Bells, the flight attendant was interpreting the rules as she knew them ...and she asked the woman to shield the breastfeeding with a blanket. The woman felt that she had a right to her own interpretation of the rules, and declined to follow the instructions of the flight attendant.
Bells, are you suggesting that everyone should argue/fight with the police because they disagree with the cop's interpretation of the law? Isn't that what our courts are for?
The woman should have obeyed the cop, then taken it up in court. Or are you suggesting that vigilantism and/or anarchy be the law in this country? ...whatever anyone thinks is right, they should just do regardless of what the cops say?
I am going to ask you a question Baron. You are a rabid in regards to your rights to own firearms. Now imagine you have a permit to carry a concealed firearm and you are driving down the road, knowing what your rights to said firearms are. A police officer decides to pull you up because he sees that you carry a concealed weapon on your file (lets just say it's there). Now this particular police officer decides that his interpretation of the rules state that no one should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. The officer tells you to give him your weapon because he finds that your carrying it is offensive and against the 'rules' as he sees it. Would you just hand it over like a little sheep, or would you demand that you have a permit and the right to carry said weapon? You consider it your right to bare arms, what if this police officer, by their interpretation of the law, decides that you no longer have said right. Do you agree and then take it up with them in court, or would you first deny them stating your rights, like Gillette did when she was first approached by the flight attendant?
A 'cop' is not allowed to interpret the rules or laws as
they see fit. If a police officer orders you to take your gun and shoot a busload of children, would you do it and then take it up with them in the courts? You'd not have a single leg to stand on. What if the same cop said you have to shoot this bus load of children because it is his belief and interpretation that there is a terrorist on board. You'd do it? Are you that weak of an individual that you'd simply go along with what you're ordered to do even if you know it to be wrong? And here I thought you were a man with
balls who'd stand up for himself..
At present, it is illegal to disobey a flight attendant. Doing so results in an arrest by federal officers. But in this instance, the woman in question and her family were driven to a hotel, stayed the night and were placed on another flight the next morning, all at the expense of the airline.
Delta provided ground transportation, hotel accommodations and new tickets on another airline, according to Boepple, a Manchester attorney, who is representing Gillette.
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Why is that? If this flight attendant was such a 'cop' and she should be obeyed, why was this woman not punished further? Hmmmm.. lets see, could it be she acted outside of her scope of duty? Could it be she represented herself and her own views, not the airline's, when she told Gillette "you're offending
me"?
At the outset I would like to emphasize how seriously Mesa Air Group and Freedom Airlines takes this situation. As soon as the facts were brought to our attention, we immediately launched a thorough investigation. We concluded that the flight attendant in question acted contrary to the Company's expectations. We believe our disciplinary action was appropriate and was taken after considering all of the facts leading to this incident. I do believe it is worth noting that the events described in the article failed to include the fact that the flight attendant in question was young and new to her job. Furthermore, following the incident, the Captain apologized to the passenger and her family and immediately requested that they be re-boarded for their flight (an offer the family refused).
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Ouch. Now Gillette states she was never offered the chance to get back on the plane. But it's telling how the attendant, being the 'cop' you claim her as being, is seen as being 'young and new to her job'. Would you accept the same excuse if the police officer who demands you give him your weapon or face arrest for protesting is excused as being young and new to being a police officer? Somehow I doubt it.
As Gillette admits, when the ticketing agent approached her and advised her she and her family had to exit the plane immediately, she did so without argument. Now the embarrassment she must have felt would have to have been quite tremendous.
Gillette said she didn't raise her voice -- not wanting to make a scene in the current jumpy air travel atmosphere -- and complied with the ticket agent, crying as she exited the plane.
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Hmmmm...
And ye're really an attorney? Define "discreet", Bells, in a way that would hold up in a court of law. Then prove to a jury that the flight attendant was wrong.
And you're really that silly and a enoch of a sheep? You aren't a jury Baron. The flight attendant was found to have been guilty by her own comapny. Anywho I shall pander to your little whim..
Discreet, in a literal interpretation is defined in the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition as:
dis·creet
adj.
1. Marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; circumspect.
2. Free from ostentation or pretension; modest.
And in Dictionary.com as:
dis‧creet /dɪˈskrit/
–adjective
1. judicious in one's conduct or speech, esp. with regard to respecting privacy or maintaining silence about something of a delicate nature; prudent; circumspect.
2. showing prudence and circumspection; decorous: a discreet silence.
3. modestly unobtrusive; unostentatious: a discreet, finely wrought gold necklace.
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Hmmm... lets see now, Gillette was sitting right at the back of a darkened plane, in the window seat, her husband in the aisle seat blocking the view of other passengers, baby in her lap and holding her shirt closed as she breastfed her child. I don't know about you, but most individuals would deem this to be 'discreet' under any definition of the word.
This 'young and new' flight attendant acted of her own accord and not with company policy when ordered Gillette to take the airline blanket and to cover her daughter's head with it as she breastfed.
Gillette said that's when a flight attendant approached her, trying to hand her a blanket and directing her to cover up. Gillette said she told the attendant she was exercising her legal right to breast-feed, declining the blanket. That's when Gillette alleges the attendant told her, "You are offending me," and told her to cover up her daughter's head with the blanket.
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Breastfeeding issues aside, any sane parent would refuse to cover their child's head with a heavy hot blanket at any given time. Seems the airline agrees:
Moreover while blankets are available for passengers convenience, we do not expect (and will not in the future request) that nursing mothers use a blanket to cover their child while nursing.
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Considering parents are advised to never cover their child's head while sleeping due to the risk of suffocation and death, one could understand why she may have refused and why the airline agrees that no parent should ever be asked to cover their baby's head with a heavy blanket. Imagine the lawsuit then if a flight attendant, being the 'cop', ordered parents to cover their baby's heads with such a blanket and a baby died of suffocation.
Bells, should everyone be allowed to interpret the laws as they see fit? And whenever confronted by the police, that they should just ignore the police instructions?
You tell me Baron. Would you comply meekly if a police officer decided that their interpretation of the gun laws in your country meant that no one was allowed to carry a concealed weapon even if they had a permit to do so? Or would you state your rights to said police officer like most normal individuals would.
And you're really an attorney?
Actually I am a solicitor. What are you?
I just find it very, very difficult to believe that the flight attendant was a jack-booted Nazi-type who just felt like exercising her authority ...just for the fun of it.
It seems she was and she was reprimanded by the airline as a result. But they admit it was because she was 'young and new'. Cute excuse isn't it?
And I think the same basic thing whenever a cop is accused of some wrongdoing. First, I want to believe that cops are trained well enough not to do something too stupid. But second, I hate to accuse anyone of anything until I find out exactly precisely what happened and what the circumstances led up to the incident in question.
Well it seems she actually may have been untrained enough to do something as stupid. The airline has admitted it and are now implementing further procedures to ensure such an embarrassing event does not happen again.
"We are reinforcing the manner this situation should have been handled with our front line employees. Our handling of this investigation and resolution of any deficiencies found to have occurred were focused on raising awareness of this issue for our employees. I hope you can appreciate our efforts to prevent any similar occurrences in the future.
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LOL!
ToR
Reason I say this is that I just cannot believe any woman would eject a resepectful mother from an aircraft IF the details were as the woman stated.
It seems she did and the details were correct as the investigation launched by the airline found resulting in this attendant being reprimanded for her actions. Comforting no?
