Okay, I have to share this today (I realize this is my second post this week with exclamation marks in the title…I’m just angry this week I guess).  My friend Mark posted this on his Facebook page and I thought it was so unbelievable that I had to google it to see if it was true.  Unfortunately, it is.  N.Y. Man Sues White Castle Over Too-Small Booths.   Why, might you ask, is he suing?  Because at 290 lbs he is too large to fit in the booth.  You know what those booths are like, a one-piece unit where the seats are attached to the table at a fixed distance.  He filed suit last month saying that small booths violated his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act.  Now I’m losing it.  Really?  Weighing in at 290 because you have been eating at White Castle since 1959 (as stated in the article) does not qualify you as being disabled and deserving of protection against discrimination.  ACCEPT SOME RESPONSIBILITY!! 

His inability to fit into the “booth-style seating” was “extremely embarrassing … to have to experience in front of a restaurant full of customers,” according to his lawsuit filed in U.S.

So because he was embarrassed, someone has to pay?  His weight, which led to his embarrassment is White Castle’s fault (I can’t believe I’m defending White Castle…let’s just make it clear I am not defending their food). 

He says when friends went to a White Castle eight months after the seating incident, he went inside and noticed no changes had been made. He tried to squeeze into a larger seating area and slammed his knee into one of the metal posts under the table, causing him pain, according to his lawsuit.

Does he sue the city when he stubs his toe on their sidewalk?  

I am not being critical of people who are overweight.  I understand those who struggle with obesity face many challenges and often there are underlying problems that lead to the excessive eating…however, this growing movement towards affording protection of overweight people is really starting to get on my nerves.  Reminds me of Dean Somerset’s comments in my Monday post about the Canadian government changing the physical activity guidelines from an hour a day to 30 minutes because an hour was too difficult for people (by the way, American guidelines are a mere 20 minutes a day).  Why are we so afraid to make people accountable for their actions?  Why are we so afraid of offending someone that we can no longer speak the truth.  It is NOT OKAY to sue White Castle because you cannot fit into their booths, it is NOT OKAY to be outraged because the airlines want a person who cannot fit into a seat to have to pay for two (although I am with you that the seats are getting smaller and smaller).  TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY. 

I remember as a kid when we would do or say something that annoyed some other kid we would taunt them with “its a free country” (yes, I know, we were bad asses).   Certainly we do have a lot of freedoms in this country.  And if you want to eat White Castle burgers and weigh 290 lbs, that’s your right.  But it is not your right to bog down our court system with such bullshit lawsuits as this man’s. 

Okay, end rant.  Please feel free to chime in with your opinions (and remember, it’s a free country, so you do not have to agree with me).  Have a great day.  🙂