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You think fat people are that way because they have money and can buy great food? Actually alot are poor and have to live on pasta, which is cheap.
The reason its cheap is so you can afford to eat to LIVE. Not eat to gain. You can be poor and not be fat. If you don't overeat be it meat or pasta, you will not be fat.
And if you want to discuss morals. Its is really moral to eat yourself into a diseased state, overuse the world's resources for pleasure eating, get fat on factory farmed meat that ruins the environment/abuses animals and complain the rest of the world does not fit your own personally created definition of "acceptable" so much that you would try to drive someone out of business for 5$?
Karma really is a "B" as this nail salon owner is probably learning right about now.
The main point is being completely missed by those who are so excited to see fat people being discriminated against. It does not matter if one is under or over the 200lb weight limit for the pedicure chair - the point is that the business owner felt that it was ok to tack on an arbitrary "fat fee" after she had provided service without giving the overweight customer prior notice and the option to refuse the extra fee. ETA: and if the chair could not accomodate the woman's weight then the shop owner should have refused to service her at all...what is $5 going to do if the woman gets injured and sues the owner?
On another note, what is there to stop this business owner from simply charging an extra "Black tax" or a "Latina lien" or a "Caucasian cost" or a "tall tax" etc, etc. Honestly, if this business owner is engaging in shady business practices and I could potentially patronize her business I would want to know.
Also, I find it very sad that some people feel the need to vilify people with weight issues. Would these same people judge as harshly anorexics, bulimics, cocaine addicts, alcoholics, potheads, smokers with lung cancer, sex addicts, etc, etc in the same manner? I think not.
Compassion is the order of the day.
Last edited by calipoppy; 08-28-2010 at 11:47 AM..
That is also something to consider. If a chair has a max safe capacity of 200 lbs it should be clearly marked.
I hope so, but regardless the owner should know the weight capacity of the chair, just like she should know all the safety regulations of all her equipment. An obviously obese customer should not be allowed to use the chair. If she doesn't like it, too bad. Amusement park rides have weight limits too. You can't ask the customer to sign a waiver, because it's still negligence, so the $5 issue is moot. She's too big, she can't use it.
Now, I don't know if the actual chair was rated for 200 pounds or if we're just batting around hypotheticals here. If this was a simple fat tax, that's up to the shop owner. Not disclosing it up front is shady, and the whole situation didn't reflect well on the shop. Other shops don't have this problem, so I'd just copy what they do, whether it's charging everyone more or whatever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek
Someone here was crowing triumphantly that I might be liable if a fat contractor broke my attic stairs and fell and hurt themselves; well, the stairs are clearly marked on the stair treads in permanent black ink "MAX 200 LBS" in my own writing as well as on the sides with the original manufacturer's labels. So that won't be happening. You have to be able to read to be a licensed contractor, that is all I allow into my home, and you can't miss the label.
Indeed. And contractors have their own insurance. You as the homeowner could be sued for negligence, like sending someone upstairs and not advising him that the floor is weak, or leaving something for him to trip over, but if he intentionally misused something, that's on him. I'm surprised you didn't have the contractor repair your steps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek
Charging her extra at the end and not telling her about it is BS. But I do agree that over time a steady stream of obese customers will put much more wear and tear on the chair than a steady stream of normal weight customers and the equipment will wear out faster. It's simple physics.
Yes, it is physics. If the chair is sitting empty, though ... well, that's not good either. Like I said, the owner should take notes from other shops to see how they handle the issue.
<starts to wonder when my hair stylist will start charging me extra for cuts because my thick hair causes more wear and tear on her scissors and blowdryer than those people with thin, whispy hair>
Seriously...if the chair won't safely hold the woman then it won't hold her...$5 is not going to change that. If that was the case, she should have been told up front that unfortunately, they would not be able to provide her service for that reason.
Wear and tear on equipment is the cost of doing business. To charge someone (anyone) for extra wear and tear you'd have to then consider charging less for people don't cause as much wear and tear. What if the heavy lady doesn't use the massage features but a 100lb woman uses the heck out of the features? Then what? What about people who use the restroom? Are you charging them for water usage and TP?
Last edited by maciesmom; 08-28-2010 at 12:42 PM..
Also, I find it very sad that some people feel the need to vilify people with weight issues. Would these same people judge as harshly anorexics, bulimics, cocaine addicts, alcoholics, potheads, smokers with lung cancer, sex addicts, etc, etc in the same manner? I think not.
Compassion is the order of the day.
Think again. Reality is the order of the day.
I don't throw pity parties for people who have issues and go out of their way to make everyone else deal with the fall out instead of getting yourself together.
Should I feel bad for the xenophobic racists in here too?
<starts to wonder when my hair stylist will start charging me extra for cuts because my thick hair causes more wear and tear on her scissors and blowdryer than those people with thin, whispy hair>
Seriously...if the chair won't safely hold the woman then it won't hold her...$5 is not going to change that. If that was the case, she should have been told up front that unfortunately, they would not be able to provide her service for that reason.
Wear and tear on equipment is the cost of doing business. To charge someone (anyone) for extra wear and tear you'd have to then consider charging less for people don't cause as much wear and tear. What if the heavy lady doesn't use the massage features but a 100lb woman uses the heck out of the features? Then what? What about people who use the restroom? Are you charging them for water usage and TP?
What are you talking about? Five more dollars towards a profit won't buy a new heavy duty chair or repair the old one? Should people charge long haired people hundreds of dollars more to instantly replace the blades used on their hair? Profit adds up to being able to have liquid capital to improve you business.
What are you talking about? Five more dollars towards a profit won't buy a new heavy duty chair or repair the old one? Should people charge long haired people hundreds of dollars more to instantly replace the blades used on their hair? Profit adds up to being able to have liquid capital to improve you business.
I didn't say it wouldn't help profit. Of course it would. I was saying IF the issue was the chair was not safe for a heavy person to sit in, charging them wouldn't change the fact that you are having your client sitting in an unsafe chair.
Ok...then install a coin slot for use of the massage features and coin operated bathrooms and more for people who's feet are especially calloused or toenails are longer/tougher than average....conversly, a credit could be given for customers weighing under a certain weight and whose feet are already well kept.
When you enter the nail salon, one could step on a scale, have a foot and nail inspection prior to determining price. Then, one could be offered the opportunity to purchase tokens to use the massage features of the chair (those things probably cause more wear and tear than someone sitting still for a pedicure). Or, you could determine a flat rate that averages out the COB among all your potential clientele. Either way would be fair (as long as clients knew up front about the potential costs), but I know where I'd go.Charge an amount that keeps you in business - enough to make a profit but not so much that people won't purchase your services. When I get my nails done, I am often offered a bottle of water or a glass of wine - I am not charged for that but it is one of the little things that keep me going to the same place. In a service providing business, how you treat your clients (or potential clients) is extremely important.
FTR, I weigh under 200lbs and my feet are in good condition...I just wouldn't want to go through that hassle and I don't see the point of humiliating potential clients for a couple of bucks.
Last edited by maciesmom; 08-28-2010 at 03:00 PM..
"The nail salon owner, Kim Tran, told her it was because she’s overweight and she was charging extra in case Fonville caused damage to the salon’s chairs she’d been sitting on."
That is just rude! I remember going with a large sized relative to a clothing store owned by an Asian family and as I was picking out some items to try on, the store owner grabbed my relative's arm and showed her this huge tent looking dress and loudly said "You no look at that (pointing to the rack I was looking at), you only try this on!". My relative was humiliated and I was upset for her. We quickly left after that.
There are other incidents I have encountered with Asian salespeople making comments out loud about "fat legs" and "why is she shopping here?" while staring at a friend of mine in a Juniors clothing store.
I hate to generalize, but there really seems to be a very judgmental attitude with some Asian shop owners/salespeople, at least from what I've observed. And I won't even walk in a Nail Salon anymore because of my experiences with the snooty looks and foreign conversation that starts right away after. These incidents remind me of the King of Queens episode where Carrie gets blacklisted from every Nail Salon in town and the Seinfeld episode where Elaine hires George's Dad to find out what they're saying about her.
Last edited by ladysovereign; 08-28-2010 at 04:15 PM..
So where is the barber who's charging fat men more to cut their hair? Is it just me or do fat women get a lot more abuse than fat men? I don't have the exact quote but Kelly Osborne said it was crazy how she took so much more abuse for being fat than a raging drug addict. Now that's sad.
If we as a society are going to start charging for flaws I'll start paying when they start charging for stupid, crazy, lazy, shallow, narcisstic, mean. I may be fat but I'm not any of those, unlike a lot of thin people. And before people say being mean or lazy doesn't cost anything of course it does.
It's more socially acceptable to be a raging drug addict or alcoholic than it is to be overweight, sucks but it's reality.
"The nail salon owner, Kim Tran, told her it was because she’s overweight and she was charging extra in case Fonville caused damage to the salon’s chairs she’d been sitting on."
That is just rude! I remember going with a large sized relative to a clothing store owned by an Asian family and as I was picking out some items to try on, the store owner grabbed my relative's arm and showed her this huge tent looking dress and loudly said "You no look at that (pointing to the rack I was looking at), you only try this on!". My relative was humiliated and I was upset for her. We left quickly after that.
There are other incidents I have encountered with Asian salespeople making comments out loud about "fat legs" and "why is she shopping here?" while staring at a friend of mine in a store.
I hate to generalize, but there really seems to be a dislike/hatred for fat people among some Asian shop owners/salespeople, at least from what I've observed.
You're right about Asians, i find them to be very rude people. I was sitting in the laundramat once and about 5 older Asian women came in, there was limited seating. I was sitting on a bench and they sat down there and basically pushed me off the seat, then they were running their mouths in their native tongue. They're were the rudest women i've ever seen.
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