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Don’t you call me pudgy, portly or stout. Just now tell me once again, who’s fat?

fat.jpgI was recently on a cross-country flight and across the aisle from me was this fat guy. “Big fat guy, I mean like orca fat.” But not so fat that he couldn’t fit into the seat, just fat enough that he couldn’t get the seat belt across his great big belly. The stewardess brought him this little seat belt extension thinger (a strap with belt parts on each end) so that he could buckle up and he took it all in good stride. He even joked with her about the fact that he needed it in the first place, and how her paperwork said there was apparently another fatty on-board who needed an extender but who wasn’t ringing the little flight attendant light to call attention to himself. Point being, this guy got it - he’s fat, and that means that special accommodations must be made in relatively tight places like airplane seats. Good for him.

This notion apparently hasn’t made it over to France yet. For that’s where we find the 352-pound Jean-Jacque Jauffret in a tizzy because Air France told him he would have to pay for a second seat if he wanted to fly the friendly skies. He says that he was humiliated when he had his waist measured in public by an Air France employee. While the French may not have a grasp on American self-deprecation, they sure do have a grasp on our favorite recreational hobby, because fatty is, of course, now suing Air France. Even though their website makes it clear that overweight folks may need to reserve a second seat, he says he’s never had to do so before, so he wants 8,000 euros for his pain and suffering plus the 500 euros he spent on the second seat.

Yup, Fatty McFat wants over $11,000 because he was too fat to fly like thin folk.

The best part is that the airlines lawyer, in court, made the following argument: “Let’s be objective. This man is fat….He barely fits on the courtroom chair. How could he sit in an airplane?” Jauffret is pissed off about this too, saying he “felt shocked and humiliated” for being called “fat” and “enormous” during the proceedings.

Three hundred and fifty-two pounds, people. That’s more than twice my weight so, by my calculations, unless this guy is about 12 feet tall, I’d say he is fat and enormous. A true fatty-fatty two-by-four.

Glad to know Americans aren’t the only ones who file ridiculous lawsuits.

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