Fredd

I checked first to see if this had been posted under "Practical Travel Safety Issues."

Apparently to at least one "see-something-say-something" WN flyer, the spectacle of another pax using the lav twice in one flight was worth reporting.

Southwest Flight Diverted Over Suspicious Passenger

Darkumbra

My guess is that on every flight there's a least one person who needs to visit the jakes more than once. How long would it take to pull back on SS.SS if all of these continence challenged individuals were reported on every flight?

All i'm saying is if you see something? Say something!

Fredd

^ I've reached that certain age where a major traveling maxim is "Never overlook an opportunity to use the facilities." That's one reason this really caught my attention.

I'll have to put it out of my mind lest the very thought of it induces such a nervous bladder that I'll be heading for the lav even more often.

mikew99

Good grief. On one recent flight, when I had what would politely be described as "stomach problems," I visited the lav twice before we even took off (and a few times more after). I'm relieved that nobody noticed my suspicious behavior.

t325

I'm guessing you're not brown.

chollie

What next? Will I have to ask an FA for 'permission' to use the restroom?

And people thought it was crazy when the Ryanair CEO talked about charging to use the loo. What next? A pre-loo 'screening'? No amenity kits or handbags in the loos?

Way to 'honor' 9-11 and the indomitable American spirit.

MusicManSamwise

Very frustrating. I have a prostate condition which results in frequent urination. I definitely have to use the lav on 2+ hour flights at least once, even more on transcons. So now not being the picture of health is "suspicious."

To the victims of 9/11, I'm sorry that we created the United Police State of America in response to your tragedy.

n4zhg

Welcome to the Paranoid State of Amerika.

bzbdewd

Pathetic.

zoobtoob

"A 'suspicious item' was found"

Did the pax forget to flush?

n4zhg

I figure we'll find out who he is when the notice of claim is delivered to SouthWest and Homeland Security.

mikew99

Actually, I am brown, but in the U.S., I am considered Black. (Oh, the irony....)

But I won't be surprised if the "suspicious" passenger is tan-brown instead of Black-brown. I guess we'll find out soon.

OrlandoFlyer

I maybe not seeing all the news stories, but it appears to me that SW has more news stories about kicking people off flights or diverting flights, for a multitude of paranoid unjustified reasons. I thought that they were supposed to be one of the better customer friendly airlines we have in the USA. I am really starting to wonder.

chollie

I've wondered if there is a 'tipping point' to 'SS.SS' - you know, a point where it all breaks down because the ones most likely to consistently (and frequently) SS.SS are going to be kooks.

Years ago, phoned-in bomb threats were briefly 'popular' at the local high schools. The initial reaction was understandable: school officials immediately evacuated the students and the police were called in. I often wondered if pranksters stopped making the calls or if the school officials stopped taking them seriously, because it was a very short-lived phenomenon. No one was ever identified or charged with the calls. Certainly nothing changed at my school from a student's point of view - no walls went up, checkpoints, etc.

I'd like to think the ill-advised SS.SS will overwhelm the system and wither away like the reaction to phoned-in bomb threats did at our local schools.

Then I think about East Germany and the sadness of folks being encouraged to SS.SS against each other. Maybe this is just going to get worse.

Cathay Boy

Only dictatorship such as Hitler's Germany, Stalin's USSR, Mao's China practice policy to make its people monitor each other, report to authorities, and more often than not the person being reported will be some kind of punishment regardless of facts. It really sounds like US is heading down that road with this ridiculous "see something, say something." Average person is simply not trained to distinguish real threat from certain behaviors.

TSA rather turn Americans against each other rather than target the real suspects of terrorists with pre-established patterns and factors, really pathetic. And yes, I'm one of those person that likes to drink a lot and thus the biological result is I needed to go urinate a lot, I would go to the can multiple times even on a short 2 hour flight....