Le maudit Mo D.

rules of the sky

I admit, I like my airlines to feel free to show their dominatrix side. Flying is serious business, and if you can't toe the line in terms of proper comportment, manners, and behavior, or if you're actions bespeak the possibility of going kookoobananas at 35,000 feet, then I feel good about the airline having the legal authority to pull your ass off the flight for the safety and convenience of those passengers who behave like ladies and gentlemen at all times. And that goes for kids. Rarely have I been on a flight where I have seen truly mismanaged kids that were allowed to run roughshod over the plane, and never to the point where safety and comfort were compromised. (Contrary to what others may think of me, I am able to overlook crying babies and whiny toddlers)

This is why I fully applaud my favorite airline, Southwest, for refusing to allow this American detritus sideshow family to board their connecting flight after these adults allowed the children to behave in an unruly fashion on the plane, even after the flight crew demanded they be better controlled. I understand there are a lot of factors here and the fact that these folks look to be uneducated white trash* and that Ma's obesity prevented her from chasing after the unruly spawn down the narrow aisle, contributed to the airline's animosity towards these people. Also, these kids weren't little--they were elementary school age and should have known better, but probably didn't due to lax discipline.

Though it is not the duty of an airline to discipline its passengers, in this case Southwest made the right choice to ground this family for terrorizing nice people who didn't pay good money to be captive to a pack of circus animals.

*Is it impolitic to call them white trash? Because the lack of control over kids + crying and demanding compensation, to me at least, demonstrates unpleasant comportment one associates with the American Caucasian Underclass whose cultural hallmarks include lack of nutrition and education, dependence on government/charity resources, large numbers of children of varied paternity, consumption of cigarettes while pregnant, and ostentatious squabblings with the authorities such as those seen on "Cops" where they bust the meth lab and the scantily-clad pregnant woman is crying and demanding compensation. On a regular day in my life, if something goes wrong, the po-po don't roll over to my house and I don't demand that I receive a cash settlement. I'm not talking about poverty here--these people obviously could afford plane tickets, and plenty of our nation's poor know how to behave in public. I think its the distinct lack of comportment we're seeing here that leads the populace to designate these folks as "white trash."
Inaction + playing the victim card = Debris Blanc.

Comportment. What a great word. Thank you, Emily Post.

ANOTHER THING: things in this country have changed. Airlines can deny you boarding for any reason they want, so if you're not acting like a compliant and sedate beef cow the whole time you're flying, the airline might decide you are a potential threat. When Bob and I were flying home from Chicago a few years ago, SW denied boarding to a pissed-off woman who threw her boarding pass at the gate agent and tried to board the plane after the agent told her that she had to wait with the rest of the C group to board. Gate agent very firmly told her to stop or she would be calling security. At that point the woman complied but SW wouldn't let the woman get on the plane. DO WHAT THEY SAY OR DON'T FLY!!