February 11, 2002

2:38 PM

Heroes die trying to save fat lady. I noticed that this link and all relating ones below it refer to the person they were trying to help as being obese. If a legless person was found strapped in the rescue chair, or hadn't been described as 'obese' at all, my thoughts on this story would have been skewed a bit differently. Yeah they're heroes, by why qualify their deaths with a fat lady singing?
posted by hellinskira (11 comments total)

"The bodies of the officers were found in what had been the lobby of 1 World Trade Center, the second tower to collapse, suggesting they probably already had been ordered to evacuate. Next to the officers, recovery crews found an obese woman still strapped into a rescue chair."


I think those two sentences pretty much sum up the writer's intent: They could have hauled ass and escaped, but they were humping along a fat lady and didn't get out in time.

That's one ugly set of sentences.
posted by Perigee at 2:42 PM on February 11, 2002

And how nice for her family to have her remembered this way.
posted by fnirt at 3:01 PM on February 11, 2002

The mention of her weight is pertinent. Otherwise, the story doesn't answer the biggest question: Why were five officers required to carry her to safety?
posted by rcade at 3:12 PM on February 11, 2002

In case anyone is curious what one of these chairs is... (I was...)
posted by Perigee at 3:16 PM on February 11, 2002

It doesn't say that they found all the bodies with a hand on the chair, their death masks showing the strain of lifing the tons o' fun. It's all speculation.
posted by hellinskira at 3:18 PM on February 11, 2002

Yum. Sarcasm.

Here's my requalified response:

The mention of her weight is pertinent, if the reporter has any factual basis for the story's claim that all five officers were apparently trying to rescue the woman.

Otherwise, the story doesn't answer the biggest question: If there's enough evidence to describe the five-officer rescue scenario as "apparent,", why were all of them required to carry her to safety?
posted by rcade at 3:54 PM on February 11, 2002

What if she was an obese woman in a wheelchair? Or with a broken leg? Or who was injured in the attack? Or who was unconscious/had fainted? I can think of many other scenarios other than the 'good people die trying to save fat lazy bitch' line the author is trying to push here.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:03 PM on February 11, 2002

If I SAW this reporter in a lobby I'd kick his butt and show him exactly what a fat woman is capable of. These rescuers are heros becasue they do their job regardles of danger or bias.


What if it was "five Heroes die saving smoker?" Or "five heroes die saving hooker?" Would the reporter see the need to give THAT information? Only obesity gets this societial green light for bigotry.
posted by Dome-O-Rama at 4:18 PM on February 11, 2002

Dome-O-Rama - What if it was "five Heroes die saving smoker?"

What if it was "Smoker starts fire that kills five firefighters?" That's closer, though still not perfect.
posted by NortonDC at 5:06 PM on February 11, 2002

next week in the Enquirer! Food Addict Kills Six!
posted by quonsar at 5:33 PM on February 11, 2002

How does anyone get "'good people die trying to save fat lazy bitch" from the word obese? I don't get that message at all. From the Yahoo story or any of the ones linked to below it.

Isn't rcade's take on this story the obvious reason for mentioning the womans size?
posted by Foaf at 5:36 PM on February 11, 2002