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Obese passenger forces neighbor on US Airways flight to stand for 7 hours {Gadling}
Nov 24th 2011 9:45AM You think airline passengers are not treated well? Airline employees are treated even worse. Sometimes when flight attendants try to solve problems we get excuses from higher ups - and are often punished if passengers complain when we try to enforce the FAA regulations! Sometimes, because of government requirements, the only thing that matters is getting off the gate on time and flight attendants usually get the blame for any delay, which can mean punishment or even termination if they accumulate more than a certain number of delays.
But as long as the big shots in the airlines can keep pocketing ever larger salaries and bonuses they don't really care about anything else.
Obese passenger forces neighbor on US Airways flight to stand for 7 hours {Gadling}
Nov 23rd 2011 9:37PM Aircraft do not have refrigerators. Wherever they stowed your stuff it was NOT a refrigerator. Perhaps a galley cart? However, I appreciate the fact that you have offered some kudos to the flight attendants as we seem to get blamed for every-thing, even stuff that is beyond our control. ( I also love cats but am highly allergic to them - I was 35 before I found this out and had 9 of them at the time!!!)
Obese passenger forces neighbor on US Airways flight to stand for 7 hours {Gadling}
Nov 23rd 2011 9:14PM Passengers are never wrong, even when they stand up when the seatbelt sign is on, insult flight attendants, refuse to turn off electronic devices, try to bring on bags that are too large for stowage space. When flight attendants try to enforce the FAA regulations, some passengers will complain and then the flight attendants are hauled on the carpet and asked to explain why they upset a paying passenger. A certain percentage of passengers on any flight seem to think that the rules don't apply to them. Even when they are 100% wrong but complain, then the flight attendants are put in the position of having to defend their actions, often on a day off (and when you commute, as so many airline employees do, that may mean two days of your free time because it may not be possible to get there and back in one day!)
As a flight attendant I love most of my passengers but there is usually at least one on every flight who is combative, non-compliant, or downright obnoxious and won't do anything to co-operate. Please don't be too quick to blame the flight attendants for problems.
Obese passenger forces neighbor on US Airways flight to stand for 7 hours {Gadling}
Nov 23rd 2011 8:49PM I am a flight attendant. A 400 lb passenger should have been made to pay for two seats. If a flight is not full, we try to reseat inconvenienced passengers. However, on a full flight, we don't have that option. Flight attendants are limited in their powers. We are often punished for doing exactly what we are supposed to do. (For example, if a first class passenger wants to do something illegal and we object, they report us and we are told we need to compromise!) Aisle armrests are required to be down any time the aircraft is in motion or if the seatbelt sign is on, so basically they can only be raised to allow a person to get in or out of the seat. I strongly advise passengers to put the armrest down as soon as they are seated in order to give themselves some comfort. A lot of the time ticket agents don't do what they should because they don't want to "antagonize" passengers. Because of that, flight attendants are put in the position of being "the bad guy." Political correctness is part of the problem. It used to be the rule that obese passengers could not be seated in an exit row because they needed a seatbelt extender, which could be a trip hazard in an emergency evacuation. However, now, if an obese passenger demands and gets the exit row, we have to hope and pray that they can fit through the window in an emergency. (I was reported to the FAA and reprimanded for trying to move a 400+ lb passenger out of the exit row because it was obvious that he was too small to fit through the window. I was told I needed to be more sensitive to obese people.)
My advice to anyone finding themselves squished into half a seat because of an obese passenger is to return to the gate agent and demand a seat that is not impacted by someone who weighs twice as much as any normal person.
Jacob Volkmann Plans to Ride Wave of Attention After Obama Comment {MMA Fighting}
Jan 11th 2011 3:36PM What's happened to freedom of speech in this country? Are allowed only to say things the government likes or approves of? I don't think that's how the founding fathers meant it to be. Freedom of speech means allowing people to say stuff you don't like as well as the stuff you do. And if people such as the President paid more attention to what citizens say, instead of trying to shut them up, they might learn what it is that makes this country tick. Even if someone says something totally stupid, that is their RIGHT!
US Airways Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Dog Bites Two Onboard {AOL Travel News}
Dec 6th 2010 4:38PM As a flight attendant one of the biggest problems I have to deal with is the pet owner (that is "dog owner" - cat owners are never a problem for some reason) who won't keep their dogs enclosed in the carrier as required by federal regulation. I am always told that "my dog is different," "my dog would never get loose", "my dog won't get spooked", etc.
The last idiot I had took my insistence that he keep the dog enclosed as hostility to his dog. (Nothing could be further from the truth - I love animals and do a lot for my local SPCA.) What a lot of these owners also overlook is that other passengers may be allergic to dogs. At least if the dog is kept enclosed problems are kept to a minimum. I hope this moronic owner pays a huge fine. As far as service animals, there are passengers who get a friendly doctor to write a letter calling their pet a "service" animal so they can bring it on board without putting it in a carrier. As an animal lover I have mixed feelings. The owners of small dogs seem to be the biggest offenders - they seem totally obsessed with their animals and won't follow the rules. Perhaps this incident will create an aware-ness on the part of owners that even "my" dog can behave badly. (Naaah - "my dog" would never do that!)
Swedish Royal Wedding Called Off on Account of Cheating Fiance {Lemondrop}
Apr 26th 2010 6:52PM I'm glad that Princess Madeleine found out that the guy was a sleaze-ball BEFORE she married him and had the gumption to kick him to the kerb!
More power to her! No woman, princess or pauper, deserves to be treated like garbage by the man she loves. All power to her for not crumbling out of embarrassment or disappointment. As I told my kids when they were young, nobody ever dies of disappointment or embarassment - but marrying the wrong person can prove fatal! you go, Princess Madeleine! Show the scumbag that you have class and standards and morals and are not desperate for a man. May God bless you and bring you a man worthy of your love and trust. My prayers are with you.
'Bully List' Irks Parent When Her Son Makes the Top 6 {ParentDish}
Apr 19th 2010 11:11PM Kids who bully often come from homes where bullying is the norm. Perhaps the father beats up the mother; maybe the mother uses threats and mockery to keep the kids in line. Children who are bullies need to learn that their behaviour is NOT acceptable. Parents who indulge their kids too much and make excuses for them only exacerbate the problem. It is tragic when a child such as the young Irish girl at Hadley Massachusetts kills herself because of the endless bullying of other students.
I remember being bullied in school. My children were also bullied but I fought back. The kids who bullied my son because he was thin and small did horrible things to him, but when I filed an injunction against them they and their families and friends came begging to me to withdraw the charges so that their chances of getting into Ivy League schools would not be ruined. I told them that if they kept their noses clean until graduation they would be fine. (A couple of years later the ringleader appeared before a women's organization that I belonged to, hoping to get a scholarship, and was terrified when he saw that I was one of those who would make or break his chances. )
Bullies need to know that there is a price to be paid for their "fun".
Clinton Hopes Obama Considers a Non-Judge for the Supreme Court {Politics Daily}
Apr 18th 2010 8:17PM I think Mike Huckabee would be an excellent choice - he is moderate, fair-minded and highly intelligent as well as having a great life experience that could lend itself to some smart decisions. Unfortunately, because he is an ordained Christian minister he probably would not be approved by liberals who are terrified of anyone with sincere religious beliefs.
Clinton Hopes Obama Considers a Non-Judge for the Supreme Court {Politics Daily}
Apr 18th 2010 8:07PM Most of the jobs created while Clinton was Pres were minimum wage jobs. Plus it was his administration that brought in the tax credit for businesses who opened branches outside the US. Businesses actually saved money by outsourcing. Of course he probably wouldn't want to admit to that - I'm sure he thought it was a great way to help poor countries but didn't realize that the US would suffer in doing it. that's the trouble with big government - they don't always realize that there could be a downside to their wonderfully altruistic and humane ideas. or may be they don't care enough to find out. Big government is bad government.
As far as supreme court judges, let's stop appointing law professors and pick non-judges with common sense and an insight into what the country needs. We don't need any more ultra-left liberals destroying the USA by decisions that 99% of the population don't benefit from.
