Brigid McDonald
Appearances
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I was so shook up from that instance that I changed my flight and I followed their customer of size policy.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I told her and she said, oh, okay, yeah, no problem. But she didn't look like it was no problem. Like she looked like, I don't really know how to do this. And she ended up handing me back two boarding passes for two different people, Bridget McDonald and Bridget X McDonald. And I was like, I don't think that's right. I got to my gate and I went up to the desk and I said, hey, this is my situation.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I'm a customer of size, if you can't tell. And here are my tickets. Did they do this right at the full service desk? And she looks and she goes, no, this is not correct. This is as if you're two different people. And I was like, right. So what do we do? And ended up canceling my tickets altogether. Then tried to re-get me on the plane. And now it's sold out.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
So I ended up having to have a really serious conversation with her where I said, ma'am, I know this isn't your fault, but I got to tell you something. On my way here, this is what happened to me. And I explained it to her. And I'm like, I'm crying, but I'm like steadily, like I'm crying in a way that's not like my voice is quivering. It's just like tears are coming down because I'm so frustrated.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And I said, and I understand that this is not your fault. However, I'm going to tell you what, I am going to be boarding that plane as a priority. And I'm going to trust that you will have this sorted by the time that I get on the plane. Because for doing all this, I'm getting on that plane first. And I'm getting a reserve seat. Yeah.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I mean, the hope is that no one sits next to you, like regardless of your size. I don't know anyone who's like, oh goody, a stranger's gonna get to be really cozy with me for a while.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
So you kind of do that thing where you're like, you have the arm rest up. You're like rooting through your purse in the middle seat. People are passing. You're not making any eye contact. You are, oh my God, you've never been more interested in the thing that's at the bottom of your purse. You know what I mean?
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I was the second row from the bathroom. So we're not talking about like prime real estate. I got in the window seat, as I always do. I put on my little seatbelt extender. No one was back there with me yet.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
So I put my bag underneath the seat. I was buckled in. A man sat next to me in the aisle. There was a seat between us. You can tell that it's like the end of boarding. And flight attendants are closing the overhead compartments.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And so I was like, great, cool. Nobody's sitting between us. And I kind of like looked over at the guy next to me and was like, all right, like sick. And I felt like awesome, like zero anxiety, not a care in the world.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
The main anxiety that I have does come from concerns about who's going to sit next to me. I'm like, dang, is somebody going to be sitting next to me that I'm going to have to be like rigor mortis my muscles so that I don't touch them and it's going to be awkward? Are they going to be somebody who's just like, cool?
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
So I'm sitting in my seat and I'm like, this is awesome. I'm about to be on vacation on a beach. No one's sitting next to me, feeling good, riding high. And then I see the gate agent who checked our boarding passes. I see her board the plane. And I don't know what they're checking for exactly, but they're doing their job. They're doing some things. They're checking their stuff.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
So I wasn't really that phased. And then the gate agent came back towards the flight attendant that was in the back. They were talking. And I just noticed them talking. And I feel like they're looking at me. And I was like, don't get in your head, Bridget. And they're kind of having like, not a disagreement, but they're going back and forth.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And then I see the flight attendant say, no one is going to sit next to her. And all of a sudden the gate agent's walking towards me and her look on her face is like, I don't wanna do this, but okay. So she's walking over and she goes, ma'am, could I speak with you off the plane? Off the plane. Everyone is boarded. And I was like, oh my gosh. So then I start thinking to myself, has someone died?
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
Is this like, am I getting like, is something gone wrong? Like, and so I'm like, should I bring my stuff? And she says, no, no, you can leave your stuff. And then I'm like, okay, what?
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And for any person at all, but especially like a plus size person who has been on a plane before, you know, I'm doing the like side, like crab kind of walk. I'm like trying to like switch my hips so that they're not like getting in everybody's face from the back of the plane.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And I was like, can you just tell me what's going on? And I'm going to be honest with you, I knew. Like in my heart of hearts, I was like, this has something to do with my size. And I knew it. And she said, the flight attendant in the back of the plane wants you to be deboarded and reboarded as per our customer of size policy.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And she was like, to be honest with you, I didn't even really see a problem when I boarded the plane and saw you. But she insisted. And so the tears are coming. I can feel them coming. They're welling up. And this poor guy, this male gate agent was like, I don't even really think you're big like that. And I looked at him and I was like, oh, I am, I'm big, but that's not illegal.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I mean, that's not, I can board a plane and be big. And then I said, is someone not able to board because of me? And they said, no. So is someone complaining about my size, the flight attendant? And then I started freaking out.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
Like, I'm about to fly on a plane with someone who, in theory, one of the people responsible for my safety has decided that I need to be deboarded and reboarded for no reason other than just being labeled as fat. I just, I don't. And I started to feel like, should I get back on this plane?
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
She apologized several times and she apologized at one point and said, There is one flight attendant that's deadheading on this flight.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
And I am going to walk you back down and make damn sure that they do not sit next to you because they could have chosen still to sit next to me.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I reboard the plane. I have been crying. I put my hat down. I do the crab walk back through the what feels like 100 rows. I get to my seat. The gentleman on the aisle stands up. I get back in my seat. I buckle it up. I face the window. I put my hat down and I cried for the better part of the next 75 minutes of this flight.
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What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
I felt like talking about it would open people up for commentary on me being fat. And I've done a pretty good job up to this point in my life to not really invite or welcome that in.