Originally Posted by
Gordman
I can't believe I'm going to say this but...
Dare I say: who really gives a shit about his past? I know I'm going to get flack for this but...
Yeah, I get the fact that he did some shady ridiculous shit in the past like selling pills and all that garbage; That guy probably contributed to ruining some lives and families because of his dealings. Also, I get the likelihood that he is one of those asshole Asian poker players and all that jazz...
I get that.
What does that have to do with the present situation though?? Did I miss something???? Maybe I did; I'll admit I haven't exactly researched down the rabbit hole with this one. We have cellphone videos that pretty clearly depict what went on, as well as witness testimony which seem to validate. Shit looks pretty cut and dry to me. Maybe there is some key evidence missing here that could certainly change the story. Maybe something else happened that wasn't captured on video or brought up from witness testimony. I'll be the first to admit and say that it really feels like something is left out of the story, because this just seems so fucked up and beyond reality. BUT so far, that doesn't seem to be the case though. ( Disclosure: I haven't looked at the news for the past few hours so i guess i could be missing something)
Please educate me as to when it is acceptable to drag a calm passenger off of a plane in these circumstances? If the guy was drunk...being a nuisance and not complying, yeah, i could see how that could happen. Id drag him off myself.
This guy though legitimately had his own ticket and seat and just wanted to get home. Of course he got irritated when they demanded he get the hell off the plane. I would too!
I can guarantee you that if I had a legit ticket, did nothing wrong...not being a nuisance or belligerent... and needed to get home so bad that I didn't even want to take their payoff...but then was given an "or else" ultimatum, I would be pissed off and raise holy hell too. Goddamn right I would be cocky to the authorities. Fuck that "complying" bullshit. Yeah, pretty much any other time in life if an officer told me to do something, even if i was in the right, I would just listen and comply. Not here. Not when I was literally sitting peacefully minding my own business with an expensive ticket to get me where I needed to go.
I think about "what if's" in this case.
What if this guy wanted to get home to his own child being born or something?
...what if, as a doctor, he needed to get to a patient?
Why the fuck doesn't United have the common sense and decency to keep upping the payoff amount until they find a WILLING participant?! what the fuck is $800? I could shit out $800. Hey, you wanna overbook!? fine! then accept the loss and ship the chips!
Me personally, I don't fly a ton, but I remember on at least a couple different occasions (i think it might have been Southwest) where they kept upping the ante until they found willing participants. One of those times, I remember a couple made out with almost $4000 total - i couldn't believe it got that high and nobody accepted sooner; my wife and myself certainly would have taken it at that rate but we had a well planned vacation that would have gone to complete shit otherwise.
passover seder this evening: im sitting there and Cousin Sherwin is talking about this. My mom is sitting there, and so is my dad, and my dad brings up the guys past. I quickly shut him down, as it's irrelevant and it's fun to shut my probably going crazy Dad down. Cousin Sherwin says the guy acted out of line, and on an airplane that's the last place you should act out of line, regardless of the situation. He also conceded that the police were out of line as well. My mom disagreed and took your line, and said the guy was absolutely in the right here, and that they shouldn't have taken him off the plane and they should've found a different way to get the flight crew yadda yadda yadda. She even says she'd create a scene just like he did. I just looked on in horror as i imagined my mom making a fucking scene on an airplane.
Finally, I had to speak up. My opinion is that everyone was in the wrong here. The airline is wrong for bumping the guy on a NON OVER BOOKED (i think people missed that part too the flight was not over booked.) flight. But this guy is wrong for getting upset on an airplane, regardless of how fucking fast he had to be somewhere. It was leaving chicago, he was going to Kentucky. it was 7 hours away. he could've driven if it was that fucking important.
And the cops, of course they act wrong, bc they're on a fucking plane, and this is their fucking chance to do their job, the way they see doing it (not the way we see doing it, of course).
You see? 3 wongs don't make a right here do they?
It's absurd to think that this guy is any more of a victim than a guy who gets ruffed up by a cop because he was belligerent and tried to swing and was non compliant. And it's absurd to think that you'd act this way if you were in the same situation.
4 Human Beings were asked to leave a plane......
3 reasonable ones got off
1 unreasonable one didn't....and paid the price. a fair one i might add, as doing anything out of line could land your ass in some holding cell on terrorism charges.