I first learned of this story from Kevin Smiths podcast (SModcast), in which he relays the overall situation bit by bit. It also highlights the story of a woman that experienced a similar mistreatment by SWA by the same flight staff. Kevin Smith is a fat guy but was well within the guidelines of SWA's policies to occupy 1 seat. Using an image of a man with severe obesity to parallel this story is just poor reporting.While I agree overweight/obesity issues plague our country on so many fronts (health, energy-usage, corporatism, commercialization, consumerism, etc etc) we have to be respectful to the individual as having the right to choose to live a life that is their own - even if other individuals see it as irresponsible or wrong. If Kevin Smith was too big for one seat he would have complied with that policy. A policy that for safety/comfortable I agree with concerning some aspects. The issue was that he was treated poorly because he was presumed to be too large for one seat after he previously purchased 2-seats for comfort/ego reasons that he has admitted. He also sites that SWA flights are "cheap" and he is lucky enough to be in a situation where he can afford the luxury of two-seats in lieu of SouthWest's non-existent 1st class option.The "health" activist is a terrible person. She is an extremist and insensitive voice on the matter & ABC should not have used her as an "expert." As a person who grew up in a househouse of irresponsible eating, I understand the social-economic, traditional, and uneducated-regarding-health disadvantages that many times lead to life-long weight problems. This woman needs to understand those things if she wishes to help the people she is so insensitive to.So boo ABC News. Boo that woman. I think Kevin is doing an honorable thing in his typical irreverent way that is a voice of humor and intelligence with the guise of self-deprecation and typical east coast gusto.As an aside, after having the facts regarding the whole situation (both from Smith, SWA, and independent first-hand accounts of other dealings with SouthWest - I have made the personal choice to try and avoid using SWA)