Alpha

From the Twitter account: "American shud have app where u read the new testament w flt attendants." Amazing.

yuel

What does cell phones doing squat have to do with alec not following simple rules that are in place that apply to everyone about turning off electronics, no matter if the rules are right or not?

TAWS

Funny how people use this logic for celebrities with cell phones on planes but when TSA tries to enforce the rules...they get all "violation of constitutional rights" reactions from people.

You can bet people at corporate will apologize to him because they don't want to lose the potential revenue from a frequent flier. So what did the FA prove by kicking him off?

jbalmuth

It's one thing to be bankrupt financially, but AA's immediate future depends on not running into bankruptcy emotionally and intellectually.... Rejecting (or ejecting) fare-paying passengers should not, imho, be in AA's game plan for the next several weeks/months.

skylady

[QUOTE=TAWS;1758 So what did the FA prove by kicking him off?[/QUOTE]

The FA didn't prove anything, the CA kicked him off after his temper tantrum.

If you want to take anything from this, nobody is above the rules.

AAmlgm8r

I have been a lurker on FT for a while now and I'm very appreciative of the helpful nature of the FT community and the detailed knowledge of so many on this site.

I have wrestled with whether or not to write about this for quite some time, and especially as my first post to FT, but finally decided that it is worth putting it out there since it is such a deeply personal yet critically important topic. Mrs. AAmlgm8r and I have a daughter with Down syndrome. We have learned so much since she has been born -- not only about ourselves but also what it means to be an individual with a significant disability in our society. Please understand that my intention is not to lecture or criticize, but rather to share a perspective that is very difficult to understand unless you have a loved one with an intellectual disability.

It's about the rampant use of the word "retard" (or derivations thereof) -- what I'll refer to as the "r-word". We live in a society where it is (rightly so) unacceptable to words which insult or otherwise marginalize individuals based on their race, religion, culture, ancestry -- and even ability, to some extent Why then do we still not only allow -- but use as part of our standard speech -- the r-word? How many times have we all (myself included, in my pre-kids days) uttered seemingly innocent expressions like "I'm such a retard" or "that was so retarded"? Please understand that using this word in any form -- not just to directly insult an individual with an intellectual disability -- is derogatory, hurtful, and even dangerous.

The issue came to a head several years ago with the movie, "Tropic Thunder", which was protested by representatives of a coalition of disability-rights organizations across the nation. What disturbs me most is not that one individual, Ben Stiller, thought it was OK to write a script laden with the r-word -- used directly in reference to an individual with ID -- but rather that countless Dreamworks employees and executives read the script and reviewed the movie and apparently found no problem with it. One of the promotional flyers for the movie pictured Mr. Stiller, wearing overalls with horrible teeth and an institution-like bowl haircut, with the header "Once upon a time... there was a retard"; the film's most memorable line -- a phrase that spread like wildfire, and has been captured on a wide variety of merchandise -- reads "never go full-retard". Even when leaders of disability-rights organizations approached them to express their concern and disdain, these executives chose to do absolutely nothing -- except tone down the trailer and other promotional material (most likely, I suspect, because they realized it might prevent people from seeing the movie).

My request: please try to be cognizent of this word being used -- not only by yourself but by your family and friends, particularly children and their friends. I understand that most people who use this word do so without meaning any harm -- and those who do mean harm probably wouldn't stop using it -- but that doesn't make it any less hurtful or derogatory. One of the most interesting (and refreshing) things I discovered during the protest is that most people were truly upset when they learned about the impact of the r-word on people with disabilities. Many -- including a group of middle school boys, riding by on their bikes and skateboards -- asked if they could join the protest.


If you think I'm being overly sensitive, then take it directly from an individual with Down syndrome whose editorial letter was published in a national paper:



A lot of people are talking about the movie "Tropic Thunder". One of the reasons that it is being talked about is that the characters use the term "retard" over and over. They use it the same way that kids do all the time, to jokingly insult one another.

The people who made the movie, DreamWorks and Paramount, and many of the critics who have reviewed it say that the term is being used by characters who are dumb and shallow themselves. You see, we are supposed to get the joke that it is only the dumb and shallow people who use a term that means dumb and shallow. My dad tells me that this is called "irony."

So, what's the big deal? Let me try to explain. I am a 26-year-old man with Down syndrome. I am very lucky. Even though I was born with this intellectual disability, I do pretty well and have a good life. I live and work in the community. I count as friends the people I went to school with and the people I meet in my job. Every day I get closer to living a life like yours.

I am a Global Messenger for Special Olympics and make speeches to people all over the country. I once spoke to more than 10,000 people at the Richmond Coliseum. I realize that I am a voice for other people with intellectual disabilities who cannot easily speak for themselves. I thank God that he gave me this chance to be someone's voice.

The hardest thing about having an intellectual disability is the loneliness. We process information slower than everyone else. So even normal conversation is a constant battle for us not to lose touch with what the rest of you are saying. Most of the time the words and thoughts just go too fast for us to keep up, and when we finally say something it seems out of place.

We are aware when all the rest of you stop and just look at us. We are aware when you look at us and just say, "unh huh," and then move on, talking to each other. You mean no harm, but you have no idea how alone we feel even when we are with you. That is why I love being a Global Messenger. I work for days telling my dad what I want to talk about and he tries to write it down for me. Then we do it over and over until we have something that says what I mean. We wrote this letter the same way.

So, what's wrong with "retard"? I can only tell you what it means to me and people like me when we hear it. It means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you would ever want to be. We are something outside the "in" group. We are someone that is not your kind. I want you to know that it hurts to be left out here -- alone. Nothing scares me as much as feeling all alone in a world that moves so much faster than I do.

You don't mean to make me feel that way. In fact, like I say in some of my speeches, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," and it works out OK most of the time. Still, it hurts and scares me when I am the only person with intellectual disabilities on the bus and young people start making "retard" jokes or references. Please put yourself on that bus and fill the bus with people who are different from you. Imagine that they start making jokes using a term that describes you. It hurts and it is scary.

Last, I get the joke -- the irony -- that only dumb and shallow people are using a term that means dumb and shallow. The problem is, it is only funny if you think a "retard" is someone dumb and shallow. I am not those things, but every time the term is used it tells young people that it is OK to think of me that way and to keep me on the outside.

That is why using "retard" is a big deal to people like me.


I realize that this has gone off-topic for the thread, but I hope that the mods will allow me some latitude here since the FT community supports diversity and prohibits derogatory language directed at any individual/group.

AAmlgm8r

yuel

I guess it proves that alec can be treated like any passenger not following rules, except that it wouldn't have made any headlines.

And also that is why I used the other "R" word, right. I was not going to use the same language in the op post.

Foob

+1 ^

vasantn

^^^

magic111

Welcome to FlyerTalk AAmign8r and thank you for the enlightening post.

Agree with your post and suggest further reading here by everybody r-word.org

Skyman65

AB keeping it classy, as always.

QueenOfCoach

This is the same person who left a horrible message on his young daughter's voice mail, calling her a "thoughtless little pig".

He doesn't impress me as someone with a great deal of self-control. If he wants to fly another airline from now on, fine with me. That makes the atmosphere on AA a bit calmer.

Robert N

I've never flown American Airlines in my life, well except for once in 1981. I live in Australia, go to London via the US a lot, have the opinion of Qantas shared by all (sensible) Australians, and I am now a complete slave of United, Mileage Plus and the Star Alliance.

All I really know about American Airlines is when the pilot threatened to put the plane down because some guy had kissed his boyfriend, and what a friend from San Francisco has said, that United are much nicer people, American being a pack of <redacted> Texans.

However, be that as it may, the response to a "celebrity" being a <redacted> on a plane is that he got kicked off, is the most excellent thing I have heard for a while.

Yes the rules about electronic devices do seem to be rubbish, but they are the rules. If you get caught breaking them, one does not turn nasty.

Yes the cabin attendant may have been short tempered, but the plane was about to take off. One of the responsibilities of privilege is to deal with difficult situations politely, and not to inflame them. The attendant may possibly have been reflecting on the one certainty of AMR's Chapter 11, that his/her pension entitlements are sawdust.

In this situation, you do not storm of to the washroom, in a way that even the pilot notices. You say "yeah, sorry", smile and turn the stupid thing off.

If it is a long flight you go to a bit of effort to be nice to be the attendant. That way you will get decent service.

I do not know, I am just a (kind of) modest Australian who can afford to travel a lot, and certainly have no world identity, so I don't really know, but we all got to live together, and if celebrities behave like <redacted>, the rules should be no different. It is good to hear that at AA (today at least) they are no different.

Stripy

Take it from a non-Texan/non-<redacted>...they're not bad really...and they're actually pretty nice .

jeffreyt

Sadly, all the people on AA 4 were delayed an hour landing at JFK... and Alec Baldwin didn't even end up traveling on the flight. He owes the people on hat flight an apology.