I have been on a lot of airplanes. I’ve had wonderful flights, namely where the seat(s) adjacent to me have been empty, and I’ve been able to exhale and bask in the luxury of space, and once in a blue moon, I’ve had the opportunity to sit in first class and enjoy a cocktail or two.
However, most of the time, I’ve had less-than-wonderful flights, whether it’s been on account of assholes who don’t understand the rules of the armrests, shitheads who pack too much shit and clog up all available space, or fat fucks who ooze over armrests, seats, aisles and encroach upon the personal space of everyone around them. Such is more common than not, because the vast majority of people are simply stupid and have zero understanding of not just airplane etiquette, but just how to conduct one’s self when rammed into tight quarters with other miserable travelers.
Amidst my travels, I have been no stranger to the unruly child in the row behind me that thinks the seat in front of them is the FIFA World Cup and decides to mash the kick buttons like they’re Chun-Li. Under the standby circumstances I’ve flown so frequently in the past, there was little I could actually do about this, since I was vastly less human than my counterparts that paid substantially more than I did, but over the last year of actually paying real fares to fly, I have been no stranger to the turnaround and glare at the negligent parents who neglect bad behavior.
Needless to say, seat kicking ranks somewhere in between being too fat and insisting on existing in one seat and releasing snakes on a plane, when it comes to the worst people on an airplane. Which is why it’s so easy to applaud JetBlue when they removed a family of five from an airplane after a one-year old kicked the seat in front of it.
I get the outrage, from the family removed from the flight as well as all the white knights who are hell-bent on defending them. But this isn’t exactly like the United situation where a guy got his ass beat and was forcibly removed from the aircraft bloodied and screaming; someone in the family actually did something wrong and because it would be silly but funny if just a one-year old were booted from the flight without their parents, the entire family was punished and removed in its entirety.
Seat kicking is something that should be tolerated as much as poor hygiene and morbid obesity, meaning, nobody should have to deal with either. Those who suffer on account of any of the above, especially if they’re paying bloated inflated costs to begin with, should know that the airlines they’re shoveling money into their coffers, has their back and is willing to deal with offending passengers if they cross the lines of human decency.
I get that JetBlue is under fire for this, especially since we’re currently in an era in which the airline industry has the crosshairs on them all to target and exploit for easy news, lawsuits and content. But my knee-jerk reaction to this story isn’t at all one of outrage and an immediate need to lambast JetBlue for lacking the humanity to dare exile a family, but instead to stand and applaud an airline for actually having the cojones to put their foot down and punish passengers for bad behavior.
Seriously, it must really suck to be in the airline industry right now, with everyone targeting all airlines, fishing for confrontations, mistakes and any reason to file charges and push for expensive lawsuit settlements. This isn’t to say that all airlines are angels and being victimized by the greed and gluttony for drama people have, but it’s blatantly worse than ever, and pretty obviously en vogue to target the airline industry currently.
But big ups and standing o’s for JetBlue for kicking a family off their flight because of shitty children. If these idiots so wanted to travel safely back to New York on time, perhaps they should’ve not brought their children in the first place or figured out how to sedate their brats before getting onto the plane.
They got what they deserved, and I have zero empathy for them, and I hope they fall flat on their faces in whatever action against JetBlue they pursue. Restrain your fucking kids, or don’t bring them all, next time.
