Protesting is so good for the soul.....

[iris lilies]

Translation : At this place 42 Norwegians were executed by the German occupation forces


I think this may mean we should keep perspective about what real heroes look like. My own
interpretation is that crying whining man-children being dragged down an aisle of an airplane are not them.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Was that United who ejected the guy so unceremoniously, or Chicago Department of Aviation cops? If you're looking for someone to label "truly pure evil" as the object of a cathartic protest session, would't your main grievance be with them?

And when we choose to call such incidents "pure evil", don't we cheapen the term for when it is legitimately called for? Do a few incompetent airline and municipal functionaries really equate to ISIS or the Khymer Rouge? Aren't you "attributing to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"?

United Airlines is directly responsible for the situation they themselves created which at their mistake caused the aviation cop to board the plane in question in the first place. As a result, I seriously question the viability of United Airlines continuing as a going concern.....they seriously need to be forced to end operations and sell their plane stock to competitors for pennies on the dollar. Will this happen? No - in America money is far more important important that human rights or human dignity. What we can do is to sue, sue, sue them to within a fraction of a centimeter of their economic survival, use social media against their pure evil, and protest, protest, protest - not just against United Airlines but to inspire fear in the boards of other US carrier airlines.....a good dose of fear of economic ruin for airline CEOs and their cronies might be just what the Doctor ordered (word play intentional) in terms of passengers being treated both humanely and within the confines of the law. Economic ruin is the only feasible solution that serves human rights if US airlines don't knuckle under to human rights and human dignity of their passengers at this point. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

Translation : At this place 42 Norwegians were executed by the German occupation forces


I think this may mean we should keep perspective about what real heroes look like. My own
interpretation is that crying whining man-children being dragged down an aisle of an airplane are not them.

It is not quite the same situation, no....I'll give you that and agree with you here. That said, it is still unacceptably evil and needs to be addressed so that these abusive airline practices cease. I'd say the economic destruction of United Airlines would be such a good thing for so many people - to see a large company destroyed via their abusive practices would give hope to so many struggling people and might inspire some well deserved fear into the (expletive) that allow these abusive practices to take place in the first place. Looking the other way when confronted with evil does not make evil go away - I learned that one that summer I was eight when I learned that the law in America is applied based on skin color and social class. I'm certainly not going to look the other way here and will spend what time I can adding my voice to the chorus demanding justice against United Airlines. Rob

[bae]

I think this may mean we should keep perspective about what real heroes look like.

Rob should pay a visit to the Norwegian Resistance Museum in Oslo some day. Might provide some perspective.

I was unaware, for instance, that school teachers in Norway during the war were quite literally decimated(*) for refusing to agree to indoctrinate schoolchildren in The Official Beliefs. Considerable bravery. (* as in, 1 in 10 was selected to be sent to the camps if the teacher's union didn't sign up, which it didn't.).

Right up there with refusing to fly United and preferring non-Coca Cola soda products...

[LDAHL]

United Airlines is directly responsible for the situation they themselves created which at their mistake caused the aviation cop to board the plane in question in the first place. As a result, I seriously question the viability of United Airlines continuing as a going concern.....they seriously need to be forced to end operations and sell their plane stock to competitors for pennies on the dollar. Will this happen? No - in America money is far more important important that human rights or human dignity. What we can do is to sue, sue, sue them to within a fraction of a centimeter of their economic survival, use social media against their pure evil, and protest, protest, protest - not just against United Airlines but to inspire fear in the boards of other US carrier airlines.....a good dose of fear of economic ruin for airline CEOs and their cronies might be just what the Doctor ordered (word play intentional) in terms of passengers being treated both humanely and within the confines of the law. Economic ruin is the only feasible solution that serves human rights if US airlines don't knuckle under to human rights and human dignity of their passengers at this point. Rob

United has survived fiery crashes and terrorist attacks, it seems fairly likely to me that they will survive a dispute, however badly handled, with a poorly served passenger. I doubt he will be able to establish damages at the catastrophic level you're hoping for.

Is it possible that you're seizing on this particular incident as a proxy for your more general dissatisfaction with American Society and Capitalism?

[oldhat]

Someone is going to have to explain to me--anti-corporatist socialist that I am--why everyone is in such a lather over this. I'm not up on every detail of what happened, but isn't it true that this guy refused a lawful order to leave the plane? If he felt he was being wronged, he could have hired a lawyer and sued the airline--indeed, I would have applauded him for doing so. It's also true that United's PR people screwed the pooch in a big way, and that Chicago cops are mostly thugs (I have personally witnessed their thuggery). But other than that, why all the fuss?

I'm guessing that this has more to do with air travel having become such a nightmare of psychological stress and physical discomfort. The incident itself was less important than its acting as a trigger for an outpouring of public rage.

Meanwhile, there are currently about a dozen major scandals brewing in Trumpland, any one of which would under Obama have kept the media in hysterics for weeks. And Orange Hitler has discovered that the quickest way to boost your popularity ratings is to bomb some furriners, giving cable news a nice supply of war porn.

I'm afraid the media is reverting to form.

[Teacher Terry]

There is blame to go around for everyone involved with the United incident. They should have upped the payout until someone took the $. Or rented a limo to drive the employees the 4 hours to their destination, etc. Having said that I would have gotten off the plane. However, refusing to get off did not give the cops permission to drag him off and hurt him. I actually have been flying united a lot lately because my sons live in KS and I am having some expensive dental work done there as it is a third of the price. The employees have all been excellent. I fly with my 5lb dog (Cassie) so I told my friends that Cassie and I were watching the news and she made me promise to get off peaceably if that happened to us. Also the only real choices I have is Southwest who I like and United. However, SW has been about 200 higher per ticket so I won't be using them. On the last flight with United when we went to get on the plane we were told that they were out of overhead room so I had to give them my small carry on to check. So I was struggling to open it to remove my meds, was bending over and trying to not drop the dog who was in a sling carrier. The pilot saw me and stopped and helped me which was really nice.

[Float On]

Just going off the title of this thread "Protesting is good for the soul"

Not my soul so I resent being lumped into that statement a little. Turning on the news every day and seeing some new protest have it's 10 minutes of fame is just getting to me. I don't see the point other than the person who invented the "I protest...everything" T-shirt. That guy (or girl) is making some bucks. I know in history there were professional mourners paid to mourn at funerals...are there professional protesters that just hop from protest to protest? Putting on the ugly face, throwing their fist and trash in the air. I see public protests as mainly costing a lot of money. Ambulance and crew on standby, added police to break up fights and process disorderly, extra trash pick up, construction repairs, etc.

Rob, you mentioned how many in your zip-code depend on the airport for their income. If your airport loses United how many will be affected in your community? Every time we lose an airline it affects price of remaining airlines, available seats, etc... Heck, a bad few days of weather leaves people stranded for days because there aren't enough seats available...you really want that worse? I only see protesting this as having negative effect on future costs to us paying customers.

I know United's goal was to get out of the gate. The ripple effect is huge when a plane is late out of the gate. People protested over tarmac times, if they missed their take-off slot more delay problems. Yes. Everyone knows it could of been handled differently. Yes, Chicago security is crazy but they deal with crazy. No one wants to spend an extra hour in Chicago airport but why didn't people volunteer? Every time I've volunteered it worked to my benefit. I think what bothered me most is that everyone on the plane was quick to grab their phone and record but not do anything personally. Kind of like the video awhile back where there was an emergency un-boarding and everyone spent time videoing and grabbing personal belongings and luggage out of bins instead of getting off the plane. I would of gladly given up my seat and have in the past. People are just too darn selfish anymore it's all more about me and how everything affects me than looking for the good of man-kind. No wonder I barely turn on the news anymore.

Right now might be the best time to get a good deal and good treatment on a United flight. I'd give them a chance if it meant I could save some $. And I'd be sure to say "thank you" to the flight crew and step up and volunteer if they call for anyone to do so.

[dmc]

It won't be long until the doctor and CEO of United will be shown shanking hands and all smiles. A few Chicago cops may be reprimanded and all will be forgotten. The doctor will get a 6 or very low 7 figure settlement and gag order. No one will remember this in a few months.

[gimmethesimplelife]

It won't be long until the doctor and CEO of United will be shown shanking hands and all smiles. A few Chicago cops may be reprimanded and all will be forgotten. The doctor will get a 6 or very low 7 figure settlement and gag order. No one will remember this in a few months.

Au contraire. I will never forget and for the remainder of my life will tell the truth about United Airlines when the opportunity presents itself, hopefully impacting their balance sheet even if in a very small way. I will also be active against the United Airlines brand the remainder of my life via social media. Human rights and human dignity are worth that. Rob