Jaunted

He writes, "So I bit the bullet and got on another plane, for the first time in months. And when I sat down, the fella next to me smiled and asked 'They gonna throw you off this plane too?' And the next three flights I took, it was the same. Even worse: when you fly first [class], you board first, sit down… and then EVERYONE files past you. And when you’re the Too Fat To Fly guy on a plane? Well, everyone stares. Then the whispering starts. A hundred people look right at you - when you’re not on a stage. It kinda blows."

What's a fat guy to do? Luckily, Kevin's buddy Ben Affleck told him about a concierge service that will get you on the plane in time, but won't make you sit through the entire boarding process. That way no one's waiting for you, or staring at you.

So, yesterday, Kevin, his wife, and friend Jason Mewes (a.k.a. Jay to Kevin's Silent Bob) were all at JFK and checked-in an hour before their flight to LAX was due to depart, but they didn't get to the actual gate until they were closing the door because their liaison from the concierge service, Dorthy, who has "been doing her job for years," waited until there was only 10 minutes left before the flight was set to take off. Apparently, the Virgin American agents at the door, Manny and Erwin, didn't agree with Dorthy's timing and refused to let them on the flight, insisting the flight was closed.

But, even though it was technically Kevin's fault he wasn't let on the flight, Virgin America still booked him on the next available flight (in first class where the seats are so big even "too fat to fly" guys can get comfy), gave him a full refund, and free tickets on a future flight, all before he even hit the ground in Los Angeles.

Thanks to Virgin's efforts, it looks like Kevin won't be getting back on that bus anytime soon. Kevin later added an update to his blog saying, "even though the Virgin America JFK gate 25 agents royally f*cked my day, someone higher up in the company tried very hard to make it right… And succeeded."

[Photo: iVillage]