This just in from the San Francisco ChronicleSix days before a college football player was arrested at San Francisco International Airport in a dispute that began when a US Airways employee asked him to pull up his sagging pants, a man who was wearing little but women’s undergarments was allowed to fly the airline, a US Airways spokeswoman conceded Tuesday.
A photo of the scantily clad man was provided to The Chronicle by Jill Tarlow, a passenger on the June 9 flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Phoenix. Tarlow said other passengers had complained to airline workers before the plane boarded, but that employees had ignored those complaints.
There is a photo of the man’s attire at the link.
Clearly those passengers who complained were in the wrong and the employees who ignored the complaints were correct in doing so. If they had a problem flying with the gentleman in the purple attire, they should have simply gotten off the plane and taken an alternate mode of transportation.
What is this country coming to when a man is not allowed to wear what he wishes to wear? Next thing you know, they’ll force him to wear a burkha or something.
(Yes, the above commentary should only be read with your tongue thoroughly planted in your cheek)
Where do you draw the line?Where do people want their pants falling down?It looks sloppy.If the rules are that you can let your pants be falling down then those are the rules and if you don’t like it go somewhere else.However i think the customers had a right to complain.There is no sense for a grown man to dress like that.if enough customers complain they were stiffen their rules.
The general rule is that your right to swing your arm around through the air ends at the tip of my nose. However, private enterprise does have the right to make demands of their customers for the convenience of everyone travelling on the plane. For instance, they could forbid someone from flying who smells like the just rolled around in a pig pit. Just because he has the right to smell like feces does not give him the right to cause the rest of the passengers nausea and vomitting. They are in close quarters and the airline, for the interests of the safety of all of the passengers, can make certain demands of people. I think that a certain level of societally accepted decorum is also a demand that they could make, although I am a bit tossed on it. Its not like the rest of the passengers can “not look at him”. He is dressing this way specifically to make a spectacle of himself, i.e., to be intentionally disruptive. Its like those 5 muslim men dressed in arab garb who were denied flight because they busted out their prayer rugs just before boarding and starting praying loudly at the boarding gate. In a post 9/11 world, this was just a plain out stupid move. Yes, the rest of the passengers and even the flight crew had cause to be terrified. Ignorance of the Muslim religion is one thing, but when you intentionally cause a spectacle to create a reaction, you shouldn’t be surprised when you cause one.
Wikipedia (typically not the best source for factual information, but very interesting from a cultural point of view) has an interesting definition:Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships.[1] It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm[2] and therefore superior.
So if we want to not be labeled as heterosexists, then clearly the person with the problem is the person who complains.
Actually, the more common term is “fashionista” and you’ve got me there. My wife could testify as to how picky I was about her lingerie when we were young.
I think they is a hint of immorality here.Its kinda like saying I don’t mind showing you my rear.I know its just the underwear but they are smart enough to know you can’t show more.Ive seen people who wore the pants almost down to their knees with all their shorts showing.They weren’t inside a public building or they probably would have pulled them up.I sense that some want you to say something to them so they can flip you off.They may also be saying so what if i show my rear what’s wrong with that?Then again its just a sign of immaturaty.Most all of us did things when we were young to show we were independent and free.Little fads pop up in all generations.From bobby sockers to those ratted hair types.
I assume this guy obviously wanted attention. Unfortunately, this sort of behavior doesn’t help people who sincerely are struggling with gender identity issues.
There’s a line that cannot be crossed in air travel:
[LIST=1]
*]People who’s butts take up half of my real estate as well as their own (I pay good money for my seat and want all six inches of it for myself, thank you)
*]People with a) hygiene problems or b) excessive cheap perfume (sorry, I really get a headache when forced to breathe air with 1,500 parts per million of Charlie for more than 30 minutes at a whack)
*]People who have diarrhea of the mouth when I am trying to work, read, or sleep
*]Parents who think little Joey is SOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUTE when he loudly squeals or kicks his little feet and encourage him to loudly squeal or kick the back of my chair even more
*]Transgenders with a bad case of 5 o’clock shadow **and **a deep baritone voice who feel it is their mission to ensure that I fully support diversity and want to talk about it for the entire flight
Now I don’t want to be the problem (see above), so I don’t complain…but I sure do start to fume inside.
I’m actually able to pull the, “I am double platinum with your airline and would appreciate it if you could find me another seat”. Believe me, I’ve seen airlines move some poor chump to the middle seat to accommodate a frequent flyer.
I generally will get upgraded for anything domestic and only have to worry about my seat on international flights. As a rule I will not fly anywhere in the middle seat. If the middle seat is the only thing available I will get booked on the next flight and get a hotel. Same thing goes if I have someone filling up half my seat; either put me on another flight or upgrade me to business class. I am nice about it but I give the airlines enough money to be a little bit demanding.
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