There are rules, which I understand. We need rules in order to maintain order and to provide customers with the best possible experience. But we all know the rules of airline travel are subject to change at any second. I have gotten on a flight with a sippy cup full of milk, despite there being strict rules about not being allowed to. I have watched people take on carry on luggage that doesn’t fit in the little measurement box, and then watched other people who happened to get on the flight late have to have their bag checked when they did follow the rules. Even Kevin pointed out that there was a man who was larger than him on the flight who was not kicked off his flight. Nothing is consistent.

I know the economy is bad and they have to save money, but is the right way to do this by turning away customers because they don’t all look exactly alike? When we order tickets on line, are we going to have to have a full body scan before we can even enter our credit card number?

Last year, we flew on SW for our trip to Colorado. On our way home, Dax had a broken leg, I needed an extension for the seat belt, and both boys were exhausted. We had to wait 3 hours for our flight which got delayed by weather, and when we all got on the last leg of our flight, the attendants couldn’t be nicer. They provided me with extra pillows for my poor casted 2 year old. She even went back to where Ken and Bobby were sitting and got me Dax’s blanket so I wouldn’t have to get up. They were so wonderful to our little family, and I am shocked that this same company could be so rude to so many other passengers, even if they are not as cool as Kevin Smith.

I am disappointed in SW and even though I don’t know that I will swear off their services in the future for my flying needs, I am definitely concerned about flying anywhere. Even if I manage to get my fat ass down to a more healthy size, it is worrisome that something can still possibly disrupt my passenger status. I do feel that although I don’t think Kevin deserves any special treatment simply because of his enormous talent, they do owe him a better apology for treating him like an enormous pain.