Fine, but if one is going to charge extra, that should be something the customer is told up front. There should be a sign on the door to make sure all that choose to enter, know that if the salon owner deems you overweight, you will be charged an extra fee.

Now. Will the owner then place a scale at the door to determine if the prospective client actually does weigh more than 200, or will it simply be an arbitrary decision made by the owner or one her employees?

Personally, I would not spend my money at that establishment, because I don't think they value their customer's. Adding a fee without first telling a client that is what you are going to do, is simply a bad business practice, and I do not reward such behavior.

Charles, what's with the personal attacks on posters? Is it too hard for you to get your opinion across without name calling?

belove:

People who cannot discuss things with intelligence do so with name calling, as in the reply by Charles. No intelligence there.

“When considering implementing surcharges or special pricing, salons should really consider the long-term impact on business. A savvy business owner will balance the costs and benefits.”

Sounds like that is exactly what they did! No excuse for not telling the customer upfront, but I do like the idea.

The idea that everyone is the same is coming to an end. Once people see the costs involved, view points change (just as cmon so "eliquently" put it).

We need to take charge over our bodies and habits, stop making the world conform to meet our individual selfish "needs".

this woman shouldn't be paying for the damage that other customers have done. if some customer breaks the chair the business should be charging that customer for repairs instead of milking every socalled overweight customer that comes in for some bogus charge.. this is a scam

"lard asses need to pony up. just like smokers drive up healthcare costs, so to fat people. smokers pay extra taxes, insurance etc, so time for the next segment to be targeted to pay as well."

This is NOT about health care, this is about general services.

Solidarity Nite, what happens when the chair is weakened by prior users and a skinny person breaks the chair? Does the skinny person get the repair bills since they were the last to use it?

Interesting concept........I think we could also get rid of insurance. Why shouldn't each person pay out of his or her pocket instead of spreading it to similarly situated risks????.......oh yes.....why should a 19 y.o. male pay more for auto insurance than a 45 y.o. female?? DISCRIMINATION!! In fact, to avoid injuring the sensibilities of the well-fed, the salon owner should charge $1.50 extra to everyone....that way, all the customers get to share the cost of the woman's affliction or weakness (whatever be the case). How about letting someone run their business the way they see fit, to the extent it doesn't do harm to the omnipotent commerce clause? Why don't we try that for a few days? People with weaknesses for ice cream shouldn't claim a disability. When I smoked, I paid the price for that in life and health insurance premiums....without complaining or conjuring up an affliction that made me more susceptible to smoking. I cannot believe the degree to which some of the people of this country have blinded themselves with an overabundance of PC...get real, please.

thats a good point. like 2.5 wrote the business owner might have to shoulder this as an expense and the cost of doing business

The ideal solution would be to charge whoever breaks the chair, however, collecting $2500 would be very difficult.

You may note that Gov't doesn't use the same courts and procedures as the citizens when it comes to collecting money. (The $2500 could be dispensed with in bankruptcy, for instance.)

After all, they are the overlords, and we are the peons.

So much could be changed in this country just by having the Gov't comply with the same laws and regulations as citizens and private businesses.

This really breaks down to legal obligation. A business when charging surcharges or fees is required to post those fees. Sounds like if there is a weight limit on the chair if the overweight person in it broke the chair without a weight limit being posted the overweight person could then sue the salon. I am not for or against the fee because that isnt even the biggest problem with this story. I believe allowing the weight limit to be exceeded in the first place is a bad business decision. Wait till her insurance company reads the article about how she is side stepping safety.

Airlines charge you extra for being obese and take more than one seating space. I think obese people should pay higher insurance premiums too, they are prone to heart attacks, diabetes, etc.

I pay higher insurance premiums for being a smoker, so deal with it.

It's free enterprise. They can charge fat fees all day everyday. If you don't like it, take your business elsewhere.

They should put a scale in there, and give discounts for those who are under 140#.

It might be awkward, but if your chair has a capacity of 200 lbs, you tell people they can't use it if they weigh more than 200 lbs (Make special arrangements if you want to be accomodating). Letting people over 200 lbs use the chair and charging a fee seems foolish, as it will take a lot of $5 surcharges to cover a broken chair.

I would think you also open yourself up to lawsuits if a person over 200 lbs breaks the chair and hurts themself (we don't know if these chairs collapse, or if they're just rendered inoperable), since you know what the capacity of the chair is and allowed them to sit in it.

I agree with the store owner, and the above comment that there should be something posted about the added extra charge. Most people that are overweight choose that lifestyle, and everyone else has to pay for it. Welfare, medicare, children getting diabetes from being overweight. This is a national problem that is affecting everyone, and if this store owner is having problems with her chairs breaking because of the weight limit of customers, then she must either spend the money to buy an accommidating chair, turn the customers away or add an extra charge.

I could not agree with MS more. We all want to make this a discrimination case because...well it's fun to debate, and it's infinitely easier to scream discrimination that it is to lose 100 lbs. The 1st thing everyone wants to scream is Thyroid, Thyroid, Thyroid!!! I'm sure there are cases where this particular gland does cause weight gain. Does it make one morbidly obese? I'm not so sure. In spite of the "Thyroid" problem, chances are most people who are morbidly obese just eat to damn much and don't exercise. Put the chips down, back away from the computer or t.v. or nintendo, or what ever...and go for a walk. Stop blaming healthy people for your plight. We watch what we eat and we find time to squeeze exercise into our busy schedules. Instead of blaming us or resenting us...join us for a group exercise class. I know you'll be welcomed with open arms.

Any addition to prices, or price changes should ALWAYS BE POSTED! Sure, the issue about weight limit on the chair is a good one, but I do believe they should inform the patron before beginning the service.

"Welfare, medicare, children getting diabetes from being overweight."

CARRIE - Since when are all overweight people welfare and medicare recipients? All people over the age of 65 are automatically on Medicare whether or not they are overweight, and welfare is not limited to overweight people. Check your facts before making asinine statements.

“I was humiliated,” she said — to crying discrimination. “The word has to get out there that these people are discriminating against us because of our weight. You can’t do that.”

Sure they can tubbs! I am sick and tired of everyone with a "Disorder" acting like they are owed something. Ifyou are fat, then there might be things within your control to make it better, but it is not our responsibility to get you there. I am no supermodel, so should I sue for discrimination for not being hired to model? HELL NO!

if you run a public business you have to accomodate for all patrons, tough luck lady, get a stronger chair, do I get a discount cause I'm underweight, does a man with one arm get half off, who the hell are you to tell anyone anything about their body, I'd sue your ass for slanderous remarks, then with your money i'd buy myself a chair, to watch as you close your doors, due to lack of customers cause of your ignorance, I'd like to see a picture of your perfect human figure, or r u a fattie too, being from georgia you gotta be the cream of the crop of humanity, i've one word for types like her and its (bitc_)

Just because someone has a thyroid problem does not mean that they have to be overweight.... exercising and watching what you eat are key factors on whether you will be overweight or not. My aunt has a thyroid condition that she is on medication for and sometimes her meds need adjusted, but her weight is right on for her height. I also know of another person who had her thyroid glands removed, and although she may weight a little more than average she is by no means overweight. People using this excuse to be fat are just crying medical conditions, when really it still is the fact that they don't want to get any exercise and watch their calories. I agree with the store owner in this case, but believe that she should have a posted sign somewhere in the store about the added charges.

Oh, poor Charles. He waited all morning to be able be call me whatever weight based slur he had up his sleeve, and I sincerely hope he feels better now.

Actually, after thinking this over a little, it seems to be an enterprising business owner would use this story as a way to gain business. Purchase one or two extra large, and likely extra comfy chairs, and make it known in the press that you welcome any and all clients. Then add a few extra services to cover the added cost of the chairs...perhaps a Starbucks machine (people love those things) or have your receptionist offer to go and purchase beverages while the client is being serviced. While the owner who doesn't want the larger clients will have her business her way, I think the more enterprising business owner will have clients waiting to get in, of all shapes and sizes!

As fun as it is to hate on people that are overweight or obese, more and more businesses have come to the conclusion that it is more business savvy to find a way to cater to these folks, then to shun them.

I am not saying that all people that are overweight are on welfare or on medicare..... I am saying that our nation's number one health problem is people being overweight. It is costing taxpayers a load of money.

an artical from usatoday... link if it copies follows:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-05-13-obesity-usat_x.htm

The researchers used existing data to compare medical costs for overweight and obese people with the costs for people of normal weight. Their findings, in today's online issue of Health Affairs:

Overall, annual medical costs for an obese person are about 37.7% more, or $732 higher, than the costs for someone of normal weight.

The annual medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity is about 9.1% of national medical costs.

Stacy, if things have a weight limit for a reason, then a salon, restaurant, or other business should take that into consideration, before ordering their equipment. Since they are serving the public, they need to consider the various people who will frequent their business, and those who would be faithful customers, who in turn help the salon owner MAKE MONEY! ESPECIALLY if it is a Salon. Salons cater to WOMEN, and WOMEN come in all shapes and sizes. This is absolutely a humiliation and a major insult to ALL WOMEN. To be subject to someones interpretation of what is 'overweight' or 'fat'. Personally, I would NOT have paid the extra lousy $5, nor would I have left a tip. If they want to make a fuss over it, let them. LEGALLY, if they post their prices, they cannot arbitrarily charge an 'extra' fee, above and beyond what is written. ALL CHARGES need to be presented up front. Otherwise, anyone in the shop could add a 'fee' for using red polish, or for having to use extra cotton balls to remove polish. If a salon is that cheap and low class, they would NEVER get my business again. Most women I know would not frequent a place that would do such a thing. And no, I am not overweight. If they are that concerned over what may or may not get damaged, why don't they just raise their prices a couple of dollars across the board, to cover what damages may or may not occur? That would be good business sense. Does the place even have insurance? Maybe their customers should ask? This is just way too low class crass, and tacky for my taste. VERY low on the food chain.

My opinion is that the customer (make it all customers, so as not to discriminate) should be told in advance that there is a 200lb weight limit on the pedicure chairs, and given a choice to sit in that chair or an alternative without a weight limit. Problem solved: if the customer chooses to ignore the limit and sit in the chair and the chair breaks, then that customer can be held accountable for the repair charges. Make them sign a waiver before getting their nails done saying as much. Again, this only works if ALL customers must sign the same waiver- otherwise you'd get a ton (lol) of 195 lb patrons crying discrimination when they see the 120 lb patrons walk in without signing.

Scales: that was me showing you, that I check my facts! Where are your links that show that obesity isn't costing our nation a ton of money?

I did some looking around and all the actual true pedicure chairs I saw had weight limits of 400+lbs one had 600. The only chairs that had a 200lb limit were the pedicurists chairs that they sit on to perform pedicures....maybe the owner needs to check her employees.

This was a lower priced salon ($24 manis and pedis? Not in my town!) And apparently lower end equipment was used, too.The solution is to post either (1)that no one over 200 lb may sit in the chair, or (2) that there is a surcharge of $5 AND an assumption of the risk to sit in the chair, or (3) that if the chair breaks it will cost the customer $2500. Charging a fee after the fact is not the right way to go, and failing to advise the customer in advance of the weight limit is a whole 'nother problem. That said, I have trouble feeling sorry for this woman, unless it really is that rare instance where her weight problem is entirely medical.

divepromichael,

I had thyroid cancer at age 14 - had my thyroid and parathyroid removed, and underwent several radioactive iodine treatments.

I was always a thin child before that. After I got sick, I became overweight.

I am 30-years old now, and still struggle with my weight constantly.

I'm not about to blame it solely on my thyroid, but I'm sure it's a contributing factor.

Thyroid problems are real, and can be devastating to your health and overall wellness.

You shouldn't trivialize something you don't understand just because you don't understand it.

My experience is that healthy people do not welcome overweight people into their arms during group exercise either. Any time I'm in the gym, I get nasty looks from all the "healthy" (skinny) people in there as if I have no right to be there trying to better myself and get healthier. I'm certainly not classified as morbidly obese, but apparently, my sweating overweight butt is not something they want to see in their gym.

I agree that there are a lot of overweight people out there who place blame on others, but your negative and degrading attitude, and that of people like you, make it extremely difficult to make healthy life changes. People like you always judge, and think people are overweight just because they are lazy.

I do cardio 5 days a week, and weights 3 times a week, follow a 1200 calorie a day diet, and am still 50 lbs overweight, with no signs of weight loss. I don't sit in front to the TV and eat potato chips all day, so excuse me if I'm not as thin and gorgeous as you.

So if some days I weigh 202 and some days I weigh 198, I should wait for a skinny day to have a pedicure? And if my scale says 198 and hers says 201, does she charge? Should I bring a note from my physician with a "certified" weight so I can be allowed to have my nails painted red?

If I weigh 140 pounds and I'm the 2000th person to get into that chair and it breaks, do I get to keep all of her illegal surcharges?

Wow - I cannot believe you support discrimination. The chairs likely break down from repeated usage. This should be calculated into the cost of running the business --not passed along to individual customers that are insulted after having patronized the business. I would take my business somewhere else. Thin or Heavy I would not do business with them PERIOD.

I understand that many of these shops are owned by Asian Americans who may not be as sensitive to the same issuea as Americans ---our societies are vastly different. Coming from another country where obesity is not much of an issue and coming to a country with a tremendous obese population should have been considered before you bought the chairs with a 200 pound weight limit ---that actually sounds like an unreasonably low weight to break a chair. For 2500 dollars I suggest you buy American made chairs that will likely outlive the cheap foreign chairs made in China that you are probably buying. In America we can tell you first hand how bad foreign made products are and how quickly they fall apart! I am speaking of Quality issues here and it is a well known fact that product quality has gone out the window as manufacturing jobs have migrated over seas!

Eitherway --you won't likely need to worry about your chairs or their cost as once you have insulted enough of your paying clients they will migrate to other shops who provide quality service without insult.

I get nasty looks from all the "healthy" (skinny) people in there as if I have no right to be there trying to better myself and get healthier. I'm certainly not classified as morbidly obese, but apparently, my sweating overweight butt is not something they want to see in their gym.

You have a good point. I've seen some gyms, especially the "popular" ones, that appear to be only for people who are already fit. While they won't turn down your money, it seems you don't get a warm welcome either.

If you are lucky enough to have a YMCA or other community center based gym, or a hospital that has an open physical fitness center, in your area, they are usually much more accepting.

Carrie - having a low thyroid does make one overweight. Yes, there is medication to help control this but it does take time to work and one has to work with a doctor regularly to ensure that the proper dosage of medication is being taken. It normally takes several months before the medication is helping regulate metabolism correctly. Low thyroid activity means that your body is not metabolizing correctly. When your metabolism does not work correctly, you gain weight. All the dieting & exercising in the world is not going to help you if your thyroid is not working right. I am the only member of my family who does not (yet) suffer from this disorder. My mother, father, sister, grandmother and aunt all have low thyroid disorder and they are all on medication for it.

Maybe the owner just doesn't want to deal with overweight clients. There is already a big yuck factor in doing pedicures. We can't forget that those that are overweight put more stress on their feet, are more likely to have poor circulation, and would have a harder time getting to their feet as related to hygiene activities.

The chair might just be the tipping point.

And of course, how often do you see an overweight manicurist?

If there is a standard weight limit for a piece of equipment, it would be foolish to knowingly use that equipment if there is an overweight issue for the simple reason that safety needs to be number one. If, indeed the pedicure chair has a weight limit and a customer is put into that chair that is overweight, if that chair breaks while the customer is in it is not only dangerous to the customer but also the employee performing the pedicure.

However, there are many valid points made that people have health issues causing them to be overweight. The salon needs to either be up front about limitations of their services and note in advance the additional surcharges - whether it be you are charged more for having thicker hair requiring more hair color or if you are overweight and will be assessed a fee for use of the equipment.

It would also be wise to ensure your business purchases can accomodate your clientele.

In the case of being on a plane being seated next to someone who is large, is it fair to the smaller person to have their seat space invaded? I've been in this position. Being sandwiched between people is not a comfortable nor pleasant experience. I have suffered back injuries so sitting at an angle during the entire flight can also cause me more serious problems. It's not fair for anyone in that predicament (the large or the small people).

Karabella... I have learned about the thyroid gland and how it works with the body. I am stating about 2 people that I know of, 1 that has an underactive thyroid, and the other whom doesn't have one at all. Of course there are exceptions, but people don't have to accept the fact that they are going to be fat just because they have a thyroid condition. Exercise and eating properly and taking medications to deal with hypothyroidism is detrimental to having a healthy lifestyle.

I agree that the charge should be posted and it is unfair to slip a non-disclosed fee onto a bill. HOWEVER, I also think that the salon owner has a right to enforce a weight restriction on the chairs or charge extra for those that exceed it. Why should the salon have to repeatedly replace broken chairs at their expense. The alternative is that the added cost gets spread across the board, the salon raisses their prices, and ALL the customers pay extra. That hardly seems fair. People talking about this woman being humilated by the salon are ridiculous. She is humilated by her weight. The salon owner didn't call her names or put her down, she explained the policy and stated facts. The fact is that the customer was overweight enough to break a chair.

GeorgiaGal- I admire the fact that you work so hard to obtain/maintain healthy weight. I am sure with your past history, you work with a doctor in terms of diet plans and medication. Don't be discouraged by people at your gym, it's likely that the feeling that are looking down on you is caused by your own insecurities. I'm chubby, I work out at a gym, I know how intimidating it feels to workout in the presence of skinny women. But it's not their fault and I doubt they look down on you (or me) for being there.

ALL charges should be listed up front! Charging extra because you think the customer is over a certain weight is unacceptable. I suggest if the owner wants to charge extra, she puts a scale next to the door with a sign saying all customers must "weigh-in". This would take care of the situation as she would soon be out of business and never have to buy another chair!

"I am not saying that all people that are overweight are on welfare or on medicare....."

Carrie - Then what is your logic in lumping people who are overweight with welfare and medicare? People of all weights, shapes, colors, genders, sexual orientation, etc., are on welfare and/or medicare. Being on one system or the other has absolutely nothing to do with weight.

Not only do you link being overweight with welfare and medicare, you also presume to be a medical doctor and tell others that thyroid conditions have nothing to do with weight. The thyroid controls metabolism, how the body makes proteins, and sensitivity to hormones. Symptoms of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) include unexplained or excessive weight gain and fatigue. Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) has a different set of symptoms. These are medical facts. You are in no position to tell someone who has hypothyroidism that he or she should be able to control weight gain. The disease affects metabolism, which affects weight. Finding the correct combination of drugs and dosages is not a perfect science. If you don't personally have either disease, you have no right to preach to others who do have a thyroid disease.

I am a firm believer that many American's need to lose weight, myself included. However, making people feel uncomfortable or out and out shunning them, is not the way to do it. Over eating tends to be an emotional issue more than an "I am hungry" issue, and until the underlying problems are addressed, the person will stay overweight. All the weight loss plans, and 100 calorie breads in the world will not help someone that has not dealt with why they over eat!

I know it is fun to talk about all the health related issues that go with being overweight, but it would be nice if health insurance were more willing to pay for people to seek psychological treatment so that they are able to feel better about themselves, then help them to tackle the outside. Honestly, we seem to have become such a hateful and hatefilled society, that we seem to fail to see what effects all that hate has on individuals and society at large.

And yes, having participated in a research study, I have worked threw many of the emotional issues that had dogged me for years, and although I still have a ways to go, I care enough about myself to not want to be overweight and I am putting my gym membership to very good use!

How is the chair broken? I wish they had some info on that. It may or may not be a safety issue.

Some have claimed that the charges have to be posted. Not every price is posted for every service. Go to an auto repair place. The prices are not posted, but they will tell them to you when you ask. If you ask, but they omit a charge, then you wouldn't have to pay it. (I'm not talking unforeseeable charges).

Scales 67, she is using the statistics for Medicare/Medicaid as examples of how much more healthcare costs for overweight people. She is specifically illustrating how much additional money it costs the taxpayers to insure the overweight. She has a valid point. And it's not just about what it costs to insure them on taxpayer-funded plans, look at how expensive insurance is in general. One of the causes for the high premiums is that the overweight drive up the average healthcare costs. Cigarettes do the same thing and that's one of the reasons why they are taxed so heavily, to deter people from doing something to themselves that has an trickle down effect on the rest of society.

And let's be honest, how many people in this country actually have an under active thyroid?? And how many people are overweight?

The problem is that we coddle everyone, we don't want to humiliate them, we don't want to be honest. No one seems to have a problem admonishing the smoker, telling them it's bad for their health. People at work have admonished me for getting a tan over the weekend, citing skin cancer. But no one would ever dare ask someone if they really need to eat that doughnut despite the fact that obesity claims just as many, if not more, lives. People even openly admonish skinny people, I can't tell you the number of times I've heard one woman tell another she's too skinny and encourage her to eat. I have a friend that is always told that, it's terribly humiliating for her. And no one ever thinks twice about saying it.

An airline thinking of safety makes plenty of sense, as does extra for clothing. You have to travel, you have to wear clothes, but you don't *have* to go to a salon. These people should certainly lose weight, but if you're in a business where word-of-mouth is your bedrock, you don't remind the person of their shortcomings. This insensitive twit of a business owner seems to think hers is the only game in town. Get sturdier chairs, that *everyone* uses; don't insult your customer. Moron.

I saw an interview with this woman on CNN. The salon owner is a JERK.

I urge everyone to boycott the establishment.

Frankly, I really do not believe that their salon chairs are easily broken. I regularly visit a Beverly Hills salon and ALL their salon chairs are quite sturdy.

I can not imagine that salon chairs are easily broken. Not at all.

I suspect any nearby nail salon's day got happier when they found out about this. Somehow I think they may regret the move. I don't think it is so much an discrimination, as it is a business blunder due to competition.

How can a small business related to finger and toe nails afford to insult half their customers?

chirp, chirp...

I know it is fun to talk about all the health related issues that go with being overweight, but it would be nice if health insurance were more willing to pay for people to seek psychological treatment so that they are able to feel better about themselves, then help them to tackle the outside. Honestly, we seem to have become such a hateful and hatefilled society, that we seem to fail to see what effects all that hate has on individuals and society at large.

I completely agree. There is a Beverly Hills psychologist who advertises " talk the weight off ."

Once my sister dealt with her personal issues, she lost a LOT of weight.

Does anyone know if the new health care plan includes MENTAL health care?

I don't recall the article saying just how obese she is. Is she five foot six and 250, 300? Frankly, my sympathies are with the pedicurist.

I agree that the salon should notify their clients that a surcharge will be made for those overweight and state why. That said, the salon should also consider whether this surcharge is good for business or will drive away customers, not just the obese ones. Perhaps, as someone said, they should buy a bigger chair and grinn and bear it.

Ex Chysler Employee,

I can see why you are unemployed!

They probably fired you for being stupid, and it would be justice if the person that let you go was overweight!

Karen in Los Angeles
Frankly, I really do not believe that their salon chairs are easily broken. I regularly visit a Beverly Hills salon and ALL their salon chairs are quite sturdy.

I agree with you. Did they have old or new chairs? Plus add in the condition of their chairs before anyone sits on it on any given day. How do they even establish who broke a chair unless they blame the last one who sat on it. Kind of an unscientific poor decision they made.

Dawn-- Thanks for posting your comment. Scales, I am not pretending to be a doctor here, I am just stating the facts. Believe them or not is up to you. Looking the other way is not going to solve the biggest national problem that we have in this country, and that is problems associated with people being overweight. Diabetes, heart attacks, congenetive heart failure, some types of cancer, liver disease, blockages to arteries... and the list goes on and on. Being overweight is a serious problem that people want to try to avoid, but it isn't going to go away as long as we are being "sensitive" to people's feelings. I agree 100% that employers should give perks to people that are within their bmi, and consequences to others that don't try and reach theirs.

Dan-2254048, at least I can lose weight (I'm not that overweight to begin with). You seem determined to make yourself as ugly a "human being" as possible....at least according to your horrible rant of a post...

I agree that the owner may have the right to charge more (just as a clothing manufacturer or airline), but that fee should be upfront and public information for all patrons. The way the owner handled this is discriminatory and smacks of downright bullying.

One of the big mistakes I think people are making here is that there is a distinction between overweight and obese. While the scientific and medical communities agree that being obese can lead to health problems later in life, the same CANNOT be said about being overweight. In fact there has even been some research stating that being overweight can be healthier than having an "ideal" BMI, and older people being overweight does not seem to increase mortality. (See scientific resources at end for more).

Second, there are MANY causes to have an increased weight besides overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. While one may be glandular (such as hypothyroidism), others include plan old genetics, medications, and other medical conditions. I think generalizing everyone who's overweight as disgusting and lazy is a gross injustice, as there may be other causes of which you're unaware. In addition, sometimes is not just as easy to "cut down on calories" or "exercise more" for some people, and maybe you shouldn't judge people who may be dealing with things you may never encounter. For the most part, I know many people with "ideal BMIs" who eat horribly unhealthy, never exercise, and never gain an ounce. On the opposite end I know people who exercise and just by looking at a half portion of ice cream, gain 5 pounds. And I know people all in between. Plus, there are certain medications, that no matter what, cause you to gain weight.

Third and finally,

Carrie: I am stating about 2 people that I know of, 1 that has an underactive thyroid, and the other whom doesn't have one at all...

Exercise and eating properly and taking medications to deal with hypothyroidism is detrimental to having a healthy lifestyle.

Scientifically speaking you've made two mistakes here. One, your sample size of 2 can not be used to state anything of significance. Third, exercise and proper eating with hormones is "detrimental" to a good lifestyle? Here I thought it was essential. I know many more people with hypothyroidism (the underactive form), and almost ever one of them is different on the weight problem. Some have had no problem with it. Some gained so much weight BEFORE there was a hint of diagnosis that it has taken them literally YEARS of closely monitored diet and exercise to lose the extra weight. In addition, weight gain is a scientifically documented symptom of hypothyroidism. And since the treatment is basically by trial and error of dosing, it can be months or even a year before the correct dosage is determined and from then another few months before the thyroid is back in control. During that time, weight is still accruing NO MATTER WHAT the person's diet; in addition, they are likely experiencing fatigue and weakness making exercise even more difficult. My father still struggles with it daily as, in addition to the thyroid problem, he has bad arthritis for which his medication causes severe weight gain, has had multiple surgeries to fix joints, has sleep apnea (which also results in weight gain), and is generally just older and doesn't have the energy and metabolism as before.

Basically, my point is that no one should judge others, especially if they don't have all the facts/information and have never had to walk in the other person's shoes. And sweeping generalizations of a whole subset of the population based only a some of those individuals is rather inaccurate and wrong.

Resources mentioned above:

Flegal, Katherine M.; Graubard, Barry I.; Williamson, David F.; Gail, Mitchell H. (2005). "Excess Deaths Associated With Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity". JAMA 293 (15): 1861–1867. doi:10.1001/jama.293.15.1861. PMID 15840860. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/293/15/1861.

Kolata, Gina (7 November 2007), Causes of Death Are Linked to a Person’s Weight, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/health/07fat.html, retrieved 2009-04-27 (requires free registration)

Flicker L, McCaul KA, Hankey GJ, et al. (February 2010). "Body mass index and survival in men and women aged 70 to 75". J Am Geriatr Soc 58 (2): 234–41. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02677.x. PMID 20370857.

not that men get their nails done but the average male is heavier than the average female. So would you charge a man $5 more for being over 200 lbs? Now he's not overweight just heavier. The context the owner used was discriminatory and agree now if the chairs can't handle the weight than either buy better chairs or put a two hundred pound limit on your door with the context of that is what your equipment will handle. I agree hidden surcharge is wrong. Same as not having prices on the wall at a hospital. UPFRONT!

You made it personal and not logical. Overweight or are your chairs inadequate?

I would be thinking of a discrimination lawsuit and a lawsuit for allowing the use of inadequate equipment which could of jeopardized her safety.

Wouldn't it be easier to buy atleast one chair with a heavier limit?

"...they're burning more oxygen than the rest of us and helping to decay the ozone layer faster"

Dan - That takes the cake for being one of the most ignorant statements that I have ever seen on Newsvine. Do you even know what ozone is? It's a triatomic molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms, a completely different compound than the oxygen that we breathe, which is a diatomic molecule (two oxygen atoms). Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), which are manufactured under the trade name Freon, account for 80% of the total depletion of the ozone layer. Ozone is destroyed when ultraviolet light from the sun causes CFCs to decompose and release a free chlorine atom, which destroys ozone through a series of chain reactions.

Depletion of the ozone layer has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of oxygen consumed by overweight people or anyone else on this planet. The fact that someone with an attitude such as yours is taking up space on this planet and breathing our oxygen is much more harmful to the human population of the Earth than any overweight person could ever dream of being.

"...congenetive heart failure..."

"Exercise and eating properly and taking medications to deal with hypothyroidism is detrimental to having a healthy lifestyle."

Carrie - your arguments would be much more effective if you had a clue as to what you are attempting to say. I suppose you mean "congestive heart failure", or perhaps you are trying to say "congenital heart disease", which is a birth defect and has absolutely nothing to do with being overweight. It's difficult to know what you intend to say since "congenetive" is apparently a combination of both terms.

Also, the last I heard, "Exercise and eating properly and taking medications to deal with hypothyroidism" are consistent with, not detrimental to, having a healthy lifestyle.

You can point a finger at and blame overweight people all you want, but they have a distinct advantage over you, which is that they can lose weight. Ignorance, one the other hand, is very difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

I refuse to believe any chair costing $2500 has a weight limit of 200 lbs! That is ridiculous. I would believe it for weights over 300 lbs.

The ideal solution would be to charge whoever breaks the chair, however, collecting $2500 would be very difficult.

How so? If a 110 pound person sits in the chair one day and it breaks because it was stressed to the point of breaking by previous users, but was just holding on, why would that 110 pound person be responsible for the cost because they happened to be the next person who sat in the chair but clearly did not cause the damage? Thats like saying if you lent me your car for an hour, and in the hour that I was using it the wheel bearings failed, that I should be responsible to pay for new wheel bearings for your car even though it is clear that it was not me who caused the damage.

BMIs should be done by a professional.

Athletes have more muscle than fat and naturally weigh more.

If one strictly uses weight as the indicator in the BMI formula, that athlete could appear to be obese.

When I say athlete, I am speaking of someone who spends at least 4-5 days in the gym doing 1/2 hour of cardio and 1/2 hour of weights - NOT someone who rides their bike on the weekends.

I refuse to believe any chair costing $2500 has a weight limit of 200 lbs! That is ridiculous. I would believe it for weights over 300 lbs.

Norcal and I completely agree with you.

I was curious and just called my nail salon and their chairs hold 600lbs! And they're just the standard massage chairs that you find in any salon. What sort of chairs does this woman have? Also, I've seen more and more men getting pedicures so buying chairs that only hold 200lbs seems like a horrible business decision if she cares at all about attracting new customers.

However, making people feel uncomfortable or out and out shunning them, is not the way to do it.

Oh that works both ways. You wouldn't believe the names I've been called by people who "hate" me because I'm small...they don't say it behind their hands either, nor do they even know me as I'm just passing by them in a store. I've heard far more hateful language from those who are overweight toward those who aren't than the other way around in my lifetime.

SG -

I'm sorry, but I have to call shenanigans on that one. I firmly do not believe that skinny, "small" people are harassed more than overweight people. That's simply ludicrous.

Carrie, you quoted the following from a 2003 USA Today article:

The annual medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity is about 9.1% of national medical costs.

What you neglected to include was the sentence immediately following, which is:

Those attributable to smoking range from 6.5% and 14.4%.

So, based on the article that you pointed out, your claim that "our nation's number one health problem is people being overweight" is incorrect.

In addition, if you want to quote studies specifically directed toward obesity, your statistics are going to be widely skewed, since the only factor considered is obesity. How about some generalized statistics from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ahrq.gov):

"The elderly (age 65 and over) made up around 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2002, but they consumed 36 percent of total U.S. personal health care expenses. The average health care expense in 2002 was $11,089 per year for elderly people but only $3,352 per year for working-age people (ages 19-64)."

Are you going to hate all elderly because you have to help pay for their medical expenses?

"In 2002, the five most expensive health conditions were heart disease, cancer, trauma, mental disorders, and pulmonary conditions."

Are you going to hate all the people who end up with the above conditions because they raise your taxes?

"The elderly and disabled, who constituted around 25 percent of the Medicaid population, accounted for about 70 percent of Medicaid spending on services in 2003. People with disabilities accounted for 43 percent of Medicaid spending and the elderly for 26 percent. The remaining 75 percent of the Medicaid population, who were not elderly or disabled, accounted for only 30 percent of spending."

Back to hating the elderly, and now the disabled, I suppose?

"Hospital stays for moms and their newborn babies accounted for nearly one in four hospital stays in the United States in 2002, according to the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Total charges for these stays—what the hospitals bill insurers and patients—surpassed $61 billion a year, or about 9 percent of the charges for all hospital care."

Nice--let's hate all newborn babies.

How about some more recent statistics, from the 2009 Milliman Medical Index, a yearly report that evaluates healthcare trends. The numbers are based upon a "typical American family of four:"

"In our study, three cities are 10% more costly than the national average. Perhaps the most interesting dynamic illustrated here is the cost of healthcare in Miami exceeding the $20,000 mark, the first city in our study to climb so high. Miami is 21% more costly than the national average and especially high compared with Phoenix, which comes in below $15,000 and is 11% lower than the national average."

That's it! Hate all people living in Miami!

I'm not saying obesity is healthy, I'm just saying that it is inaccurate to justify your hate by making obesity out as the number one cost in healthcare. It is also invalid to claim that you have a "right" to dictate how an overweight person lives by claiming that you're paying for their health care. We all pay a portion of everyone's health care by virtue of living in the United States--you have no more right to dictate how an overweight person lives than they do in dictating how you live.

It's your prerogative to hate someone because of their weight, but don't pretend that it has to do with anything more than hate, because in the end, that's all it is.

Wow! Right on the button!

I applaud you!

Isn't it amazing that we are not allowed as a society to discrimate. Customer service used to mean fair and equal treatment of the customer. Where are we headed as a civilized society? Follow my blog at www.crazyfatchick.com

However, the woman did not break the chair. If the chair had a 200 lb weight limit, wouldn't it suffer some damage? To surcharge someone for nothing is not fair. Frankly, I agree with another commenter that in this country and in this era, for a chair to have only a 200 lb weight limit is ridiculous. For $2,500 that chair should at least hold 300 lbs. Also, who determines how much someone weighs. This isn't the same as someone spilling into another person's seat. This woman fit in the chair, was served, did not damage and then was humiliated and charged an extra fee. I find it outrageous.

Wrong you are!!! You see I work in the maintenance world, and there is something called acute and cumulative effects. If she had sat down and broke the chair it would be considered acute. It didn't break, however it does not mean she did not stress out some of the parts holding the chair together. Repeated exposure to this weight will eventually cause a failure, or cumulative failure. Therefore Tran is simply averaging the repair cost over the wide band of overweight people who sit in the chair. Would you rather the 2,500 be charged to the unlucky fatty who sat down at the point of failure?

Also, who determines how much someone weighs.

Constitutional Rights - are you serious? That new invention...the scale might help! This is objective, not subjective. You also come to the conclusion that a $2500 chair should hold 300# instead of 200#, and that's based on what? blah blah blah. Smart post.

It's the cumulative effect of everyone sitting in that chair that stresses it. Once if is worn out, it breaks, and it could be a 120 pound person in it. So, is the owner going to charge that 120-pound person $2500 for breaking it then? No, having salon equipment is an expense. Charge enough to cover your business costs. Stop making stupid excuses for a business cost. If the

Acute and Cumulative, blah blah nonsense. Its the cost of doing business. Does an electrician count how many snips he gets out of a pair of wire cutters, and charge differently because of that? No, its a tool of his trade. Does the auto shop charge more to put a van on the lift to fix it than they would a Toyota Echo? No its a tool of the trade. The shop might have light duty and heavy duty lifts, but do the charge differently?

So the salon chair in this case is a tool of the trade. If the shop chooses to only works on those 200 lbs or less, they need to advertise that and be upfront about it. Or they can add a timber aderondack chair to the lineup for the heavies. The shop was stupid, it would be funny to see this play out in court. How did the shop come up with $5 surcharge? Did one the staff brain surgeons calculate that the chair would need replaceemnt after being used by 500 heavies? Maybe they should surcharge evey client based on weight. That would be more accurate and fair way to recoup the cost of the chair.

When running a business properly you start with the proper equipment. If you want to do work on larger people you need to buy equipment to hold them. If not then you need to post that so people are aware ahead of time. Simple business practices. Besides in a vain country such as ours the salons if they are any good stay constantly busy so it wouldn't take her any time to make the money to maintain her equipment. That is if she knows how to run her business properly.

Constitutional Rights:

Are you serious? 200 lb is too low? The average height of a woman (let's assume only woman goes there) in American is 5'4", if weigh 200 lbs, she would have a 34.3 BMI.

The reason these chairs are made this way is to balance cost and benefit, I mean why stop at 300 lbs? what happen if a 400lb woman walks in? We can't make products to fit the needs of every person in the world. When design a product we only think of the average. How do you think the designer calculated the weight limit of a elevator?

Echo: Regardless of the fact that the "average" height for a woman in the US is 5'4", accomodations should still be made. I'm 5'10", does that make me abnormal? No. Also, the BMI index is not an accurate measure of a person's body "makeup" in that it doesn't account for lean body mass.....just height and weight.

For those of you claiming the business can sue or charge the customer who is sitting in the chair when it broke: You are way wrong.

There is no judge out there who would allow the last person in the chair to be responsible after possibly thousands have sat in the chair to begin with. The business owner is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of their equipment. If they have chairs that have a weight limit and do not post that limit or advise clients of that limit they are liable if the chair breaks no matter who and no matter how much they weigh.

This was told to me by my neighbor, a very well paid lawyer. He also told me most barber chairs will hold well over 500 lbs. Most suppliers of beauty salons and barbers chairs make professional chairs very capable of holding anyone that comes in. A nail salon that spent $2500 on a chair only capable of holding 200 lbs did not buy a professional chair but probably something fashionable from a furniture store. They would have to claim that in court also and would go against them for liability.

While in general I agree with rightly amused about the chair just being part of the cost of doing business, on the flip side, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (and probably most other toll roads as well) charges higher tolls for trucks than for passenger cars, specifically because trucks cause more wear and tear on the highway (or so they say). So there is precedent for charging higher rates for customers who impose heavier loads on structures, and government is who is doing it. I'm sure there are other private businesses doing so as well.

I also agree that 200 lbs does not seem strong enough. A lot of people are over 200 lbs, especially men, not so many women, but still I'm sure there's quite a few women over 200 lbs too. It seems to me that a chair rated for a 200 lb load is just inadequate, I would not have purchased it. Maybe chair rated for a 300 lb load is more expensive, and she was trying to be cheap. Then she deserves it if overweight customers ruin her chairs.

Personally, if I were that overweight customer, I would show up with about 20 other overweight people all at once, and a television news crew to report on the salon owner's reaction. The press from this has got to be really "good" for business.

I'm not overweight -- more the opposite -- but I would never patronize a shop that pulled such a stunt.

No one in this world is perfect. We all fail to live up to our own best standards in a variety of ways. People need to stop being so hateful.

I am not overweight either, but several of my in-laws are. When some of them came to visit, and one dropped herself down onto our sofa, you heard the frame crack in the back bedroom. The couch was destroyed, and in no way did the person who ruined it offer to replace it. I don't invite them to my house because I don't want another piece of furniture destroyed at my expense, not because I judge their weight or refuse to care about them because they are heavy, but I simply cannot afford to replace what they break every time they come.

sj2010, the BMI works for an average. The OP was correct in using it.

Look at it this way, the BMI doesn't work on me any longer because my lean muscle is higher than average. I now need calipers to measure effectively. No problem. But I am also over 200 pounds, so if there was a surcharge for +200lbs I would pay it. Hell, I would be proud to pay it.

I went mountain climbing a while back and had to pay an extra $10 because of my weight requiring different equipment. I didn't balk at it. I know body builders that need to buy second seats for airplanes, they acknowledge that they are larger than average and buy the second ticket.

Here is the trade off, we pay the same in health insurance and use MUCH less than the obese.

Why is it that people who work hard to be in a certain physical shape are fine with paying extra for larger clothes, special equipment, or extra seats, but those who find themselves obese balk at such things?

Robin, I hear you on the furniture thing. I am careful not to drop down on furniture myself, but my relatives (some in excess of 400 lbs) are not so considerate. I have a couch that sinks on one side now because of that too.

Connie

They have pay toilets in Paris - thank goodness!

Robin --

When some of them came to visit, and one dropped herself down onto our sofa, you heard the frame crack in the back bedroom

I can relate to that. I have a dear friend who is extremely overweight, and I regularly cringe for my furniture.

But... *sigh* In the end I love my friend more than my furniture. (Not meaning that as a comment on your choice.)

You ignorant, ignorant woman. There is so much more to it than that. And karma is a bit@h, so hopefully you will have to eat those words.

Mel,

Get your head out of the sand already!! don't you understand ignorance is what is killing these huge people???? I completely agree with Mel, look at our overweight children; they will die off from diabetis and related medical issues at a young age. We need to stop being so sensitive to these issues that affect everyone.

I have to agree... One of my dearest long time friends is obese... not because "there is so much more to it" other than her love of fast food and booze. She is a wonderful person, she has been normal size in her life, is a great mother.... and is miserable with herself... she hates herself for being FAT! FAT people are FAT because they eat too much and have no self control. Put down the fork already!!

I weigh 210, and am considered healthy by my doctor. My thyroid is now in check, as it was slightly underactive. Years of steroids to take care of a genetic health condition added weight.

I am active. I did gymnastics and so I pretty much look like Shawn Johnson, with the amount of muscle I have. So I do everything you close mind jerks are saying, but I still have to pay extra. I call shenanagans.

AND SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.
Weight is a sensative subject
Sometimes, it really is a medical condition.

no,shame on you.this country is way to worried with hurting peoples feelings....grow up!!!they are only words.and the owner is 100%correct to charge for something that customers break cause of their excessive weight

Danielle i completely agree with you. Mel I think you are completely off base. For the majority of overweight people they do just need to put down the fork and get their lazy butt off the couch. I can say that as I used to be 90 lbs. heavier and I finally put the fork down.

Frog, You are the exception not the rule. Get it? Most people are obese because they make bad lifestyle choices. Period. Eat McD's and drink soda, eat ice cream and candy, you gain weight. Don't exercize and you gain body fat. Overweight people act like nutrition is rocket science and that somehow eating habits are ruled by mysterious cosmic forces beyond all control. They are not. Television is another culprit. Turn it off and go for a walk, to the library, and get a book on nutrition and exercize. Simple.

WOW.....I have never read so many rude comments about overweight people. Isn't there a saying about don't judge a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Yes, I am overweight. Have I tried to lose weight, Yes! I eat healthy foods but because of my schedule for work I eat at odd hours. I walk for 60 to 90 minutes a day, but I still can not lose the weight. So for you know it alls on here please tell me how to be skinny and judgemental.

Bully for you, frogglyn! You make a great point. In addition to that, I know lots of guys who get pedicures as well. Lots of them weigh more than 200 pounds and it is pure muscle. What is she going to charge them?

Get a better chair Tran, or get out of the business.

G

I agree with the ignorance. Not that you will ever find me in a nail salon, but I am 240lbs. I run 4 marathons a year, swim, bike to work in the summer (that's 24 miles daily) and go to the gym every evening. So for the comments about get off your butt and eat less calories, you are making some serious assumptions that for some of us who according to a medical chart are deemed "obese" is WAY off! At the same time, we are a sue-happy society and rather than throw a fit about it, go somewhere else, or give up the nail salon luxury all together.

Bulls*h*i*t I used the same excuses as you people when I wieghed 280!! I work too much blah blah blah. I ate to much of the foods I loved!! Blame it on whatever excuse you need, but at the end of the day, if you don't choose to change blame it on yourself!! I was there, tired all the time making little jokes about my weight before someone else could!! I finally had enough, I started swimming and now do triathalons. I've lost 50+ pounds and I feel a million times better!! I've also started eating a lot better. I still want to eat too much but I control myself!! It's probably akin to alcoholism and other addictions except even harder because we do have to eat some to survive. Get past the denial stage, own up to the probelm! Take control and you can win. Those of you who complain about rude comments, the truth always hurts!! Use those comments to motivate. Our lives our ours to ruin if we choose why not suprise everyone and prove others wrong!!! Believe me you'll feel so happy physically and emotionally!!!

yup. there is a real real simple equation that works for this compare calories consumed in a day with calories burned in a day. if the first is larger your gaining weight if the second number is larger your loosing weight.

I'm 6'4 and 320 lbs. -- clearly overweight by anyone's standards. I buy clothes at stores that specialize in, or have, sizes for big and tall men. I'm overweight by choice; I wasn't "born" with it, I'm not genetically predisposed to it, I'm not depressed and eating my way to feeling better...I accept my condition, and the restrictions that follow it. No, it's not comfortable sitting in an aircraft, but again, it's my choice. Until I decide, for once and for all, to limit my intake and change my diet, I'll have to contend with small and not-so-small inconveniences. Most all people who are overweight are overweight by choice, like me -- and business owners have a right to protect their investments. No, that woman probably wouldn't have broken the chair when she sat on it, but over time, with many overweight customers using the chair, one or more parts would have failed from fatigue. Compounding that issue is a potential safety problem, too.

Overweight persons must learn to look in the mirror, stop blaming everyone else or blaming it on a medical condition (please, don't insult my intelligence), take personal responsibility, suck it up, and either lose weight or deal with occasional restrictions.

Mike - call it what you want but they are not excuses. My meals are salads that consist of a cup of lettuce with veggies and no dressing and then grilled chicken or pork. When I want something sweet I eat yogurt or fruit. My daily workout consists of walking up and down hills. So do not basically tell me I am a liar. My doctor tells me I am healthy. Once again you just proved how judgemental society is about people when they know nothing about them.

You may not be burning enough calories by walking, especially if you have a sedentary job. If you don't feel used up, spent, and/or exhausted after a workout you're probably not burning enough calories. Walking doesn't do it for me either (I'm naturally thin, but I still like to look my best and after having a child and nearing the big 3-0 that means intense cardio with plenty of panting and sweating and slightly sore muscles afterwards).

I think the owner was right to charge. Maybe a sign on the door to warn overweight customers would have been a little more courteous, but other than 24paws-896188 (whose candor I found delightfully refreshing) not many people want to read a sign before they go into a store that says "if you are __— lbs. you'll get a surcharge because you weigh so much you will cause damage to our equipment."

As another poster said, America is getting so hyperbolic with its "rights for all" that it's really becoming more like "special rights for some to the detriment of most." Common sense is flying out the window.

Before you know it, we'll have people saying that everyone else should absorb extra costs from allowing for special circumstances. Should I pay more for my clothing so someone who is a 2x can pay an equal amount for a shirt? Should my plane ticket cost more just so someone who needs two seats doesn't feel bad? Should my medical insurance cost more so that someone who smokes can pay less and thereby afford more cigarettes? Should my kid get a C when they deserve an A just so a "special needs" child won't be down in the dumps about their inability to keep level with kids their age? Where does it end?

I'm really asking: where does it end?

I know some people have hard circumstances, but at the end of the day shouldn't sanity and reason prevail over feelings?

So, overweight people are that way because they want to be? OK, I'll buy that if you buy this. Alcholics are that way cause they wanna be. Hell, all they have to do is stop drinking and they will all be OK. Crack heads are that way cause they wanna be. They can quit anytime. Smokers are all dirty disgusting people who can quit whenever they want. All they have to do is stop putting those disgusting things in their mouth. It's easy, as Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a thousand times."

Mel, what else is there to it? I hate to break it to you, but it actually is JUST that simple. If you eat more cal's than your body requires you'll gain weight. If you eat exactly the amount of cal's your body requires, you'll stay the same weight. If you eat less cal's than your body requires, you'll lose weight. It IS just that simple. Exercise increases the amount of cal's burned and has many other scientifically proved benefits like increased cardiovascular endurance, stronger bones and muscles, and longevity of life. These are not guesses Mel, these are facts that have been documented by the American College of Sports Medicine all the way to the Journal of American Medical Associates (JAMA). Stop fostering complacency and laziness! Maybe if we required more out of ourselves and others, we would lead fuller healthier lives. Let's push ourselves to meet higher standards, and stop expecting people to lower the standards to meet us.

John, alcohol, nicotine, drugs...they all create a PHYSICAL dependency. Food, although we are all dependent on it, does not work that way. It may create psychological dependencies, but not physical. Nobody, regardless of what they claim, is going to suffer an actual physical withdrawal from strawberry shortcake or Snickers candy bars! Mentally, I could probably eat two Big-Mac's a day. I love those things. However, my body is NEVER going to go into physical withdrawals from not having one. Somebody who smokes, drinks, or does drugs will suffer the effects of physical withdrawals from a chemical substance to which there body has become dependent. It's an unreasonable comparison of the two. However, it's a comparison that someone who is lazy and has no pride in themselves would be more than happy to make, I'm sure.

Lisa-2252536

Mike - call it what you want but they are not excuses. My meals are salads that consist of a cup of lettuce with veggies and no dressing and then grilled chicken or pork. When I want something sweet I eat yogurt or fruit. My daily workout consists of walking up and down hills.

No wonder you can't lose weight! Despite what most people think, your body requires fats, grains, and sugars, but it all has to do with the source. With such a strict diet, your body thinks it's being deprived and goes into "panic" mode and stores calories instead of burning it.

Losing weight is about PERMANENT LIFESTYLE changes, and not starvation and strenuous exercise. Eating "normal", balanced meals along with continued exercise that burns more calories than consumed will make the weight gradually come off.

Rhastuss - That's a pretty shallow statement if you ask me. I'm 7.5 months pregnant. Did I gain weight? Yes, but it is due to the baby growing and also the retention of water within my body's tissues. Stop generalizing.

Agreed. If anything, it's the other way around -- ever eat McDonalds after eating really healthy for a long period of time? My body has no idea how to deal with it and I end up feeling terrible and wanting actual food.

It not unreasonble to look at some of the additives that are in food today? Caffeine, chemicals, etc. have god knows what effect on the body. Even natural things like vegetables are covered in how many pesticides. Growth hormone is used in animals all the time - you think that drinking milk and eating meat that isn't affecting people too?

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Yes - exercise and eating better is certainly something anyone with a weight issue should do, but don't assume that millions of people with a weight problem are all just lazy with no pride. Americans should be demanding more transparency in our food system, and choosing items that are natural.

I agree with Danielle. Stop eating and start moving. And for all of you who will get an STD this month that we all pay for, keep your legs closed. Get someone pregnant? You should NOT be entitled to tax deductions. Do you play competitive sports? We're not paying for that hip or knee replacement when you're 40. We're not paying for your skin cancer either for your lifeguarding job/weekend trips to the shore. Cholesterol too high? No insurance till it's below the threshhold. Have erectile dysfunction? Too bad. Liver cancer because you drank too much and didn't eat well? Screw you and die. Soooo kiddies, everything is a lifestyle choice and we ALL pay for each other. Grow up and deal with it.

Absolutely brilliant and nobel words well thoguth out too!

John --

Alcholics are that way cause they wanna be. Hell, all they have to do is stop drinking and they will all be OK. Crack heads are that way cause they wanna be. They can quit anytime. Smokers are all dirty disgusting people who can quit whenever they want. All they have to do is stop putting those disgusting things in their mouth.

Well, yes.

All that is true, isn't it? People break these addictions every day, so it would be a rare person who couldn't if they really wanted to.

John Skaggs - You know what....if someone wants to change something about their life, be it a food addiction, smoking or alcoholism bad engough they CAN an WILL. It certainly won't be easy but it can be done. The problem is that people are lazy and find it easier to blame others for their problems and short comings. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their choices. Obese people have limitations and the rest of the world should not have to accomodate them due to their PERSONAL choices.

divepromichael: I did not say that food was physically addictive. It is however, psychologically addictive as are the other things you mentioned. I quit smoking 21 years ago and I can tell you that smoking is psychologically addictive. After 21 days I was no longer physically addicted but it took over a year to stop wanting a cig. Food is the same way for some people. Alcohol, the same way. After a few days, it becomes a psychological battle that can only be won one day at a time. As for Big Macs, if you don't think they are addictive, you need to watch "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock. You'll change that tune in a hurry.

WOW! Reading these posts just shows how many judgmental people there are in the world! I'm sure a lot of people are overweight because they eat too much and don't exercise. There are also many people who are overweight due to medical conditions. You can't look at someone and immediately know the reason that they are overweight and you also can't know whether they are trying to do something about it or not. Before you comment, I am not overweight, but I'm not thin either. I'm 5'4" and weigh 125 lbs.

When any of you can prove to me how perfect you are, I will listen to your opinion. Until then, I will continue to be my big beautiful self. I wonder what flaw or bad habit all of you have. It seems easy for you to set in judgement, could you be judged? Obesity is an easy pick because everyone can see it. Somehow I think the hidden flaws are even worse.

Perhaps you are addicted to drugs; you are a wife or child abuser; a sexual prediator; a closet homosexual; addicted to work; addicted to exercise; Ignore your family; don't pay your child support; cheat on your spouse. Just saying, there are a lot worse things out there. I may be fat but I can still look myself in the mirror and know that I am a kind and good person, which I would take any day over being skinny.

And, on the actual theme of the article, I don't care that she charges a fee as long as it is given to me up front. I would not pay it if it wasn't and I would probably be glad to take my business elsewhere.

While it was wrong for the business owner to slap on a $5.00 fee without saying anything beforehand, I am sick and tired of this entitlement mentality. Most (NOT all) people who are overweight are that way because they eat too much and move too little. Period. It's not rocket science.

Getting back to the owner, she should purchase chairs/equipment that can accommodate a larger clientele, thus avoiding this issue all together.

Wow, this is funny. The thing i love, is 90% of the people here are Dems - which are the ones giving all the hand outs, and are the leaders of the PC brigade.

I also love how when it comes to fat people - everyone not only is an expert, but are just rude. I am willing to bet that of all the 'nice' comments, a lot of those people arent exactly fit.

So my question is - Is it a Weight Issue, or a Fat Issue - because many people here are attacking fat, not weight. The chair holds 200 lbs? Thats a crappy chair. And 75% of men - would then break it. Even if you are fit.

I'm not fat, but im a big. I was an O-lineman my whole life through college and into Semi-pro ball. So im 6'3" and weight 270 lbs. I would break that chair. So does that make me a 'fatty that needs to put down the fork?" I dont have a problem that there are things i cant do. I cant sky dive, i cant sit in the 200 lb pedicure chair. But the broad assumptions are silly.

Grow up people - or do you all feel that lousy about yourself that you need to attack others to make yourself feel better? Apparently that and the anonymity the internet makes everyone brave and changes them to a rude a$$. I'd feel bad for you people, but its hard to feel bad for someone whose ego needs that much stroking.

I am overweight........ I used to be average sized, I wore a size 8, I used to do physical work for a living and I used to have a membership to Curves for cardio workouts. Six years ago I injured my back (two herniated discs) and when it got so bad I couldn't sleep at night I finally had to have surgery. Wanting to go back to work I went into physical therapy, where I ruptured one of the discs and had a second surgery. I was also diagnosed with Fibromyalgia which I do daily stretches for. When I have tried to go for walks my back objects with spasms and burning pain, sometimes for hours. So I have become sedentary and I have gained 60 lbs over the past 6 years. I get so sick of people saying "Fat people are overweight because they are LAZY." I would love to have my active lifestyle back but it doesn't look like it will ever happen.

Just for hoo-haahs, I checked out pedi-cure chairs and found that most chairs, even the inexpensive one had a capacity of 350 lbs.

To the comments above about factoring the costs into price of the pedicures, how is that FAIR to those of us who are not contributing to the damage to the chair? It isn't FAIR that people who require a special chair expect a salon to accomodate them and when they can't be accomodated or can only be accomodated at an additional cost, they scream discrimination and humiliation.

And to all the comments about being tired of fat people being called lazy, including blondeness032, I understand that your situation and some others are caused by actual medical conditions, HOWEVER, the vast majority of overweight and obese are able to lose weight, they just don't want to make the commitment. It's laziness and a lack of discipline, it's insecurity about being judged by a Dr or at the gym or on the trail, it's not wanting to deal with the problem.

Also blondeness, since you have a back problem, you probably can't use those massage chairs, would you expect your salon to provide you with a chair that specifically met your needs at no additional cost to you?

People like Blondeness who are unable to exercise should reduce their diet accordingly. I have been a few pounds overweight since I was 50 (now 79), but realize that, if I can't run five miles a day as I did at 54, I have to make do with walking and reduce my caloric intake accordingly. At 5-9, I am 178, which doctors tell me is a bit heavy, but not medically risky.

You guys who are over six feet and 250-350 pounds are going to encounter problems wherever you go, being on the up side of the curve. If it isn't airline seats, it will be low doorways, lightly built furniture, showers, john seats, beds, clothing, even bedmates. Here in Chile, obesity is becoming recognized as a problem, especially in those 15-25, where eating is definitely the problem. Adults frequently are 50 pounds overweight. Looking at the general population of miners around the Copiapo mine that collapsed 19 days ago, I can see that those guys are lucky to have had some adipose to draw on since they had a starvation diet for nearly three weeks.

We don't know what the height and weight of the plaintiff is in this case is, but is sounds as though she is a health risk to herself. I suspect, also, that she ought not display her feet or call attention to them. Save your money and don't buy open-toed shoes

The fat people of this country MUST be forced to lose weight! A camp with forced 10-15 hours of non-stop exercise per day! If they can breathe, they're NOT moving hard enough!! A daily allotment of 100 calories of pure vegetable fiber protien- NO more! Allergic to an ingredient- too bad! No one will be allowed to have a BMI of more than 18 unless they can PROVE it is muscle!!! Who is with me?

(If anyone didn't pick up the sarcasm by the second sentence, there is no hope left for this country)

There are also many people who are overweight due to medical conditions.

I admit I could be wrong because I haven't done any research, but really... I just don't believe that. I think some few people are overweight because of medical conditions and most are overweight because they eat too much sugar, starches, and fat.

Look at all the kids who are overweight these days. When I was a kid, there was always one fat kid in class. The key word in that sentence is one.

My husband, who comes from a family of small, skinny people, lives on fast food, meat, chips, beer and rarely eats a vegetable. He smokes, his cholesterol is high. If I cook a good meal, he will go get a pizza a lot of times, or load up on the meat and skip the vegs. He weighs in at 130 lbs, 5'5". I am an inch taller, weigh in right at 200, am eat some meat, very few fried anything, lots of veggies and fruit, and oatmeal most days for breakfast. I work hard physically at work, doing a good bit of lifting, and garden and do home improvement when I am off. My cholesterol is very low, as is my sugar, and I am in very good health. I could stand to tone a bit, but I do have a waist and most of my weight is carried in the hips, which is typical for my family. I am smaller than most the women in my family.

who has the right to make the judgement?

hahaah, i was just wondering myself if her prior career was at the "guessing" booth at a carnival!

At $2500 a pop for charirs I suspect that she couls lose a lot of business before the loss of usiness exceeded buying a chair.
They also put weight limits on tires.

Yes! You see, this salon appears to be right outside of Atlanta, Georgia, not Los Angeles, California. I would hazard a guess that there are far more overweight people there than this shop owner may feel the need to make angry! Southerners love their food, and Southern women love to be pampared, and I suspect this shop owner will back down as she sees her little shop lose a whole lot of business to the nail shop on the next corner!

Come on. Those whole in the wall shops are everywhere! For every shop that wants to charge folks that are overweight, there will be 10 more with signs that "welcome" one and all!

No Charles, we collapsed your post because your an insulting loudmouth.

If the majority of people are overweight as you say, then...well it makes sense that the chair is slowly, little crack by tiny fracture, being broken by the majority of people who sit in it.

I'm presently struggling with my weight, I'm not that overweight anyway (just want to get back to a size ten folks), but I do have secretary's butt.

Poor, ignorant Charles. Did you check the times of my postings? Of course not! That would require that you use your brain, or perhaps remove yourself from your mothers basement long enough to enter the real world!

Seriously, dude. There is nothing you could say to me that would bother me, so why not stop trying?

Secretary's butt? Um, I'm a secretary, and I'm a size 2.

And whether or not you have "secretary's butt" you know exactly what it is!

Charles- are you stupid or are you just a pip-squek? Most men weigh more than 200, i realize that you are prolly 5'1" and weight 125 sopping wet- and this is your napolean complex revenge, but if you stop and think for even a moment, you would realize this business owner is stupid. They either A) decided that they didnt want to service men, and therefore due to that inability to forsee that men weight more than 200 lbs - instantly excluded a bunch of possible customers, or B) decided that they only wanted to service 'in shape' women - and with obesity rates the way they are, decided to exclude a bunch of business.

I realize it must be tought being a tiny little nothing in life, but relax man. It gets better, maybe try drinking milk, you may get lucky and be able to grow a bit. Hopefully in more than just height/weight, but in character as well.

LOL bsbfankaren

One can imgine the client reaction to being asked to step on a scale before sitting in the pedicure chair. We should ber inmind also that a chair rted at 200 pounds has a margin of safety of at least 2X, so nobody under 400 pounds shoulod damage it.

Sassy,

I guess if you are just as overweight it would be the comment for you to make, you people need to stop stuffing your faces so much and hitting the gym. I think the salon owner is right to charge what she thinks is appropriate to pay for future repairs on broken chairs from overweight customers. You people need to get a reality check and get out of your denial. Being overweight is causing too many early deaths and skyroketting healthcare which the taxpayers will ultimately end up getting the bill. Treat overweightness just like smoker's, they are charging extra tax for a pack of cigaretts why not charging extra tax for what causes obesity out there? don't you people have self control? obviously not!!

The world does not owe you anything, if your vices cause you to be the cause of excess wear and tear, on a given piece of equipment, expect t pay for it.

What evidence have you that SassySarah is overweight? Perhaps, like me, she grew up with a family member (SIL) who was quite beautiful, though heavy due to genetic reasons. (all of her family were either big or very thin, indeed, with her twin daughters, this was the case. One was big, one was rail-thin and stayed that way) Too bad you internet trolls (less PC term "webtards") can't stick to the subject at hand.

The subject at hand is a surcharge being placed on the account of aperson, of such a weight, that, a business proprietoress, felt she caused extra wear and tear on th equipment, it seems to me that all,of these posts are applicable.

sassy,i understand where you are coming from.but think about this rationally for just a second,and pretend that you are neutral in this matter.if you owned and business,and certain customers caused more wear and tear on your equipment and you had to reach in your pocket for repair money that only the overweight customers effect.do you think its right that I have to use my money to fix things you break just because you are overweight?how is that right?it isnt,the owner was well within her rights to do that,and if the customers isnt happy,then she should go elsewhere

Glowing - Yes healthcare is skyrocketing and taxes are being paid by all to compensate, but if you look at the nation as a whole, you will see that obesity is a pandemic effecting something close to 65% of Americans. Taxes are also being paid by fat people.

Of course taxes are being paid by fat people. But their skinny counterparts pay for them as well. I understand being overweight is a problem for more than half the country but for most, this is a preventable problem (source? I am a doctor).

I am very busy but I stay in good shape by reserving 1 hour for me almost everyday to do some kind of physical exercise. I know not everyone has the time for that but watching their daily caloric intake is something that you do have time for. You have to take responsibility for yourself (in the cases that this is preventable and not a medical condition).

At the same time can you really blame someone for watching out for their own best interest? If you needed to repair chairs due to having customers that are over the weight limit what would you do? I think many of you would add such a surcharge.

Just like some of people who are overweight due to a med condition, don't judge the salon owner until you know all the details.

I don't understand all of the hate talk here. I think the business should be able to charge the surcharge, but when the appointment is made they need to tell people (before they even go to the salon) that they should be aware that there is a $5 surcharge for anyone over 200lbs (pedicures only because in most salons that is the only time you sit in a special chair). There should be a sign posted on the door to the establishment. Or better yet, they should simply tell people that the weight limit on their pedicure chairs is 200 lbs, and they cannot service anyone over that weight. It is called a weight limit for a reason. If they are willing to take people over that weight limit then I feel like they should assume the risk if that chair breaks.

rayray...You go, Doc!

Not only is the salon owner breaking the law with the fee she is breaking the law by allowing her chair to hold anyone over 200# it is a safety issue not a convenience and maintenance issue. She complains about the cost but she is the one that knows the weight limit not the customer. I donate blood and there is a big sign on the wall letting you know if you are over 250 you cannot donate. Not because they can't use the blood but because the weight limit is 250 for the tables you lay on while having it taken. And yes you have to weigh in before you donate. It is a SAFETY issue more than anything.

Still Proud - The article doesn't say how the chair breaks. It may not be a safety issue at all. (For instance, the seat cushions/springs get permanently mushed down).

It is not illegal in any way. Not every cost is posted. But if the charge was ommitted if the customer asked the cost, then it would be unenforceable.

So the salon couldn't collect the $5 if they did not inform the customer APON ASKING. If she didn't ask, then it's whatever amount they come up with. (But if unreasonable, they would have a hard time collecting - as per a judges decision.)

The chair has a weight limit of 200# you can not safely put someone over 200# in it then. It is a safety issue. The 200# limit would be set by the company that made and tested it for safety. So if her reasoning on the fee was that people over 200# put too much stress on the chair she would have to admit that she has put people over 200# in the chair for her profit. This is a violation of safety codes. That is where the legality comes in. An owner can not break the safety limits on something and then find you liable and charge a fee. The fee doesn't raise the weight limit the chair can safely hold.

As my earlier posts clearly indicate, I'm a proponent on proper nutrition and exercise. However, with that being said, I do NOT agree with charging extra for her weight sitting in the chair. Somebody commented there is a cost to doing business. I believe this falls neatly into that category. As long as she fits into one chair, she should only be charged for one chair. If her wait is causing undue stress, that's the cost of doing business. If, like with the airlines, that person requires two seats, they should be charged for two seats.

if there is a weight limit on the chair, it needs to be posted .... then people can choose if they want to risk sitting in it or not .... if the owner expects to serve those over 200 pounds, she needs to invest in the proper equipment.... to put someone in that chair who exceeds 200 pounds puts the owner at risk for a lawsuit should that person be hurt... posting the weight limit at least gives her some protection ... as for repairing the chair? its called the cost of doing business... believe me, if the chair held nothing but people weighing 150 pounds, eventually it would need to be repaired also :-)

The problem I have with this is that the business owner is attacking this from the perspective of visual obesity, not actual weight. If her true concern is the chair holding anything in excess of 200 lbs., that should be her primary focus--not whether or not someone is overweight. I am 6'5" and weigh 210 lbs. To look at me, I'm clearly not overweight. However, I am over the weight that her chairs can safely allow based upon the manufacturer's guidelines. She probably wouldn't think twice about letting me sit in the chair without charging extra. But, if I were 5'5" and 210 lbs., she would.

As a business owner who focuses heavily on customer service for my own customers, I am shocked at her policy that incorporates a tremendous deal of personal interpretation & I can only imagine how she runs the rest of her company. Instead, she needs to make the policy be based upon actual weight, post signs, and either offer her customers that are 201+ lbs. other accommodations or direct them to another salon that doesn't have the same policy. She'd save a great deal of face & I daresay people would be a bit more understanding if it were a clear, consistent & fair policy.

Jake, your proposed procedure make sense, but how can the proprietor implement it? Ask the fat lady to step on a scale in front of a dozen gawking clients (fat and skinny)?

You are correct. However, sick of being sensitive to people's disabilities does not bode well for your personal character. I do agree though, that they do need therapy to understand the reasons behind the obesity. When people realize its' not as easy as just putting down a fork, is when obesity will get the correct attention needed. Not this old school, I am an ignorant idiot, discriminatory attention.

madmum, if you bothered to educate yourself about thyroid medications, you would know that they CAUSE weight gain, as a dear friend of mine found out to her sorrow. When her doctor put her on thyroid meds, she began to put on weight. So much for YOUR ignorant opinion.

There ARE some people who are heavy who eat very little, exercise and still do not slim down. IT HAPPENS.

For that matter, there ARE medical conditions which cause weight gain, and some of them are never accurately diagnosed. Ever hear of Cushing's disease?

madmum...I can only hope that you (in your "oh so perfect" life) never develop any health issues that cause you to gain weight. I for one am one of the FAT people you so detest. Unfortunately I do not wear a sign around my neck to let you know that the main reason for my weight gain is due to a service connected disability that I got making sure that you had the right to your idiotic public rants about fat people.

We all have our crosses to bear, but it seems that lately in our wonderful country, that it has become a crime to be overweight...let freedom ring!

MY sister has a thyroid condition, she works out 3xs a week to keep her body in check, and she's looks like she should be on a poster modeling somewhere. The point is, Thyroid conditions CAN be manipulated to detract away from the significance they may have on weight gain.

Excuse me, mz madmum.....sometimes it is a medical condition...sometimes it is not. Do not categorize all overweight people like this. I do have a thyroid problem and on medication - it does not help. I can eat salads 7 days a week and still NOT lose weight! Get a life.

Mad...... Do you know just how ignorant you first sentence sounds along with your solution. If being fat is not a medical condition then why treat it with medication? What is a thyroid condition if not medical.

And personally I don't believe you have ever sat next to a 400+ person on any airline.Can you say "exaggeration" or just flat out LIAR.

And people stop and think about it a 2500 dollar chair with a 200 lbs. weight limit. that chair wouldn't hold most normal weight men. Me thinks me smell another lying rat......

Regardles, of the reason, she will cause unusual wear and tear on the equipment, it is hardly fair to every one else, to pay for a probelm caused by her weight.

I agree. Why is it that everyone has to make concessions for people who obviously don't care enough about themselves to even watch their own health, weight and well-being and when someone reminds them of it they cry fowl and discrimination. People need to Get real, grow up and be responsible for themselves and stop trying to blame everyone else for their problems and issues. Yes the owner is wrong for charging her extra for being over-weight and not informing large patrons about the issue, yes your feeling are hurt, so do something about it and don't go back and tell everyone you know not to go there because of it.

I weigh 210, and am considered healthy by my doctor. My thyroid is now in check, as it was slightly underactive. Years of steroids to take care of a genetic health condition added weight.

I am active. I did gymnastics and so I pretty much look like Shawn Johnson, with the amount of muscle I have. So I do everything you close mind jerks are saying, but I still have to pay extra. I call shenanagans.

AND SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.
Weight is a sensative subject
Sometimes, it really is a medical condition.

I am 30 lbs overweight. I was perfect weight until i was put on medication that made me insulin resistant (read diabetic). I am now off that medication and trying to lose the weight - but I am now forced to take medication in order to process insulin correctly and it will take time to lose the weight. Don't judge unless you know.

Hey idiot! I am so glad that you have a medical degree (I'm surprised you can even spell)! You have no idea why a person is overweight, or the status of any medical conditions by looking at someone. I, for one, have degenerative disk disease, and a spinal cord too large for my spinal canal, so exercise of any kind is impossible, even swimming (you would probably charge me extra to use the pool anyway). I also have diabetes (gestational originally) so I cannot just cut out eating altogether as you suggest either. Are you sure that you weren't around in Germany in the 30s and 40s? You would probably have me and other overweight people put to death in a gas chamber, thinking you are doing us and the world a favor. What an idiot you are. I feel sorry for you. And in all probability, you and others like you are horriied at discriminating against blacks or drunks, or others, but laugh at fat jokes, and cheer on those that discriminate. I am a member of MENSA with an IQ at 168. I contribute more to society than you will ever dream of. I am so sorry that your narrow mind matches your narrow body. What an idiot you are!

Yeah, and all people in wheelchairs are there because they rode their motorcycle drunk and crashed! We should hate all people in wheelchairs because there is NO WAY they could be there because of some medical issue they have no control over.

Bigkev Hurray for you! Ignorance is bliss they say so madmun must be a very happy sole! I just would like to know how someone gets through life with an attitude like that! I don't believe in the lawsuit action for every little thing but, I think that her getting ahold of the press was great (it pulls out sickos like madmun) We need to band together as a race not a weight class!

I agree with madmum! and CAS Reaves, we can all tell you're an overweight person so sit down and shut up. I also am sick of having to look the other way because some fat person wants to make excuses for themselves. They can stay that way if they wish, but don't start up with the 'poor me, i just can't lose weight' stuff.

There are so many other MEDICAL CONDITIONS that cause people to be overweight. I am one of those people. I have a hormone imbalance, also had gestational diabetes, and now have insulin resistance. Would you know that just by looking at me. Absolutely not. Would you know just by looking at me that I see a doctor regularly, and am on medication to fix the MEDICAL CONDITIONS that cause me to not be able to lose weight? Absolutely not. And Kels-1, how dare you say that overweight people do not care about themselves. If I didn't care enough about myself would I be going to a doctor and getting help? There are many people that are getting help for their weight problems, but it doesn't happen overnight.

P.A.Y. - For your sake I hope you never develop an illness where you gain weight due to that illness or the medication to treat it. Although, it would be a rather tragic way to open your eyes to the lives some people live every day.

Not all weight gain is due to 'stuffing your face.' That's the simple truth. Still don't believe me? Take 5 minutes out of your day and read some of the other responses to this thread. Diabetes, spinal cord disorders - NONE of those have anything to do with sitting down and eating a 2,500 calorie meal.

Amen!

That is not necessarily true, my tiny and I mean tiny little niece has Crohn's she became severely ill and had to go on high doses of steroids, her normally 96 lb tiny framed body ballooned to the point where I didn't even know it was her until I saw her gesturing with her hands as she talked. Once I realized it was her I still could only recognize her from her eye color. All of you here would have just assumed she was fat, but the truth was she could barely eat anything, and it was the medication that caused her to balloon. That is just one instance of medically caused obesity, there are others as well..... so yes, some obesity is caused by medical conditions. BTW, my niece is in remission and back to her tiny little self....

There are people with medical conditions that cause them to be overweight. They can go to the doctor to help with there condition. But you can't fix stupidity. So I don't know what you can do about your "condition". But I will pray for you to have Enlightenment.

I agree with justmeagain and mn-1062959 100%. I too was thin until the past few years when I had put on weight due to a medical condition...insulin resistance. The medications that I take, in addition to my insulin resistance is the reason for my weight gain and trust me, I'm definately trying to lose my weight. It is not as easy as many people think. Yes, there are many people that are obese due to overeating but alot of times its due to an underlying medical condition so you cannot say that being obese isn't a medical condition unless you have a medical degree and/or researched this info to be fact. Furthermore, if you own and run a business, make sure you get the right equipment and/or furniture to accommodate your customers. I've been in salons where I've seen very overweight people being served and not being charged a surcharge. That is discriminatory so if people think this is ok, then what's next...charging people for being Black, Hispanic, tall or short? Don't forget, many of these obese people have thin friends so word of mouth can damage someone's business.

Monali-2252589 -

I agree with your post. However, someone with an IQ of 168 should know that it is not proper English to end a sentence with a preposition.

Rory......how do you know she cause unusual damage and wear and tear to the chair. It didn't break. Oh, you say it has a 200lbs limit. Well it seems to me that any chair manufacturer that feels it necessary to put a weight limit on their product might be fudging on the actual limit. It only makes sense if you have a chair that will definitely break with 300 lbs. in/on it, to lower the limit to 200 lbs. limit and have a safety margin. Should a person be allowed to charge for damage that is not done or that can not be proven?

By your way of thinking why aren't you lobbying to have all fat people taxed by our government for the added wear and tear to the sidewalks and the streets. Don't you think that when a fat person walks down the side walk they are putting their feet down on the concrete with more force than a skinny person would, And thus causing more damage. And clearly their added weight to a car can't be good for the roads, wouldn't they cause more ruts and pot holes than a skinny driver would.

Isn't HATE a wonderful thing??????????

I agree, where are our rights, many a time an obese person has practically

sat in my lap and if I complained they gave me the dirty looks.

I did not say you are overweight, please get a bigger seat- I had to close my mouth or be insulted by them!!

I have many acquaintances that are overweight and they say: "I don't know why I am so fat" then 5 minutes later they are stuffing their faces.

I have had to fight weight all my life and I stay thin because I constantly weigh myself and if I see I have put on a couple of pounds I immediately get myself back under control.

Being overweight is mostly due to over eating, it is a dependency just like drugs. If you cannot get a handle on it go to AAA it works for all dependencies.

Good luck with your future

I never knew a travel agency could help me with dependencies :-)

I am sorry for this post ahead of time but I have seen multiple times in this post "crying fowl" I believe it is "crying foul" I am pretty sure a chicken can not help this situation. It might even hurt the situation if I eat the chicken.

Everyone needs to chill a little. We all bring something negative to the table. It might not be quite as visible as weight but we all have something.

Suing is just not necessary. The simple solution is, don't go back. I am sure that someone will take your money, do a great job on your pedicure and appreciate your business. It definitely is not worth the time you have already put into it.

I totally agree...

Maybe because if you make them more sturdy, they cost considerably more.
That is the case with many pieces of equipment,

It's tough to argue with a chair-expert like Boris...Now I wish I had taken that course in university instead of that stupid Engineering Physics...

If the sturdier chair cost more, would that then not really be the wiser long-term investment? I won't go NEAR spa pedicure chairs, public hot tubs or other things that don't get cleaned between customers. Anyone out there ever hear of a condition called "folliculitis?" VERY unpleasant, and those are the most common causes.

Boris....those spa pedicure chairs are expensive because they are specifically designed to perform pedicure services.

CAS Reaves.....the most expensive pedicure chairs are now designed to be anti-baterial/anti-fungal.

Most chairs cost upwards of $15,000 so yes, it does cost $2,500 for repairs.

I am an esthetician and was working in a spa a couple of years ago that a lady who just happened to be severely overweight broke the leg of the massage table she was laying on and proceeded to fall several feet to the floor. She fortunately did not break any bones but it took 6 paramedics to lift her off the floor. With all the commotion, we ended up having to refund ALL our customers receiving "relaxing" spa treatments at that time. $3,000 for the TWO hours hours of the ordeal.

I suspect that would be a case, of how much more?
if you pay 10% more, maybe, if you pay 20% more, you will probably run into the law of diminishing returns.

SO ... some of my pampered gay-boys will pay the extra $5, as these beautiful 6ft-plus-tall Drag Queens weight more than 200.

I'm doubting they will. SO: Is that fair?

Those chairs need to be improved.

At that cost, they should have a higher limit.

Perhaps the chairs were manufactured in China. We all know what kind of garbage comes out of that country.

WOW!! Now if that isn't the most inteligent statement!! Ophelia how old are you? Play nice!

All I know is my kitchen chairs at home cost about $30 each and they can hold up to 200lb's.

Sandra if that happened then the lady that broke the table should sue the hell out of that spa. One the table wasn't safe for her to be on it goes back to liability. If you think that cost a lot wait till you see the insurance the following month. Because the insurance company would see that as negligence on the spa. And a lawyer for that customer that fell most certainly would. It is the responsibility of an establishment to make sure they are operating in a safe manner.

Here's another solution....if the chairs already cost a bundle, why not get one that has a greater weight limit......it may cost a bit more, but with the ability to serve a broad spectrum of clients, it will pay for itself in the end. Beauty is not about being 2lbs soaking wet, it's about taking care of yourself as well as you can, even if you have a medical condition (and kudos to all of you with conditions that do get out there and handle your business!), and feeling good about yourself. I for one had issues with my weight in elementary school, then as I matured, I trimmed down and toned up as I ate better, got involved in more activities (dance especially) and cared more about what I thought than about the snotty comments I used to get from my classmates as a child, which by the way made me so depressed that I ate more. Food can be as addiciting as drugs when it is a form of comfort when you are miserable for all you ignorant people saying otherwise. Anyway, I don't have issues with my weight to the point where anyone might look at me and say I should drop a few pounds, but recently being in an accident I am no longer able to exercise the way I would like to, and it is making it very difficult to maintain a healthy weight, which also makes the whole self discipline thing with food that people say is "so easy" very difficult, because you lose motivation. I'm not saying the world should bend over backwards for people who are an unhealthy weight for careless reasons, but people struggling with their weight for health reasons, or other reasons shouldn't be condemned. Just by looking at someone you have no way of knowing, and I know people on both sides of the equation. People should be tolerant of one another, and until you know their story, don't pass judgement. Seems to me it's a simple problem with a simple solution for those with the innovation to want to run a successful business!

i totally agree, but the article actually said 2,500.00 to repair! which is comical, what, the chair cost 5 grand or something? NOT, makes better business sense to purchase higer quality equipment then pick and choose who your going to charge a extra 5 bucks to. im guessing the nail salon 2 doors down is really picking up business!

Still Proud...the tables were standard massage tables, nothing out of the normal but unfortunately the patron was very obese (trying to be nice here) and no one at the spa wanted to be offensive and deny her the service she had booked in advance (over the phone). Weight is obviously a sensitive subject and not many know how to address an issue like this. What do you say? "Excuse me...our massage tables can only accommodate someone who is under 350 pounds...how much do you weigh??" Nowadays if you upset a customer, there are MANY media outlets they can rant and rave to. That's not good for business either.

In the world of PT/OT/Massages..... etc.. I would think that weight would be a standard question. No reason needs to be given unless asked for. Put the question between others and it would hardly be noticed.

just me-1570095, well put!

Sandra, honey - you STILL won't catch me using one. The CHAIRS may be antibacterial/antifungal, but how often does that water get changed and that chair cleaned? Not between each and every customer, I guarantee you. Another point- what if someone has a reaction to the antibacterial/antifungal chemicals that are used?

No, thank you, NOT for me. I have my own little spa pedicure and paraffin bath apparatus at home, I clean each one thoroughly after EVERY use and I remain, to this day, free of foot fungus and folliculitis.

The salon should have posted a sur charge on the wall. They post that they don't accept checks. I am overweight and I would not have balked at the sur charge. I don't weigh 250 lbs but I know that these chairs do have limits just like everything else. The owners do have to go to great expense when their equipment breaks.

"If the pedicure chairs have a weight limit, then the salon has a right to ask her to sit in another chair or refuse to give her a pedicure. I think a surcharge is discriminatory unless the customer knows upfront that it will be charged"

So, let me get this straight... according to you, it's okay for them to request the customer sit in another chair or REFUSE to give her a pedicure because of her weight but it's NOT okay for them to assess a surcharge??? Um, what? That's like saying, "ah, excuse me but you look like you're just a little too heavy for our chairs....you're gonna need to sit in this reinforced one." or... "We can't give you a pedicure because, well...you're just too large for our chairs."

And you consider the surcharge "discriminatory"???? Please tell us......... what color is the sky in your world?????

well, aren't you just a sweetheart deborah......

Well, if the salon had posted a notice about the surcharge on the wall, then the customer would not have thought she was being overcharged by mistake. If you are going to be asked to pay for something, you should be told about it up front so you can make an informed decision about whether you want the service or not.

I wonder if all you uneducated fat-haters would be so quick to judge if this was a story that somehow spoke of a woman suffering from anorexia instead. Overeating is just as serious a problem, yet people like you think that it is just as simple as putting down the fork, or "shaming" people into losing weight. Making someone feel shame for their illness is just going to ensure that that illness continues. And believe me overeating, in many cases, is just that: an illness.

oops sorry deborah......i meant holly for her "shame" comment.

If shame was the necessary ingredient, I would think there would be a lot less overweight people. I would dare say they have plenty of shame already - shame from being overweight, shame from being molested, shame from being ridiculed, shame from being laughed at, shame, shame, shame - poof - i am skinny - dang - i did not know I had the skills all along. - thank, thank, thank you for finally helping me with the light bulb moment.

OK, I don't normally weigh-in on these things because in the world we live in I too am considered "obese" however, many do not know this based solely on my body shape and the way I present myself but here is my "2 cents" worth.

Pitstp: you copied and pasted it but did you read it??? It very clearly reads that "I think a surcharge is discriminatory unless the customer knows upfront that it will be charged"... This means Holly feels it is OK to charge the surcharge as long as the customer is informed of it BEFORE the service is provided.

I am all to aware of how us "fat" people are perceived but there is more to it in many cases than just eating all the time and not exercising such as our genes and maybe more importantly the society we live in that makes it easier to eat un-healthy than to find a restaurant where we can have a well balanced meal. I live in the Midwest and often find myself searching for a decent place to eat that isn't all fried foods little lone a place where you might be able to find an actual vegetable. So maybe everyone needs to work together to find a better solution. Fighting about why there are overweight people out there is obviously not solving the problem.

Making someone feel shame for their illness is just going to ensure that that illness continues. And believe me overeating, in many cases, is just that: an illness.

What evidence exists to back that assertion? Is obesity an illness because it's kinder to think of it that way?

I agree that there are probably a smallish number of people in this world who are overweight because they are physically ill in some way. It doesn't seem very reasonable to me, though, that that number would be very large. If human beings were so prone to medical (and thus unchangeable and non-lifestyle-dependent) obesity, why wouldn't we see more obese foreigners? It seems pretty apparent to me that most of us are fat because we eat too much food and rarely exercise. Surely, deep down, we all realize that.

Furthermore, I would think that a disorder which responds--positively or negatively--to shaming isn't a good candidate for consideration as a disease. Throat cancer, dengue fever, plague... All diseases, surely, and not one responds to shame or praise.

Holly.....maybe next month we can shame all the ignorant people into not posting by charging a stupidity surcharge tax. And then after that, when we've gotten rid of all the fat people the clothing stores can charge a surcharge to all the skinny people for not using enough material and costing them the profits they made on the fat people.

Holly, What's next? Do we start charging a surcharge for red hair? or maybe we can charge people who wear glasses a surcharge for not taking better care of their eyes. After all there is nothing more annoying than walking down the street and having the sun light reflect back into my eyes from someones glasses. Damn those people for not taking better care of their eyes.

I know, next we can put a surcharge on left handed people. I find it absolutely a waste of time having to take the time to figure out if the golf clubs are for left or right handed people. If fact let's just ban left handed people from ever playing golf. problem solved....I just saved the left handed people a surcharge.

Ok, now let's do something more practical. Let's put a surcharge on jogging and working out. Those people drink a lot more water than some one who doesn't jog or works out. and let's face it sooner or later we, the rest of the world, are going to run out of fresh drinking water. Why not nip it in the bud now with a surcharge.

And get this, soon we will be running out of clean air to breathe, what goup of people should we charge a surcharge for that one?????? Maybe we can just shame some other group of people into not breathing.......

If you would have read my post a little more closely, perhaps you would have noted that I called it an illness, not a disease. You say: "It seems pretty apparent to me that most of us are fat because we eat too much food and rarely exercise." What makes that apparent to you? Because I know very few people that want to be fat, and therefore eat just to be fat...It seems pretty apparent to me that most of us are fat because we eat too much food and rarely exercise, and that there is a reason why we do that...usually a mental one, as in depression...aka ILLNESS!

To JAMIE-2252628........oh no, I read what Holly had to say. According to her, it's "ok" to tell the customer up front that they're going to be insulted by an extra charge because of their size and that's not considered "discriminatory" (in her opinion). As long as the customer is aware of it....in advance.....

"Excuse me miss, but, well.........you see......you're just too large for our chairs so we've got to charge you an extra $5.00!" "Would you still like to get your pedicure in our salon?????" Yea, that's just perfect don't ya think????

Get off your box.......I don't think it's right to refuse the service nor charge extra because of your size......... Holly contradicted herself; I merely pointed that out!

Yes Pitstp it is called safety standards. It is not only not discrimination it is required by law. You would be liable if you let them sit it the one that can not hold the weight limit and something happened to them.

It seems pretty apparent to me that most of us are fat because we eat too much food and rarely exercise, and that there is a reason why we do that...usually a mental one, as in depression...aka ILLNESS!

That's certainly worth considering, although it doesn't ring true to me. I'd say we, as a nation, overeat because we're bored and desire stimulation--food is inexpensive and eating is pleasurable. And you're correct, probably few people overeat for the purpose of gaining weight. But to chalk it up to depression seems a stretch. I doubt there are as many legitimately depressed people in this country as there are obese people, and I doubt the two categories overlap entirely.

What I don't understand why people have such a hard time blaming obesity, which we all know to be the result of overeating and inactivity--on overeating and inactivity. Why is it so difficult to believe that the apparent cause of something is the cause of that thing?

And why is it so difficult for you to believe that there are those people that simply cannot help themselves? I'll ask you the same thing I asked another poster: have you ever attended an Overeaters Anonymous meeting? If not, perhaps you should...I guarantee it would be an eye-opening experience for you. What would you tell an anorexic person? Those people do not eat because the see something that isn't there, or feel like they cannot...why is it such a stretch for you to see that there are also people who eat to comfort themselves in times where they feel that there is no other choice? Why is one acceptable as an "illness" and the other, not?

why is it such a stretch for you to see that there are also people who eat to comfort themselves in times where they feel that there is no other choice? Why is one acceptable as an "illness" and the other, not?

Because I, for better or worse, am one of those stodgy, old sort of people who believe that we as a people are capable of exercising restraint and self-control, and that self-discipline--self-mastery, even--is part of being a responsible member of a free society. I don't expect other people to agree with me, although it's certainly disappointing to find that so few do. Taking responsibility for your actions, seeking comfort through means other than self-indulgence--these are the traits of free people, people who deserve their freedom, at least. I see nobility in restraint, dignity in self-control. I admire it.

You said...Taking responsibility for your actions, seeking comfort through means other than self-indulgence--these are the traits of free people, people who deserve their freedom, at leastTaking responsibility for your actions, seeking comfort through means other than self-indulgence--these are the traits of free people, people who deserve their freedom, at least

So because I am over-weight, and therefore, according to you, cannot show restraint, then I do not deserve my freedom? Old and stodgy? I say more like portentous and anserine. Oh, and furthermore, my father and his father fought for MY freedoms, and that had NOTHING to do with my weight.

I understand that many of these shops are owned by Asian Americans who may not be as sensitive to the same issuea as Americans ---our societies are vastly different. Coming from another country where obesity is not much of an issue and coming to a country with a tremendous obese population should have been considered before you bought the chairs with a 200 pound weight limit ---that actually sounds like an unreasonably low weight to break a chair. For 2500 dollars I suggest you buy American made chairs that will likely outlive the cheap foreign chairs made in China that you are probably buying. In America we can tell you first hand how bad foreign made products are and how quickly they fall apart! I am speaking of Quality issues here and it is a well known fact that product quality has gone out the window as manufacturing jobs have migrated over seas!

Eitherway --you won't likely need to worry about your chairs or their cost as once you have insulted enough of your paying clients they will migrate to other shops who provide quality service without insult.

I couldn't agree MORE! I didn't know there were Asians living in GA...not trying to sound ignorant!!!...I just didn't know!

Holly.....maybe next month we can shame all the ignorant people into not posting by charging a stupidity surcharge tax. And then after that, when we've gotten rid of all the fat people the clothing stores can charge a surcharge to all the skinny people for not using enough material and costing them the profits they made on the fat people.

Holly, What's next? Do we start charging a surcharge for red hair? or maybe we can charge people who wear glasses a surcharge for not taking better care of their eyes. After all there is nothing more annoying than walking down the street and having the sun light reflect back into my eyes from someones glasses. Damn those people for not taking better care of their eyes.

I know, next we can put a surcharge on left handed people. I find it absolutely a waste of time having to take the time to figure out if the golf clubs are for left or right handed people. If fact let's just ban left handed people from ever playing golf. problem solved....I just saved the left handed people a surcharge.

Ok, now let's do something more practical. Let's put a surcharge on jogging and working out. Those people drink a lot more water than some one who doesn't jog or works out. and let's face it sooner or later we, the rest of the world, are going to run out of fresh drinking water. Why not nip it in the bud now with a surcharge.

And get this, soon we will be running out of clean air to breathe, what goup of people should we charge a surcharge for that one?????? Maybe we can just shame some other group of people into not breathing.......

LOL @ Lone Ranger! That is SOOOOOOO TRU!!! But I don't wanna be charged for being left handed...I WILL ACT A FOOL ON THE FOOL THAT CHARGES ME FOR BEING LEFT HANDED!

I don't have a problem with "plumper" people cuz I can eat just as much as they can and I'm smaller than them. I feel like u NEVER KNOW when a FAMINE will hit, so hell, F**k WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE IS SAYING I'M GONNA PLUMP MYSELF UP! I didn't say FATTEN...I said PLUMP which is being of HEALTHY weight. I went to the doc not too long ago and discovered I gained 3 more pounds and I move around a little but I'm not a total HEALTH NUTCASE where I HAVE to exercise everyday.

People...our bodies are NOT MADE TO STARVE...it is made to put SOMETHING in your digestive system. How will u survive if u don't eat? POINT BLANK PERIOD.

Yes to the left-handed protest, Mz! I, too, am left handed. I have to look pretty hard for topbound notebooks (the leftbound spirals hurt my hand when I write), though I have, perforce, learned to use scissors with my right hand.

Then the shop should have told the customer BEFORE they charged her. After all, it isn't like they couldn't SEE her when she came in.

@CAS Reaves--I agree. If they want to charge a "fat" surcharge, it's their business. However, they should have told her BEFORE they provided service. Otherwise, it's bait and switch.

dby..Bait and switch?? Better google that before you try to sound like a bunko squad member...( better google that, too)

The problem is there was no weight limit posted. The only limit is what she says her chair holds. Then the owner admits to putting people in it over that limit. Again if you don't fit you don't sit. Nothing on size just the safety laws. But you can't charge a customer extra for breaking safety protocol. It was irresponsible of the owner to operate in that manner. If she had broke the chair and sued she would win on legal safety standards.

Okay, Charles. How about false advertising to include hidden fees and surcharges? The owner is setting herself up for a lawsuit. Whether you agree with the surcharge or not, it is not ethical to charge the customer without letting them know up front. It's like taking your car to the mechanic for a tune up and returning to the shop to find out the engine was replaced without your knowledge.

Tia, wouldn't you rather know you were going to be charged that surcharge BEFORE you were expected to pay it?

I have to disagree.

The salon is correct in that people over 200 lbs might break the chair. They should have the right to charge for someone who is wanting to have the services rendered in said chair should they exceed 200 lbs.

However, that is not what the salon did. It implies that the salon have 'a plain chair' or other such remedies as to allow service without the added cost or risk of breaking the chair.

They don't by the sounds of it, or if they do they don't make it public so they can charge for it. That is sleasy or inconsiderate business. You can target a certain market, but you can't discriminate against those who walk through the door without having some sort of signage up. (No shirt, no shoes, no service sorts of things)

Generally I only post on comments that are too dumb to make sense, your's is not. So please, don't take offense at my username as it isn't pointed towards your post :).

cas reaves...Leave Tina alone...She said something spot on and you're wanting her to be ...you know...perfect, like you...

I am overweight, even morbidly obese. I work, make a good income, pay taxes and pay extra when my weight requires me to do so. I pay more on insurance because due to my choices I am a higher risk for certain diseases and I am not complaining. I am not asking for your handouts or your understanding. Overweight people do suffer discrimination as is shown by previous posts. Any time assumptions are made about a person’s character, motivations or lifestyle based on some generalization it is a form of discrimination. But I am not complaining about this – I am used to being assumed either jolly or lazy due to my weight and neither are very true. However, none of this bares on the issue.

The only issue here is that the weight limits and the associated charges should be posted or communicated prior to the service being given. I don't mind paying them; I do tend to get annoyed when an extra charge is added on unexpectedly. Take weight out of it and imagine you took your car in to get the oil changed and the price was advertised as 49.99 for this service. When you get the bill you see a charge has been added because your car is a pre-2000 make. I don’t doubt you would feel taken advantage of and maybe even for the moment – discriminated against for having an older car.

Let’s keep the character assassinations out of this and focus on the issue – extra charges added after the fact with no prior notification is bad business and somewhat rude.

That’s my nickels worth.

No, Charles, I am far from perfect, but if I am going to be asked to pay more for something, I had better, by golly, be informed of it beforehand or I WILL raise unholy H-E-Double Hockey Sticks about it.

I do not use nail salons; I do my own nails. I do NOT like the idea of not knowing just how ofetn or thoroughly the equipment is cleaned.
All I have said is that the charge should be upfront and the customer should know that they will be asked to pay it. Try attacking someone else before I ping you and phone a friend to TP your house. Your mommy won't like you causing that to happen.

You, sir, are an idiot!

BANANA WOMAN------Yes, I think I would agree with that

Ok, so I got thinking here. Do you know those stadium fold up chairs that you can put in the canvas bags and carry around. Those things are pretty flimsy. They can hold up to 200pd on the average 19.00 chair. The nicer ones can hold up to 300 pds for 34.99. So, then I started wondering about these pedicure chairs. Here is a webstie for pedicure chairs. The average one I saw for same price could hold up to 350pds. They are alot sturdy then you think. Just thought I would share.

http://www.worldpedispa.com/store/nail-equipment/pedicure-chair/latulip-pedicure-spa.html

big ggh, you are a homophobic moron. HIV is as much in the "straight" population as it is in the "gay" one, and who ever said anything about sexuality anyway? this is about obesity!

mika im not scared of homos, i just dont like paying for their lifestyle. and do some research aids started with the gay community, and a monkey thrown in there, too. wrap that around your closed little mind. sometimes those annoying little facts get in the way of idealology. i would wager that you are more moronic than i. this was about paying money for someone elses lifestyle as i see it, thus the billions of taxes spent on lifestyle related aids epidemic. making a point idiot! it wasnt in the straight community until the gay community passed it to the straights. i.e unprotected sex, blood transfusions etc.. come on out of that closet dear!

So Mika has a "closed little mind", but you (big ggh) are the one using this UNRELATED article to do some gay bashing? Typical for a Bigot to be a hypocritial know it all. NOTHING NEW THERE! You obviously have done your research- I am sure it involved a lot of websites & books written by BIGidiOTs such as yourself. "Big" dumb idiots who read up on something and get to following the masses- never a leader and never thinking for yourself.

Feel free to go out and bang every straight women you can find- unprotected of course since they hold NO diseases. Oh that's right- she MAY have a disease if she slept with a homo first. Don't forget to have her fill out an application of her sexual history prior- that is of course if you can find a women stupid enough to sleep with you.

Before you come here trying to school others on lifestyles which you know NOTHING about why don't you return to school yourself and learn a little grammar? Sure mine isn't the best- but I don't come here ranting and pretending to be perfect. I am not a BIGidiOT like you.

You tell Mika (& I am sure anyone else here who says anything to oppose you) to "come out of the closet"- but it seems YOU "dear" are the one in the closet. We are all out here living our lives- & thinking for ourselves. You are the one hiding in some stereotypical closet- basking in your own ignorance & fear of things in the world which you don't understand, and are just plain out afraid of.

Oh that's right you aren't afraid of homos. Right? Then why don't you GO OUT and do something to change the world and stop us from living our lives- as opposed to attacking people behind a computer screen. Before you go trying to Gay bash me- please. Feel free to tell me something I don't already know about myself. You think any of us Homos care if another Biogot in the world hates us? No. We could care less. Your stereotypes and so called "facts" you hold onto to get through each & every day of your life in no way affects us being happy living through ours. Cry all you want- tell me homos destroy the world and yadda yadda yadda. If my life and what makes me happy pisses off someone like you- ask me if I give a @!$%#?

I have no comment on the article because nearly every possible opinion has been posted already. This dumbasses comment was just begging for a reply. Thanks for helping me end my work day with a laugh. I guess your ignorance is good for something after all.

love that "and found a boyfriend" comment.

I've been heavy my whole life and no one can tell me why. My weight tripled when I was 3 with no change in activity or food intake (and I was a very active child). I weighed 405 when I got married. I had obesity surgery because I was fighting a losing battle and no one could help me. I was gaining on 900 calories a day and working out 5 days a week. It sucked. I now weigh 258. People still think I'm fat and lazy. On the bright side, I can eat a little more and not gain.. but I've stopped losing (I'm 9 years out, so regain is not much of an issue). But people still lecture me on my weight and eating habits. That part still sucks. I think if I could afford plastic surgery to remove all my loose skin, I might look "normal." But I feel good, so I don't really let it get to me, except when I read hateful stuff like the comments posted here. Its really sad. I have great blood pressure, low cholesterol, a resting heart rate of 60, but when fat haters look at me, they see a lazy, undisciplined pig. I rarely eat ice cream, eat chocolate maybe once a month, and eat very healthy. I still work out 4-5x/week (cardio 45-90 minutes, then working either upper or lower body with weights), but by popular standards, I'm morbidly obese.

And yet, I turn heads every time I go out and I'm not a lazy glutton. Go figure.

My husband? Left when I lost weight. He preferred me heavier. But I've never lacked for boyfriends, so your comment about losing 50 lbs and getting a boyfriend is such a stereotypical giggle.. I turn down most of the men who ask me out because I'm pretty choosy about who I go out with.

I love folks who Assume to know all about me based on my weight.

Well said Trisha!

Or maybe she should look on the bottom of the chair and see if it is marked "Made in China." That would explain a lot!

just because where YOU worked sold chairs that support over 200,doesnt mean that EVERYWHERE else does.

Oh, and that's the important thing about her post religion? Not the

should have some sort of disclaimer posted stating that they are unable to accomodate people over a certain weight limit instead of hitting them with an additional charge at the end of their service

portion?

/facepalm to people who can't learn how to read.

You do have the right as a business owner to refuse service. However you do not have the right to break safety codes and put a person in a chair that is unsafe. Again the owner is at fault.

Businesses can deny services arbitrarily? Even if it's cruel and discriminatory? Oh, I know who you are... The bus driver who told Rosa Parks to sit at the back of the bus.

The business owner should have informed the customer when she came in the door "I'm sorry, but the spa pedicure chairs we have will only support a maximum of 200 pounds. You will have to pay an extra $5 if you weigh that much or more to use the spa pedicure chair. Oh, and did I mention that we only CLEAN these things once a week, so you may well end up with a nasty case of folliculitis which will cause you to have red, itchy boils up to your knees and ensure that you have to wrap towels soaked with vinegar around your legs for days?"

Yes, a business CAN reserve the right to refuse service, but they should have a sign stating this fact in plain view.

RACHEL-------- I assume you have arms about 8 ft long, certainly, your post was the longest reach I have ever seen.
That was amazing, you manged to work racism into a post about a surchages for obese people.

99.9%...really, are you sure? Where, pray tell, did you get your facts?

Rachel, businesses are PRIVATELY owned. That's why the mall can post signs letting you know what type of behavior is not acceptable. That's why establishments can post signs stating that they will not serve you while you are talking on your cell phones. It's the owner's decision. Don't like it? Take your business elsewhere. If his/her policies are offensive to enough people, the business will fold. The problem here is that the woman was not told BEFORE the bill was presented that she'd have to pay a surcharge. If she'd known, she could've taken her business elsewhere. You don't tack extras on to the bill after the fact.

Ya know I've about had it with people pontificating that they are better than the next person because they weigh 50lbs less. Here's my new thing... if you're a blonde you're an idiot. yes, I have now taken upon myself to promote the culture of dumb blonde's.. so we can charge them more because they are dumb... or how about this.. let's hate everyone that drives and SUV.. we can charge them for 2 parking spaces, oh and let's give them a surcharge for when they buy gas because they are using more of it...

You sanctimonoius idiots just don't get it... hating someone because they don't wiegh 120 lbs is rediciulous but hey it's spawned a mutli billion dollar business of dieting places that tell you that you are not bueatiful and wanted if you aren't a size 2 so hurry up and pay us to make you a better person...

TO all of those large people haters out there... get over yourself and stop passing judgment on people without knowing them because the world isn't all about YOU and what YOU feel and want.

Rachael...It's still a free enough country so that a business can refuse service to whoever they want...I kicked a snotty woman out of my store once because she treated my salesperson like a POS...I protected my people from spoiled "customers" who thought they were entitled to act any way they wanted just because they "might " buy something...I don't need that kind of business.

Believe it or not, I'm with Charles on this one. It's HIS business. He invested his own captial in it. If he doesn't want to serve anyone but one-eyed purple people-eaters, it's HIS choice. Don't like it? Don't go there. Write a letter to the editor. Tell your friends.
I see this as a perfect opportunity for other nail salons in the area. Put up a sign stating you welcome customers of all sizes.
By the way, Jane, I'm not a "fat hater". I haven't weighed 120 in quite some time. I just wish that people would realize that businesses are PRIVATELY owned. If you don't like their policies, shop elsewhere.

Rory - I credit you for a funny response to what I said. But if you think that's a huge stretch, then what you're missing is that discrimination against someone because of the color of their skin isn't that different than discriminating against them because of how much fat they have UNDER the skin. Or discriminating against them because of their gender, or because they're gay, or anything similar. Our society has been working hard, often fighting itself, to slowly overcome all these other forms of discrimination so that they are not PC, not acceptable. But discrimination against overweight people is going to be one of the last forms of discrimination that is socially acceptable. I don't think the salon owner is a racist and I didn't accuse her of being one. You may think that being shunned because of weight isn't the same as being shunned for your ethnicity, but I'll bet to the fat person enduring the humiliation, it is much the same.

@Mike-U.M. - It is NOT a business right to deny service to anyone because if that was the case, we wouldn't have state/federal agencies to ensure everyone's civil rights (including you). These agencies aren't just for discrimination in the workplace or housing, but public accommodations as well. I had intern at my local discrimination office and believe me when I tell you that a lot of issues that you may not think is discriminatory, was found to be just that. Action can also be taken against a person and/or business for retaliation. In most cases, monetary awards, including punitive damages are sought and won. On that note, if you truely feel that way, and it's certainly your right, then it would be in your best interest not to own and/or operate any businesses. You should take a look at your state agency's discrimination website for more info. Also, you may want to take a look at this info since you seem to know everything there is to know about obesity. By the way, should there be a surcharge for misspelled words…alzy is spelled "lazy"?

Other Causes

An Inactive Lifestyle

Many Americans aren't very physically active. One reason for this is that many people spend hours in front of TVs and computers doing work, schoolwork, and leisure activities. In fact, more than 2 hours a day of regular TV viewing time has been linked to overweight and obesity.

Other reasons for not being active include: relying on cars instead of walking, fewer physical demands at work or at home because of modern technology and conveniences, and lack of physical education classes in schools for children.

People who are inactive are more likely to gain weight because they don't burn up the calories that they take in from food and drinks. An inactive lifestyle also raises your risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer, and other health problems

Environment

Our environment doesn't support healthy lifestyle habits; in fact, it encourages obesity. Some reasons include:

• Lack of neighborhood sidewalks and safe places for recreation. Not having area parks, trails, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically active.
• Work schedules. People often say that they don't have time to be physically active because of long work hours and time spent commuting.
• Oversized food portions. Americans are surrounded by huge food portions in restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, movie theaters, supermarkets, and even home. Some of these meals and snacks can feed two or more people. Eating large portions means too much energy IN. Over time, this will cause weight gain if it isn't balanced with physical activity.
• Lack of access to healthy foods. Some people don't live in neighborhoods that have supermarkets that sell healthy foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Or, for some people, these healthy foods are too costly.
• Food advertising. Americans are surrounded by ads from food companies. Often children are the targets of advertising for high-calorie, high-fat snacks and sugary drinks. The goal of these ads is to sway people to buy these high-calorie foods, and often they do.

Genes and Family History

Studies of identical twins who have been raised apart show that genes have a strong influence on a person's weight. Overweight and obesity tend to run in families. Your chances of being overweight are greater if one or both of your parents are overweight or obese.

Your genes also may affect the amount of fat you store in your body and where on your body you carry the extra fat. Because families also share food and physical activity habits, a link exists between genes and the environment.

Children adopt the habits of their parents. A child who has overweight parents who eat high-calorie foods and are inactive will likely become overweight too. However, if the family adopts healthy food and physical activity habits, the child's chance of being overweight or obese is reduced.

Health Conditions

Some hormone problems may cause overweight and obesity, such as underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), Cushing's syndrome, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Underactive thyroid is a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormone. Lack of thyroid hormone will slow down your metabolism and cause weight gain. You'll also feel tired and weak.

Cushing's syndrome is a condition in which the body's adrenal glands make too much of the hormone cortisol. Cushing's syndrome also can develop if a person takes high doses of certain medicines, such as prednisone, for long periods.

People who have Cushing's syndrome gain weight, have upper-body obesity, a rounded face, fat around the neck, and thin arms and legs.

PCOS is a condition that affects about 5–10 percent of women of childbearing age. Women who have PCOS often are obese, have excess hair growth, and have reproductive problems and other health issues due to high levels of hormones called androgens.

Medicines

Certain medicines may cause you to gain weight. These medicines include some corticosteroids, antidepressants, and seizure medicines.

These medicines can slow the rate at which your body burns calories, increase your appetite, or cause your body to hold on to extra water. All of these factors can lead to weight gain.

Emotional Factors

Some people eat more than usual when they're bored, angry, or stressed. Over time, overeating will lead to weight gain and may cause overweight or obesity.

Smoking

Some people gain weight when they stop smoking. One reason is that food often tastes and smells better after quitting smoking.

Another reason is because nicotine raises the rate at which your body burns calories, so you burn fewer calories when you stop smoking. However, smoking is a serious health risk, and quitting is more important than possible weight gain.

Age

As you get older, you tend to lose muscle, especially if you're less active. Muscle loss can slow down the rate at which your body burns calories. If you don't reduce your calorie intake as you get older, you may gain weight.

Midlife weight gain in women is mainly due to aging and lifestyle, but menopause also plays a role. Many women gain around 5 pounds during menopause and have more fat around the waist than they did before.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, women gain weight so that their babies get proper nourishment and develop normally. After giving birth, some women find it hard to lose the weight. This may lead to overweight or obesity, especially after a few pregnancies.

Lack of Sleep

Studies find that the less people sleep, the more likely they are to be overweight or obese. People who report sleeping 5 hours a night, for example, are much more likely to become obese compared with people who sleep 7–8 hours a night.

People who sleep fewer hours also seem to prefer eating foods that are higher in calories and carbohydrates, which can lead to overeating, weight gain, and obesity over time.

Hormones that are released during sleep control appetite and the body's use of energy. For example, insulin controls the rise and fall of blood sugar levels during sleep. People who don't get enough sleep have insulin and blood sugar levels that are similar to those in people who are likely to have diabetes.

Also, people who don't get enough sleep regularly seem to have high levels of a hormone called ghrelin (which causes hunger) and low levels of a hormone called leptin (which normally helps curb hunger).

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_causes.html

@Charles-1667671, I agree with protecting your employees because no one deserves to be abused and disrepected by co-workers or customers. There are some exceptions for denying service to customers and that, I would consider to be one. Another exception would also be vandalism and/or shoplifting. Many people have been banned from certain establishments both on a temporary or permanent basis.

I also understand that the person(s) who own and operate a business have visions on how it should be operated but there are laws that must be followed. For instance, businesses now must be able accessible to disabled persons, including but not limited to ramps and parking spaces. Equipment should be made to accommodate more than 200lbs since there are men who can and have easily passed that mark. Even elevators give you a weight limit of up to 1200lbs.

OMG!! Charles actually said something RELEVANT and.... (I may FAINT!!) intelligent!!!! Chuck, m'boy - I never knew you had it in you!!!!!

Yes, a business has the right to refuse service. They do not, by law, HAVE to post a sign to this effect, but it is a way to cover your butt if you DO post one.

Oh, and Charles, I also have to give you kudos on defending your sales person. No one should have to take abuse from a customer while they are working.

Exactly, John! There is such a thing as BEING POLITE and the shop owner charging extra without saying that extra would be charged and WHY was not a good thing to do.

I've meant to add that this is also a socioeconomic issue.

LOL that too! I used to be a manicurist! YIKES!!

EXACTLY why I REALLY do not want to be a cosmetologist. That and people who go the salon once every week or two and just spray their hair between stylings and think that that is OK...

And those that do bikini waxes...well, bless their hearts.

Oh, God, DBY, let us NOT go there. From EITHER end of that issue. I tried waxing my legs - ONCE - never again!! I'll use a razor, thanks. I may have to do that more often, but at least it is not unbearably painful. Funny, though, I can wax my eyebrows and my little mustache (isn't in wonderful being over 40, ladies?) with little discomfort, but not my legs. I don't even want to THINK about the agony of bikini or underarm waxes... Razor for the pits, beard trimmer for the bikini line... good to go.

Or, have the heavier customers use a regular chair, and have a couple of the smaller spa pedicure baths that do not include a chair. Of course, they probably wouldn't clean those any more than they do the big chairs...

nicknak...As soon as she was pointed to the "fat" chair, she would complain that she was being insulted...

Better insulted than injured or overcharged. Being informed up front would have given her the option of refusing.

You are so right. If the woman had known up front, she could've gone elsewhere. If the owner wants to charge extra, it's her right--but she shouldn't boo hoo if her customers quit coming. It's called capitalism.

so you think everyone should be the same? what a boring world we would live in. why dont you turn your head if you dont want to look at someone who is overweight.. i am sure they really dont want to look at your bigoted as s either do us all a favor and croak out?

You are disgusted by sitting next to someone who is overweight? Then dont sit next to them! Its their personal choice! Some people dont care about their weight and thats their choice! Not yours, they shouldnt have to find somewhere else to go because of the stupidity of someone else.

Being overweight is not necessarily a personal choice. I know people who try and try to lose weight, don't touch sugar, red meat, snack foods (you name it) and STILL can not get thin. Why, then? Either they are genetically larger or they have a medical condition (often undiagnosed or hard to diagnose) which interferes with slimming down. In the case of genetics, give it up. Eat healthy and be who you are. In the case of the medical condition, just how much money do YOU have to throw away on tests that may be inconclusive as often as not?

Congrats on the weight loss! However, you should be ashamed of yourself for your comment, because it sounds like you have been there. For many overweight people, it is not as easy as putting down the fork. What would you tell those people? What if it were an anorexic person? Would you tell them to shut up and eat? It is not that simple people...wake up!

If people don't care about their weight then they shouldn't care about being discriminated against. As for big ggh do like your women big or do you prefer them slender. And yes overweight is a personal choice, if it is truly a medical condition and there is a way to treat it than treat if you dont you chose to be overweight.

Nicole-2252512 it is that simple if you know the problem and how to fix it then it is a matter of will power to follow through. My husband was 62 lbs overweight and he decided that he didn't want that for himself. So he took the initiative and started working out and invested in a healthier life style that benefited us all. If a person cares enough about themselves they will do what is necessary to be healthy. There is no set healthy weight but we all know what our best weight is.

Alexis-have you ever attended an Overeaters Anonymous meeting? If not, please do so. Then, perhaps you will see that it is not always someone's "choice" to overeat, but something the feel they have to do. Again, what would you tell an anorexic, or a person with OCD? That if they cared about themselves, they'd stop? If only it were that easy...I am not saying that there are not some out there that just don't care, I just want everyone to wake up and realize that there are also some out there that cannot help themselves.

alexis i am a woman. and i am not gay so i dont like women in that way. i do like big men. what does personal likes and dislikes have to do with it? i am glad i dont know you. you are a sick person, obviously... and not to bright.

Alexis....Maybe you should take a little more responsibility on yourself. If you find over weight people offensive and don't want to see or be around them then just take the time to post your schedule in some public forum so that all the fat people will know where you are going to be. Then they can avoid you. I would like to know your schedule, not because I'm fat but I just wouldn't want to be in the same room as you. Can you imagine having to be in a room with some one as short as you. I would have to go to a neck doctor every time you were there. Maybe there should be a surcharge on short people for the added medical bills they cost us tall people for having to look down at them.....

Isn't HATE a wonderful thing.........

LoneRanger hate all you want its personal preference. I don't worry about my height i have a perfectly healthy weight and health, I don't worry about myself but do worry when i have to accommodate unhealthy overweight slobs who think that they deserve sympathy from someone because they eat their feeling or simple don't care. Overweight people need to take responsibility for themselves and realize that they are simply dragging the rest of us down.

Alexis...I feel exactly the same about short people. Why do they waste my time standing in line for rides they know dam well they are to short to get on. or block the isles at the grocery store trying to get something off the top shelf that they clearly can not reach. Or they take up two parking places because they can't see over the dashboard to see where the yellow lines are. Maybe we should have a surcharge for short people wasting tall peoples time....

Alexis....BTW "Isn't hate a wonderful thing" is meant to show the people how ridiculous it sound listen to one group of people berate another group of people ignoring their own short comings. no pun intended. I hate no one.

And that is why I have my driver take me where I need to go and have my cook by the groceries why the hell do I need to do it if i have my staff to handle all of that.

Yeah,,,,,,,right and I own ocean front property in AZ. Just one other question, being you have some one else drive you around and being height challenged as you are does a child seat come into play? How humiliating that would be.

The whole point is that any group of people can and will make fun of another group of people not once thinking about their feeling. You make fun of and berate fat people and I make fun and berate short people. All groups of people have problems with themselves. Why not clean up our own kitchen before attacking another.

You forget I was born short, people aren't born fat they get like that because they want to. I have others do for me simply because I can afford it. I worked hard and got to this point in my life where I don't want to do daily housework so why do it. I paid my dues so I can live my life of leisure as I wish. I already pay a hefty tax because I make more than others so why not impose a tax on fat people. Its only fair it's not discrimination to tax the wealthy so it's not discrimination to tax the fat population or the drug addicts or smokers or any other class that can improve on there current status. Humiliating it would be if I actually required a car seat but I don't average height for women runs between 5'4 to 5'7 so I am right on.

you know what's funny? people like you disgust me. It's not fair to say that "all fat people are fat because they are lazy." How do you know they're lazy? How do you know they haven't worked their butts off to lose weight and it just hasn't helped. Also, some people naturally are big boned and therefore are bigger than others. There are multiple reasons people are what society deems as "overweight" or "fat" such as if a person has certain diseases, such as hypoglycemia, they will naturally be bigger because of the disease. Honestly, people like you who say all fat people are lazy piss me off. It's really hypocritical to say that.

Also, shorter people naturally LOOK bigger than taller people. But, in reality, taller people may weigh more. It all has to do with health and BMIs and physical fitness and all that crap. I walk almost every day and I am still what society deems as "overweight" and I'm just over the limit on average (like 1 bmi point above average). And plus, I'm only 4'11 and am 17 years old. And I weight 125 pounds.

I could go on and on about this forever, but my point is that you are being very unfair to a lot of people when yous ay what you are saying.

Alexis.....I beg to differ with you. I've seen a lot of fat little babies. And judging by what most people say, being born that way is not an excuse to excuse the problem. I believe most people would just say its not my frault you were born that way, deal with it. As for the being rich....I still have some ocean front property for sale in AZ. That average height starts on the very short side of a ruler..........lol

Alexis just give it up. Admit your a bigot and shut up already.

You are only playing into Lone Rangers hand ---you have proven to be the ignorant woman everyone reading your posts assumed you to be. And Lone Ranger is making us all laugh for keeping you and your ignorance spewing!

You are so proud to be a bigot ---but I hate bigots ---they cost society millions of dollars a year, they're ugly, annoying, obnoxious and ignorant ---I think we should just kill all bigots b/c I hate them and they disgust me.

You may not need a car seat but you obviously need a pacifier!

Alexis those fat cells are just sitting there waiting to blow up one more time. Your self righteousness is going to bite you in the long run.

Alexis, (IF you actually have the driver, the staff and the money that goes with it) I fervently pray that you one day lose ALL of it and have to live in the real world. You know, that real world where Daddy's money doesn't pay for your every want or need. That real world where not EVERYONE (indeed MOST people) can't AFFORD to spend thousands of dollars finding out and treating what is wrong with them.
Yes, maybe THEN you might wake up and smell what you are shoveling!

But she shoudl have been told ahead of time that the surcharge was going to be added to her bill, so that she could choose to refuse the service. Of course her feelings would have still been hurt, but she would have known beforehand. Even restaurants will tell you that they automatically add a 20% gratuity for parties of 5-10 or more.

yea yea she should have been told ahead of time you know how stupid that sounds?what business owner,in their right mind would post a sign on the door stating"there will be a surcharge if i think you are too fat for our chairs"you see how dumb that sounds?just like the overweight customer has the right to choose where to give their business,the owner has the same rights to not have to display a notice that will cause them to lose business

Religionisbad: You really need to take a business class and get some education. Not posting fees that will or can be assessed is deceptive business practices and can get the business in serious trouble so just as a hair dresser has to post that there can be an additional charge for longer hair the nail salon should have to post if there will be an additional charge if different accommodations need to be made (ie the chair).

So now who sounds "stupid"?

So you think a business should be able to tack on any charges they want to your bill without telling you first? Picture yourself at the barber shop. You get your bill and the barber says, "Let's see, Mr. religionisbad, I cut your hair, but noticed later that you had some disgusting dandruff that got on my smock, so I'm tacking an extra $5 on your bill. Also, you apparently forgot to put on deodorant this morning, so that's $2 more for having to smell your BO. Also, it was kind of tricky working around the big gauges in your ears. I almost caught my comb on one. Another $3 should take care of that. Sorry I didn't let you know sooner, but I was afraid that if I put up a sign you might not come in."

If you see it written and it looks dumb than maybe it is dumb. lol. Although I do think the chairs can hold more than 200lbs, if they don't the business does have a right to charge a surcharge, but it should be posted. If they don't want to advertise it then don't do it and suck up the cost to repair the chair. Some airlines charge a surcharge for checked baggage and we as the consumer can decide if we chose to use an airline that charges for this or one that doesn't.

Brilliant, so we should no longer allow these overweight folks into church, no more gas stations, no acess to the doctor or dentist. Becasue they don't fit?????

America red white and blue and full of ppeople like YOU!

Lovely, now we are going to be called bigoted, by obese people.
Now you know why many people have quit trying to be polite, civil or politically correct.
My standard answer to people like you, yeah, we are all bigoted.
So?
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
You opportunists have ruined some exxceptionally good words with your insistence on trying to use them where you have no facts and attempt to have your way with political correctness.

so the rest of society once again must change things to accomodate the overweight???there are limits on height at amusement parks,and they dont re-engineeer the rollercoaster to accomodate tall ppl right?

there are also signs warning of the ride restrictions before you buy the ticket or stand in line......What? you've never seen one,....Hm not my fault you can't read or didn't take better care of your eyes....

Don't blame the farmers for "high fructose food"s, they only grow the corn. Blame the food manufacturers. You don't eat tobacco (smoker) or eat Alcohol imbiber , stop complaining about others.

Anthro Grad, while you are whining about subsidized farmers, think about this: without farmers (and if you think they are rich, you had better think again - they barely get by) you would not have your tobacco (BIG crop where I come from) or your alcohol (I used to work for a company that supplied Jim Beam with the food grade hoses they use - also another home-town comapny), another farm-produced product, it is not the FARMER who produces the high-fructose corn syrup. The FARMER produces the CORN. After it is sold, the companies that BUY it produce the HFCS. The CORN supplies the staple ingredient for other foods, as well. Not to mention that in itself, corn makes for a healthy and delicious vegetable. Just don't add all kinds of junk to it.

I too see obese people consuming triple burgers and fries (foods I avoid like Plague - all that grease is just nasty) with a diet soda, never realizing that the diet soda is just as bad for them as the rest.

CAS Reaves:

You obviously did not clearly read what I posted. I neither said stop subsidizing ALL farmers nor did I say stop subsidizing ALL farmers who grow corn. What I said was stop subsidizing farmers who grow corn and supply it for production of high fructose corn syrup. I agree that most farmers are not rich. However, due to the nature of our industrialized agricultural system, most farmers have contracts with corporations to supply them with the corn they produce. This is how they generate the capital needed to maintain the farm. What I am advocating is that those farmers with such contracts should be excluded from federal subsidies.

Finally, you don’t think I realize that the cigarettes I smoke and the beer I drink originated at a farm? While I don’t have the data to verify this I would bet a few pints of ale that the tobacco farmer who is just getting by doesn’t receive half the freebees that a corn farmer does due to his products.

Never mind.

Anthro Grad - the farmer has absolutely no control over what is done with the products after it leaves his land. Most farmers do NOT sell to a single end user; they sell to a co-op that then sells the corn to others in turn. If you want to go after someone, go after the companies that MAKE HFCS. Not the farmers that grow food and sell it in order to make a living.

I beg to differ on the freebies - tobacco farmers around Lexington, Kentucky get plenty of subsidies - because they are farmers.

It cost extra money to pay for these chairs if they exist . Who should pay for it? everyone else and not the overweight person? I dont think so ...... People should know that the do to that extra chicken or steak that they eat have a ripple effect. Men come to recure you and you fall cause they can't hold you.. Your problem.. leave the steak. You go to the movie theathe or fly on a plane and you dont fit.. you problem. You go to get all doll up at the beauty palor and you to big for the chair ... your problem. No one else to blame .. no trying to be rude but be for real .

so you think it would have been better to flat out embarress the customer even more by denying her service in front of the entire salon?LOL what school you go?

what school you go? religionisbad, asking somebody that question does not exactly make you stand out as a scholar yourself. Perhaps...What school do you attend? Or...Where did you go to school? Or...Are you currently attending school? Any of these would have made you, at least appear, more intelligent.

I agree she should have been notified of the charge BEFORE services were rendered; however, salon owner needs to save herself from unnecessary expenses that can hurt her bottom line. She can simply post a note on the chair limits at the front desk - anything exceeding that limit has to sadly be denied - or other arrangements made if possible. Nothing wrong with properly denying service if it will damage the equipment that ultimately keeps you in business!