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JFR Shalom! The other day you posted a thread regarding the fact that the Yanks often get disparaged alot on here and that conversely maybe a jab or two would be in order aimed at our British contingent.
Sooo, while I was skimming through the blogs I like to read with my morning cuppa & I found this article and just couldn't resist posting it here. Now, here's one area that apparently the Americans trump the English in, for NOT dreaming up an impossibly ignorant policy:
You Can't Sit There, You Might Molest!
A man in the UK is suing British Airways for making him move to another seat on a flight out of London. According to company policy, adult men are not allowed to sit next to children unrelated to them. Because we're all potential child molesters.
In line with the policy, BA cabin crew patrol the aisles before take-off checking that youngsters traveling on their own or in a different row from their parents are not next to a male stranger. If they find a man next to a child or teenager they will ask him to move to a different seat. The aircraft will not take off unless the passenger obeys. Mr Fischer, a 33-year-old hedge fund manager, became aware of the policy while he was flying from Gatwick with his wife Stephanie, 30. His wife, who was six months pregnant, had booked a window seat which she thought would be more spacious. Mr Fischer was in the middle seat between her and a 12-year-old boy. Shortly after all passengers had sat down, having stowed their bags in the overhead lockers, a male steward asked Mr Fischer to change his seat. Mr Fischer refused, explaining that his wife was pregnant, at which point the steward raised his voice, causing several passengers to turn round in alarm. He warned that the aircraft could not take off unless Mr Fischer obeyed. Mr Fischer eventually moved seats but felt so humiliated by his treatment that he is taking the airline to court on the grounds of sex discrimination-He is paying all his own legal.
British Airways instituted the policy in 2001. Qantas and Air New Zealand have similar rules.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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Ah the world's least favourite airline.
Why not move the kid?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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"Why not move the kid?" Ahh, but that is too logical, and in the US it would also break the rules.
Homeland Security regulations have set forth that a passenger may not move seats after the flight is boarded. So this man would not only be viewed as a molester (UK) but a terrorist if he moved (US).
The nice part of that regulation is it was set up so that after the plane crashes due to terrorist activity then at least they will know which body is which with regards to the passenger manifest.
I'd say the man has a good court case, the steward made the wrong decision and should have moved the boy. If the woman was in fact pregnant the man was already sitting next to a child, his (we hope). ::-)
[Updated on: Thu, 21 January 2010 16:37]
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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Add to that the amusement that the "Brace Position" is not to protect you from harm, but to make as sure as possible that your face is recognisable for identification purposes after the crash. After all, the tray table catch will have killed you by drilling through your skull.
And yes I read snopes.com that says "not so"!
Air travel isn't even fun.
[Updated on: Thu, 21 January 2010 17:44]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I'd rather stay at home than fly. The last time I took a trip anywhere I did it by rail. In the US that means an uncomfortable ride on a rail bed that is made for frieght not passengers unless you are in the Northeast corridor.
But I always have such wonderful conversations with the staff and other passengers, I would miss that if I flew. I mean how pleasant a conversation can you have with an airline security person who wants to see what you're carrying in your undergarments?
You lucky English don't have the great distances to travel that we have here, and in fact can ride the train from London to the south of France or Italy. Takes 3 days from New York to Los Angeles, it used to be fun, now it's a royal bore.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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Chris James wrote:
Takes 3 days from New York to Los Angeles, it used to be fun, now it's a royal bore.
Please do not take the name of the Queen of England in vain!  )
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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