"Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much."

That's what Louisiana resident Ricky Labit says he was told by a waitress at the all-u-can-eat Manchuria Restaurant as she handed him a check for double the normal amount.

Labit is 6'3" and weighs 265 pounds. He's a regular at the restaraunt and became agitated and upset when the bill for $46.40, almost double the buffet price for two adults, was handed to him and his cousin, who weighs a bit more. (A Manchuria Restaurant spokesperson denies the claim.)

Well guess what? I think I'd become agitated and upset, too, if an establishment so blatantly discriminated against my size. Or if an airline charged me double the normal ticket price for a seat because of my size. I don't weigh 265, but I'm almost 6 feet tall - clearly it takes more food and drink to fill up (in the literal sense) that frame versus my mom's petite 5'3". Should I pay more than her? It probably takes a larger dose of certain medications to effect heavier people than thinner. Should pharma companies be charging more?

If this whole "you ate too many crab legs" incident really did go down as diescribed in Louisiana, I have to call size discrimination. It's called "All You Can Eat," owners! My metabolical marvel of a husband takes advantage of this at churrascaria Fogo de Chao (on the rare occasions we go) and he's never been asked to pay $160 instead of the already-exorbitant $80 price. And trust me, the man can scarf his weight in filet and bacon-wrapped chicken.

Then again, people of size (tall or petite, heavy or busty, Size 11 or toddler-like shoe size) often have to shop at specialty stores for clothing, and those prices can be inflated. Where to draw the line between size discrimination and facing reality?

PS I wrote this whole thing with one hand - woke up with a freaking nasty case of sudden-onset carpal tunnel and my left thumb has less feeling than Ann Coulter.

Comments

size discrimination is a tricky subject. I posted a little while back on Nutritious Junk on whether it was ok for Disneyland to accomidate to their visitor's expanding waistlines (cause the're remodling the seats for various rides at the moment). I for one get pissed when people assume i dont eat as much because i am small and thin or when they overload my plate to "fatten me up". sorry about the thumb leslie, if it makes you feel better, my hip has a hairline fracture so i miss the elliptical at the gym :(

This is so not necessary for me to say, but when I used to eat meat, Fogo De Chao was one of my favorite places... mmmm!

I can't believe you compared your thumb to Ann Coulter-quite possibly the funniest thing I've heard all day :-P

There is a difference between being rude and being profitable as a business. In this restaurant case, they chose being justified in their action over being smart. As a business, you only lose when you cruelly insult a regular customer because you're trying to save your bottom line, and if you do it as atrociously as this, it will make its way to the Internets.

That is pretty bogus. It's "all-you-can-eat" for a reason.. and these owners need to realize that some people can eat A LOT. I'm relatively against size-discrimination.. execpt for the airline seat thing- I'm on the fence about that. Size discrimination does suck, and I'm sure you'd agree.. I absolutely hate that every department store has a "petite" section. Excuse me, where's the tall section? Oh wait nevermind, we'll have to search far and wide for pants/jeans that are long enough and essentially be forced to pay more money. Sounds great.

While that restaurant was out of line in what they did, it's about time someone knocked those two upside the head. Have you seen their pictures? They're on their way to Tyep II diabetes and heart attacks (they've probably already been affected by both) if they don't wake up and realize what they're doing to themselves. It's sad that they're throwing a hissy fit about being embarrassed by the restaurant's actions, but are you kidding me! I'd be embarrassed just being out in public eating the way they were and not even caring about it. It's not like they ate like this one time, they're "REGULARS"! As a personal trainer, I hear too many excuses. It's time for people to take responsibility for themselves instead of blamming it on genetics, "slow" metabolisms, and being "big boned". I bet if the news didn't make such a big deal about this story, those guys might even take some responsibility for their weights. Sad, sad story.

I used to waitress at an all-you-can-eat buffet (yeah, good times... Love those 2$ tips!!) and I have to say that the profit margin at those places is large and the amount of food (and cost) takes into account both large and small appetites. People go to those restaurants to overeat (which I why I DON'T go there - not to mention the hygeine issues. I could tell you stories to curl your hair.). So IMO, that restaurant was charging them double out of sheer spite. Not a good business practice. However, I gotta disagree with you on airplane seats Leslie - they are NOT planned with large people in mind (for whatever reason) and there is a limited amount of space.

Dan - I disagree that the best way to help people get healthier (a great mission, btw!!) is to publicly shame them. Humiliation is not a great motivator. Better to use the carrot, with a heap of kindness, than the stick:)

Okay, one more thought (my last for the day - everything else will be mindless;)):

If the restaurant is worried about their patrons' "fatness" then why don't they take some responsiblity and serve healthier fare? All-you-can-eat-buffets profit off of and encourage people's gluttony. If they really cared, they'd stop basting everything in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. We have a dearth of healthy affordable food in restaurants - restauranteurs seem to think people won't buy it - but I think the industry must go that direction if they care at all about their customers (and long term profits!).

I have to weigh in here... I think that to an extent, Dan is correct in that overweight people need to turn the mirror towards themselves when addressing weight problems but that as a personal trainer, you also need to be aware that not everyone's weight condition is automatically related to how much they can heft on a fork. Many women have hormonal issues (and I'm not referring to just menopause and PMS but more serious conditions such as thyroid issues and PCOS) that oftentimes go undiagnosed because it's far easier to blame the person than the condition. What I find ironic though is that many clothing lines such as Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren, and many more offer both petite and plus sizes but no talls. And a store such as Lane Bryant offers petite, average, and tall clothing and prices are the same across the board. I don't know about your husband, Leslie, but mine had a hell of a time trying to find clothes to fit his 6'4", 190 lb frame, and Big and Tall stores usually apply only to big and tall guys. Weird.

I don't think the restaurant was justified in what they said and did, but I think that airlines who ask large people to buy an extra ticket are a different story. At an all you can eat restaurant people are going in there to eat too much--behavior that is really only hurting themselves. In an airline, a person's size could impact the comfort of other people if that person is spilling over into another person's seat. I am petite and I still find airlines to be cramped. I certainly don't want someone else's body spilling over into my own limited space.

Couldn't resist this one. As far as the restaurant goes, it is "All-You-Can-Eat" and they need to set the prices to accommodate all appetites. However, airplane seats are an entirely different matter. Everyone pays for their own seat on a plane. Why should I have to pay full price for my plane seat, when Fatty McFatterson beside me gets to take up half of it? If your butt cheeks take up more than one seat, then you need to pay for more than one seat. I travel quite a bit, and I'm beyond sick of being the filling in an obesity sandwich.

Why is it that we believe that insulting people who are overweight is effective? Do you really think they don't KNOW they are overweight? Do you say to an alcoholic, "You're a disgusting drunk, you'll never be loved and don't deserve to live" and expect it to HELP?!?!
Yes, people need to take responsibility for themselves, for whatever behaviors are hurting them. But insulting them, and forcing them into a state of self-loathing, isn't gonna do the trick! Many, MANY people use food as comfort, for emotional reasons, just like any other addiction. The difference is, you can lived without alcohol, or drugs, or designer shoes. But you have to eat. Maybe if we were a little more compassionate, overweight folks wouldn't feel so awful and they would believe they DESERVE to treat their bodies well. BTW, I happen to know a lot of heavier people who DO take care of themselves, better care than most of the skinny folks I know, but the weight stays on.

my only comment on the restaurant goes, the story I heard was they charged more because the people ate more of the expensive stuff. If this is going to be policy, fine, but it should be posted and apply to everyone. end of story.
as for the not finding talls, where do you all shop? In every store I go to, there are usually more "tall" or "long" pants than normal length, to say nothing of the short length.

Monique, I definitely agree. Both my dad and brother are TALL and not big.. so they have a pretty hard time finding shirts that are long enough. I maintain it's harder for the tall women though. Many clothing companies consider a 34" inseam a tall inseam, when I definitely need a 35" or 36" which is much harder to find without shelling out more money.

i agree with those saying that humiliating fat people does not work. its counter-effective, and unfortunately most people who aren't overweight don't realize that being overweight involves more than just "mmm i like to eat so i eat whatever i want". it is the same mechanism as addiction. so people who say stuff like "I don't want to have to sit next to Fatty McFatterson"... well i only hope that something terrible happens to you, that your emotions get so out of whack that you have to bury them with food,causing you gain tons of weight, and people to insult you and treat you poorly....so that you may begin to understand how ineffective that sort of attitude is. seriously.

I may have certain opinions about things. But I would NEVER insult someone to their face, I wouldn't treat them poorly. And I CERTAINLY wouldn't wish ill will on that person. But thank you for wishing some terrible tragedy on me. I had cancer three times, does that count? I love how hypocritical people get..."How dare you say something mean about someone. I hope you die!" Really?

Thanks for the insightful commentary, everyone - a good conversation is going. At the risk of sounding like a preachy moderator, let's remember to be respectful of everyone else. Re. the airline seats, I do see the point of 'if you take up more than one seat, you need to pay for your space.' But having family members/friends who have been in this sitch has biased my outlook a bit, if only for the fact that you never want your loved pnes to be subjected to any kind of humiliation, like having to pay for 13E and F because they're too large. So it's hard for me to be totally objective, I must admit.

okay... here is what I think really happened. You said you were a regular to the resteraunt. You and your friend went in there and obviously ate in the past and currently ate more than the at cost they paid for the food, so I think they wanted to get rid of you as a customer. I mean that in a nice way. They probably suck up the once in a while clients along with the undereaters even out, but when you go in there on the regular basis and eat way more than usual then they figure they didnt care to loose you as customer. You were costing them money. As far as the airplane thing.. I think those seats are small, and you should absolutely be paying more money. Comeing from a massage therapist I do want you to realize this. NOT ALL but most people that are obese and unhealthy many times weather you realize it or not can actually sweat out the smells of the unhealthy food your eating let alone being smooched in the middle of two heavy people on an airplane by them for many hours.

Thats's the reason 1 out of 4 children are obese in america. We as parents need to control our eating & teach our children the same instead of overeating & teaching our children that it is ok. Think twice when your child has high blood pressure, high cholesterol & being made fun of in school because of their weight issues. Parents wake up we are suppose to be our child's first role model Is ALL YOU CAN EAT what we really wnat to teach our children!!!

I mean that in a nice way. They probably suck up the once in a while clients along with the undereaters even out, but when you go in there on the regular basis and eat way more than usual then they figure they didnt care to loose you as customer.

I knew the dofus kamas so I always try my best to earn them more and more to make myself strong. I have never played the game before, at the beginning I did not know what is so I went to kill the monsters with the kamas that I earned with myself in the game. I will duty bound to a friend to help brush the dofus gold together with my friends. I spend a good relationship is then fly to tears. If my levels are very high, I can go to buy dofus kamas more and more and I will not depend on my friends to help me to earn them. I get some cheap kamas as the gifts to encourage me.