Why Spare Tire?

Well, it's simple. My large belly has been referred to as a spare tire so many times I lost count. Call it what you will, beer belly, dunlap's disease (your belly dun laped your belt), thunder gut Etc. large people are the only group it is still acceptable to discriminate against. Consider the following taken from Coca-Cola's EOE statment:

Equal Opportunity Employment Policy
Coca-Cola Enterprises is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Company has an ongoing commitment to affirmative action and the creation of a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. The Company recruits, hires, trains, and promotes individuals in all job titles without regard to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, sex, physical or mental disability, being a disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era, or other eligible veteran. At Coca-Cola Enterprises, we are committed to a fair and equitable workplace where everyone is a respected and valued member of the team.

Physical or mental disability is as close as this statment gets to obesity. But does obesity put you in that catagory? Not nessecarily, look at the picture of the first belly. This is not a man who is disabled as a result of his weight. But say he works as a merchandiser for Coke, or any other company. Now, say coke decides that the image they wish to portray is not well represented by overweight merchandisers. Nothing in that policy would protect him in the event Coke decided to let him go.

The Spare Tire Alliance is commited to changing this. This is a grass roots effort to unite the obese, and and advocate their rights as a group. We want to be the voice of the large people that forces changes like requiring Walmart to stock clothing in our sizes, protects us from being discriminated against because of our body size. We don't think it's fair that some people have to pay extra for a second seat on an airplane because of their size.