MyLotters, Help Me Find The Answer!
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
October 1, 2016 12:36pm CST
I've been to the USA three times in my life. But that was many years ago. The flight from Germany takes many hours, yet the question to which I'm seeking the answer now didn't pop up then. It popped up only later. I can't remember when and why. It was just there and didn't go away. Yet now I don't do long distance flights any more. If I did, I only had to keep my eyes open and could find the answer myself.
The question is: How do obese people get in and out of the narrow toilet/bathroom doors on a plane?
People are getting fatter and fatter, the width of a toilet/bathroom door on a plane remains the same. An obese passenger will have the problem even several times if they're on a transatlantic flight. HOW DO THEY MANAGE?
My last flight took me from Germany to Turkey. That doesn't take so long and - chance would have it - there were no obese people on board. When I saw two stewards chatting with each other, I went to them. I was determined to get the answer from them. Who would be better to shed light on the problem but they? No such luck. One steward laughed and said, "That's not my problem!" I looked at him sternly and said that I wasn't interested in *his* problems but that he had to concede that it *was* a problem. Although I could have been his grandmother age-wise, he wasn't impressed. He went on finding me funny. His mate said that he didn't fly long distance. His longest flights went from Germany to Dubai. Well, an obese passenger with a bladder problem needs the toilet/bathroom also on a flight from Germany to Dubai.
I'm not interested in personal confessions regarding your weight. Just tell me:
How do obese people get in and out of the narrow toilet/bathroom doors on a plane?
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I'm not obsessed with this topic. But it's one of life's mysteries I just want to know the answer to.
25 people like this
25 responses
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
1 Oct 16
If I was the obese person @MALUSE , I'd wear an adult diaper and save myself the embarrassment. Seriously though, I think airlines are more about how many people they can squeeze onto a plane (money) versus comfort.
7 people like this
@RasmaSandra (73470)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
1 Oct 16
I found an article that a obese person wrote. She rights certain tips about flying and one of them is that she manages the toilet because she is flexible but still it is hard. So she doesn't drink anything hours before the flight and if it's not too long she doesn't need to go. She also advises going to the toilet just before a flight. That is all the information I could gather otherwise I also have not idea what heavier people do. Hope you find a really good answer.
5 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Oct 16
A very interesting gquestion and O have absolutely no idea. I have never flown to America, but have made at least a dozen flights in excess of 4 hours over the past 2 years, yet never noticed.
I realise that such doors are narrow, but cannot be certain how physically restrictive they really are.
3 people like this
@yukimori (10144)
• United States
1 Oct 16
That seems to be the prevailing attitude, unfortunately. Who cares, they're obese and therefore we can treat them as less than human. It's disgusting, really. In a world where we're so obsessed with accommodating different individuals, we deliberately turn a blind eye to the issues that people have due to being bigger. It's somehow okay because obesity is a problem that arises from laziness and gluttony, so if a person is that large they had to have done it to themselves. Never mind the fact that many medical conditions (and even medications used to treat some conditions) can result in a person gaining weight despite their best efforts.
3 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
1 Oct 16
@yukimori You are touching to something sensible for me, because my mother ended her life in a wheelchair. There are still a lot of things to do, especially on public area. There are a lot of shops in my street, and by law all of them are equipped to permit the access of a wheelchair, but the sidewalks are high to forbid to cars to park on them, and half of the time not large enough for a wheelchair... I would add that half of the pedestrian crossings are not adapted for wheelchairs. There is a museum in the old part of this city which has been recently equipped with an elevator and tilted planes for wheelchairs. It is perfect, except that a wheelchair cannot access to the museum from the street : there is a high sidewalk followed by 3 steps before. These kind of details are making me angry. It is not done on purpose, it is just that they never think at people with disabilities when they work on a street.
3 people like this
@yukimori (10144)
• United States
1 Oct 16
@topffer I was more referring to the general trend of accommodating people, and how we make accommodations to ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to access places like stores without issue. It makes me wonder if there is a requirement for restrooms on planes operating out of the US to have wheelchair-accessible entrances... if that's the case here then an obese person could simply make use of that facility rather than one with a narrow door.
2 people like this
@xFiacre (12597)
• Ireland
1 Oct 16
@maluse This is indeed one of life's mysteries. I am quite slim (as you seem to be) yet even I find it a bit of a tight squeeze trying to get in and out of those tiny cubicles so I dread to think how someone bigger would manage. On short flights I think people should really go to the toiket before they board a plane and stay in their seats; I don't like people wandering about an aircraft. But your question is valid. On a long flight how would an obese person with a week bladder manage? I suppose it might be frowned on to insist that they use a catheter during the flight, but why not?
3 people like this
@xFiacre (12597)
• Ireland
1 Oct 16
@pgntwo I don't think there's any oxygen in those things. It's just to give us something to keep ourselves occupied with and to reduce our squealing if anything goes wrong. But i suppose an obese person could use it for something else if they couldn't get into the toilet .
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (458230)
• Switzerland
2 Oct 16
@MALUSE I cannot count the times we went from the airport of Nice (France) to the United States and it happened that there were obese people on board. I was fascinated by the ability they have to fit their bodies in very narrow spaces. Even the seats are not very large and it's not funny to be on an International Fly with someone obese sit at your side. This only happened once, from France to the Island of Sint Maarten, 12 hours fly.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Oct 16
Your photo looks like a spacious DeutscheBahn WC...?
Long flights and obese passengers, not something I have wondered about, but I had a look for some pics, to refresh my memory.
All I can say is, on long flights, perhaps there's a bigger WC in the Business Class or First Class sections that such a passenger may be permitted to use...?
You can see from the photo I found, even taking a picture of a WC in an aircraft is a challenge!
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Oct 16
@MALUSE Well... If you need a bigger loo, obviously you're going to need a bigger seat... Those teeny seats in Economy are not going to support a large posterior either!
Did you hear the story about the passenger who activated the flush mechanism while seated on the loo at 39,000feet...?
Was a passenger sealed to a toilet seat for two hours on a trans-Atlantic flight?
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
4 Oct 16
This one is going to plague you to the grave! Toilets on planes are terribly confined. The bathroom on an A380 is quite massive although I think perhaps the door is roughly the same size. I must say I have never thought about it. There are usually plenty of fatties in Business and first myself included! I don't know about the saying 'swing a cat in there', I doubt you could swing a mouse!
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
5 Oct 16
@garymarsh6 I did know the saying with the cat. What I meant was that *you* are funny substituting a mouse for the cat to show that the room is really tiny. It was a compliment.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
5 Oct 16
@MALUSE An English expression when a room is too small to do anything in!
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
3 Nov 16
There have been morbidly obese people in my family, but they are all deceased so I can't ask them. I currently know people who are morbidly obese, but they are sensitive so I can't ask them. Honestly, I wonder how obese people manage many things. I'm totally curious about it. Watado watado.
@mysimplelot (1347)
• Calcutta, India
2 Oct 16
It is a problem in Flights specially. People cannot manage too much . And there lies the problem.
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
3 Oct 16
Although I have flown before, the flights were not long enough for me to have need of relief, and so I have never measured the doors on an airplane toilet. But, if they are as narrow as you say (and as we see in the movies), then I should think that only extremely thin people and contortionists are able to use the facilities on a plane. Perhaps obese people simply don't consume liquid before a flight, or maybe they wear protective undergarments, or perhaps their fat is malleable and can be squeezed through quite easily. Or maybe, as the steward said, this is not our problem to worry about.
@Tampa_girl7 (49005)
• United States
3 Oct 16
It may forever remain a mystery.
definitely food for thought.
definitely food for thought.
@Fleura (29126)
• United Kingdom
3 Oct 16
It seems that they just have to sort of ooze in. They must have the same problem with other narrow doors, turnstiles etc (for example at train stations; some are so narrow that I can barely fit through and at 10 stone I don't think I'm obese).
Many years ago, long before obesity became the problem it is now, I had an aunt who was huge. She repeatedly won awards for losing the most weight, only to put it on again. She had to go through doors sideways. I remember once meeting her for a day out and I was afraid it would be embarrassing squeezing into establishments like restaurants etc. with her, but everywhere we went the staff couldn't have been nicer, they were so courteous and helpful, much more so than they would have been to me!
@Daljinder (23233)
• Bangalore, India
6 Oct 16
I don't know if it is relevant here or not since I have never been on such flights. My late uncle was obese. He was also a Civil Engineer and had experience with Interior Designing. In the new house they built, the space was very limited. So they had to adjust toilet and bathroom space.
The new toilet constructed was very small. I found it very small like a small cubicle. I am a thin person. The question popped in my head then "How did he manage to get "in" and "out" and still manage to close the door?"
The thing was though the space was small and tight, the width of the door did the trick. He would stand to the side in the corner and open the door from inside. It gave enough space for the door to move.
@XinfulThotz (4140)
• Singapore, Singapore
6 Oct 16
it is very interesting..
how do obese people get in and out of airplanes' narrow toilets...
never thought of that.. but indeed the toilets are very narrow and they may get themselves stuck..
