A tall story

from w
Here's a lightweight story as the 'heavy' and 'hot' stories can't be told! It's funny, but how silly. Imagine if this was the rule on aerooplanes, especially for people who are very tall or have ample figures. Once time a former King of Tonga went by plane, but because of his weight all his luggage was left behind! One time I was on a bus (in Australia) and my seat was next to a huge handsome man wearing black. I tried to read my Age newspaper, but in vain. All the thin people sat comfortably in their seats while the gentleman and I wriggled about. We didn't speak for half the trip, then we talked. What a lovely man. He wasn't a yuppy at all, but a Catholic priest with an excellent voice and he told me his whole life story! Another time on a bus from Pacific Harbour to Suva more and more people squeezed onto the bus, including a Fijian woman who recognized Peceli from Rakiraki days, and said to him, ' So, you have a new wife. Your old wife was much thinner!' Hmmm.

From Fiji Times
Tall or heavy, you pay the same fareGeraldine Panapasa
Wednesday, September 09, 2009

HOW tall or heavy a child is should not determine what bus fare they have to pay. This is the word from the Land Transport Authority amid confusion among bus companies over which regulations to follow when charging taller school children. This follows an incident in which a 10-year-old girl from Rakiraki was told to pay the full fare because she was more than four feet tall.

LTA media liaison assistant Dorine Narayan said children should not be penalised because of their height or weight. "There is no question of age when boarding a school bus. When a student is in uniform, what matters is whether they are boarding a school bus or passenger bus," she said.

Lavenia Caroline boarded the Sunbeam bus for Rakiraki on Monday and was told to pay $1 because she was more than four feet tall.

Sunbeam Transport Limited managing director Abdul Wahab said the bus conductor was not wrong because he was following the bus fare conditions that were issued with the road permit in 2006.

"This was given to us from our road permit issue on August 2, 2006, which states that children less than four feet in height pay half the adult fare," he said. Mr Wahab said the problem was the lack of valid identification for children and students.

However, the LTA yesterday said height was no longer a deciding factor for bus fares. According to a table provided by LTA, the bus fare conditions no longer included the old Transport Control Board qualification of "less than 4 feet in height". The table provided only alluded to the fact that "for the ages 5-12 years all children pay half adult fare to the nearest 5 cents". "The bus conditions LTA is following is the same as the one by the Transport Control Board. The only difference is the height factor has been omitted," Ms Narayan said. Consumer Council of Fiji chairman Narendra Padarath yesterday said the council was disturbed that a bus checker had charged a student the adult fare based on her height.