Okay, so the tabloids are having fun with this one, but it certainly does stand logic on its head when the Canadian courts ruled that morbidly obese individuals are “disabled” and get the right to buy two seats for the price of one.

The story reminded me of the time I had dinner with Dr. Nick Yphantides, a San Diego family physician and author of the book My Big Fat Greek Diet. (Yes, Dr. Nick is a Greek-American.)

Dr. Nick used to weigh 467 pounds before going on a year-long “radical sabbatical” to lose weight. Before the start of his diet, when he was at his fattest, he said he’ll never forget the time he boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Albuquerque for a medical conference.

That morning, he was handed a “C” boarding pass by the gate agent, meaning that he would be among the last to board, and Southwest does not assign seats.

Dr. Nick had a tough time squeezing his 467 pounds down the narrow aisle. His fondest wish was to find two small kids occupying a three-seat row on the 737, but some dreams weren’t meant to come true. The reality that morning was an open middle seat between a man on the window and a middle-aged woman on the aisle.

When he approached that row, he could tell by the woman’s look that she had received some bad news—like a death in the family.

“Excuse me,” Dr. Nick offered, and she reluctantly stepped out of her seat so he could take the middle seat. He tried to sit down between the two armrests, but each armrest dug into his thighs. The more he pushed, the more it hurt.

“Would you mind if I brought this armrest up?” he wanly asked. Both of them understood the implication of his request: Nick would be spilling some of his excess poundage into her “space.”

“Actually, I would mind,” she said as she continued standing in the aisle.

An alert flight attendant sized up the situation. “Let me see if I can help you,” she offered.

Two rows behind them, the flight attendant spotted a mother sitting in the window seat with a three-year-old occupying the middle seat and a nine-year-old boy on the aisle.

Dr. Nick said he turned his head and watched the flight attendant lean over to the mother and whisper something. The mother looked at him. With a pitying sigh, she nodded yes.

“We’re going to switch you with the young boy,” the Southwest flight attendant announced. As he stood up to make the move, she whispered, “Next time, sir, you need to buy two seats.”

He gulped down another heavy helping of humiliation as everyone in that section of the plane watched him.

I felt sorry for Nick, as I have compassion for anyone else who is obese. At the same time, though, I can assure you that if you’re one of those who might be a candidate for purchasing for two seats on Southwest, then you better check out my Perfect Weight American plan. You can find out all the information you need at www.perfectweightamerica.com.

If you stick with the Perfect Weight plan and make a lifestyle change, then I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about taking up two seats on an airline flight.