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There are two sides to every story, something I learned from being a cop for 40 years.
Playing the devil's advocate, not everyone flies commercially for happy occasions. Perhaps this individual was on his way to visit a very ill family member/acquaintance or attend a funeral. Some people do get seriously sick or die at the Holidays. 38 years ago, I buried my wife on Christmas Eve and needless to say, I did not have a very Merry Christmas and haven't had one since.
I am sorry about your wife.
Thank you for posting your response. You are so correct, not everyone flies for happy occasions.
There are two sides to every story, something I learned from being a cop for 40 years.
Playing the devil's advocate, not everyone flies commercially for happy occasions. Perhaps this individual was on his way to visit a very ill family member/acquaintance or attend a funeral. Some people do get seriously sick or die at the Holidays. 38 years ago, I buried my wife on Christmas Eve and needless to say, I did not have a very Merry Christmas and haven't had one since.
I'm sorry for your loss.
That said, do you flip out on someone who wishes you a Merry Christmas? I tend to doubt it.
There are two sides to every story, something I learned from being a cop for 40 years. Playing the devil's advocate, not everyone flies commercially for happy occasions. Perhaps this individual was on his way to visit a very ill family member/acquaintance or attend a funeral. Some people do get seriously sick or die at the Holidays. 38 years ago, I buried my wife on Christmas Eve and needless to say, I did not have a very Merry Christmas and haven't had one since.
YES... a million reps to you for bringing this out! And sincere condolences of course. It's good to know that at least some cops think that way. I'm always a little disturbed by people seeing things in B&W, cops or not.
People read news articles, hear half a story, or even witness something as a third party and they end up jumping to conclusions that can cause more societal problems in the big picture than the act itself. Even sad circumstances aren't an excuse for illegal or otherwise unacceptable behavior, but we really need to be careful of scapegoating whenever someone grossly misbehaves. Whatever he did, he paid a penalty for it. It's not fitting to throw the rest of the world's sickness on his back just because his actions were absurd enough and public enough to make the news.
As for the holidays. I don't celebrate them. Not Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan or anything else that the world would recognize as an actual holiday. When people wish me merry christmas, I know that the spirit behind it is that they mean well for me, so I find no offense in it. I do wonder why they assume everyone they meet celebrates whatever they do and I want to ask them if they've ever examined the origins of those things... but of course I don't bring it up unless they ask. Rather, I just say 'thank you' without saying 'you too'.
This isn't a war on Christmas. This is an idiot, and perhaps, a mentally unbalanced individual overreacting to a small mistake.
This particular over reaction is way too common to be written off. I resent your reference to the greeting as a mistake. When someone wishes me a happy Chanukah, I say the same thing back knowing that they wished me something good.
If it were the case that this man's behavior ultimately stemmed from a personal tragedy, it would go a little way in explaining how he acted. However, it would not make his behavior even the slightest bit more acceptable. He did not just reply with a snarky comment, but was disorderly to the point that he was booted from the flight. The world does not owe you a debt just because you've experienced a tragedy. You must still behave yourself.
TSA screens for weapons but not crazies. anybody that has got a credit card can buy a ticket you dont have to be sane. kicking angry violent albeit unarmed people off the plane before you take off is a wonderful idea.
i love that term "unarmed man". i was almost kicked to death by "unarmed man" people.
Really?? With all this controversy over what to say, you want to penalize someone for opting to be on the safe side and choosing to say nothing?
There should be no controversy. Unless you're in the company of Jewish folks (who celebrate Hanukkah), "Merry Christmas" is the appropriate thing to say. "Happy holidays" is a subterfuge.
That said, do you flip out on someone who wishes you a Merry Christmas? I tend to doubt it.
First off, my thanks to everyone who passed along their condolences for my loss.
You are 100% correct, I don't "flip out" when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, or any other holiday greeting, for that matter.
I have no idea why the individual in question acted the way he did and were I in his position, I would not have acted that way, either. However, I've never walked in his shoes and don't know where his mind was at the time of the incident. The actions taken to remove him from the flight were appropriate, I just wouldn't be so swift to condemn him until I got his side of the story.
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