09-13-2007
04:38 PM
3 Loves
I've read the almost 200 pages of comments with a lot of interest because I study communities, especially communities in which there is conflict of values. And it finally came to me, after reading a comment from a law professor. The airline is a public entity in fact, a public utility. Well, as a woman, I also thought, we have a right to be treated with dignity, by those in authority, even if we aren't being dignified at the time. We have a right to be treated with respect by those in charge, and it is an abuse of power to do what was done to Ms Ebbert. I am glad she called her mother and documented her event. More and more the common person refuses to be victimized and enlists the technology of camera phones, you tube and other witnesses to his or her plight. People in positions of authority have a difficult job, a diverse public to handle. We should continue to expect dignified handling by such people. We should continue to demand it. And document failures to provide it.
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09-11-2007
02:49 PM
1 Love
Every place has its rules of order, whether spoken or unspoken. And as many have pointed out, the woman went through many other checkpoints on her way to the plane, without incident. That's the problem. She had gone through all the preflight scrutiny, that we all endure now, only to be rebuffed on the plane itself. Anyone who has taken a series of these flights cross country feels like a bus rider after about the third or fourth leg. And my understanding is she was going on a brief trip to a doctor in a nearby town. That's the shock of it. The expectation of an easy trip, the walk through the airport, and then being singled out, like a scapegoat, for something as benign as a skirt length, offends women. Rules are followed especially when posted: "No shoes, no shirt, no service", etc. and she was clearly wearing her shoes, once they were given back to her in security. She had two shirts on. And a bra. In Italy, shorts will get a woman tourist kicked out of a church. In India, certain times of month preclude women from entering a temple. The old traveler's guide books always recommended that the western traveler dress conservatively to go through international customs, no matter how hot it was, no matter what the dress code was at the beach. As many of you point out this isn't a public place, once you step on the plane. Maybe that's the confusion, the airport is a public place, but the plane is the terrain of a private business. I would have been stung but the reprimand and found another carrier right away. That is a cost to our traveller, since most doctor visits require 24 hours notice for cancellation. That's the cost of having a dress code that doesn't jive with the public airport where Ms Ebbert crossed uneventfully onto the southwest plane. Is the airline making a lesson of her? Might this have backfired, alienating other customers who thought they understood Southwest's easygoing culture. There was a time when moving the offending person far away from the offender passenger might have been the solution. I'm not sure why no one thought of that. As these posts indicate, not everyone was offended by her attire or even the prospect of it. If the air line has a gay section, perhaps it should have a night club type area for the over twenty one crowd. This happens all the time in cities, the skateboaders vs the grandmas, the mcMansions vs the old bungalows, etc. We use space with people operating with different rules. Can we control them? Is there some minimum agreed upon dress code for the traveller, the diner, etc. I hope that Southwest takes the time to understand these concerns. Otherwise I'm sure people will make their own sense of it for good or ill.
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09-10-2007
03:13 PM
1 Love
I have been a world traveller since 1981, so I have had a chance to sample the culture of airplanes for twenty five years. When returning to the U.S. after a year in India and month in Japan, I found myself in Los Angeles in the Southwest terminal in August. What struck me was the rowdiness generally of the place. Not the adults but the children, who, in Asia, almost anywhere in public were polite and obedient to any adult in their vicinity. The American children in the terminal were brats, frankly. So if the reputation of this airline is easy going, well obviously that all ended. Travelling is supposed to be an adventure. Encountering different people is par for the course. As much as Americans are fixating on controlling everything in their environment, travel is not about that. So, sorry for the comment that got censored yesterday, but I am very disappointed with the airline for what happened to this lady. In the words of Emerson, "Americans are afraid of life, afraid of death, afraid of each other, afraid of themselves" . I certainly wouldn't want scare you with my hourglass figure anytime in the near future.
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