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Whoami
| Tuesday, January 06, 2004 - 10:04 pm
I liked it too. Though I decided some time back that Southwest wouldn't be the airline for me. I'd be the one whose backside they'd be checking out to decide if I was a "COS" and whether I'd have to be buying a whole new ticket. I'm sorry, but that is way over the top. These airlines make those seats so scrunched and uncomfortable. My mom (whose backside fills up 1/4 the width that mine does) is still uncomfortable on these flights, cause her legs are all scrunched up. At least I have short legs! Oh, and I must make sure to make a mental note to shower good before I fly! Actually, that (and the denying drunks on board) were refreshing to see. When the Southwest story about fat people first hit the media, I saw a thread (I don't think it was here, but on another board) that addressed the "fat people have no right" attitude. Added to that were people complaining about sitting next to smelly/heavily perfumed people, drunks, and screaming kids.
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Fabnsab
| Wednesday, January 07, 2004 - 4:26 pm
I thought the shows were great. The lady with the long curly hair who handled the smelly guy was a class act. I felt so bad for Mr.COS. I would have boiled over ten times by the time he got angry. I was mad when I heard about Southwest having plus size people buy two seats but then I read that all the airlines have this rule but most don't necessarily enforce it. So do women who are size 2 only have to pay 1/2 price? It is ridiculous. They all need to make their seats for the average american butt and that is a size 16 female. If they did this then all would be happy. It seems the larger americans get, the smaller seats get in stadiums, airplanes and amusement parks. I'm talking newly built ones. They need to start thinking. When a slightly overweight person is too big for a seat at Browns stadium, then theres a problem. Football fans arent known for their dainty frames. What are they thinking??
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Vsmart
| Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 6:56 pm
Just saw the Sunday reruns of the first two episodes. Everyone who travels by air can relate to these problems. Great editing.
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Scorpiomoon
| Monday, January 12, 2004 - 6:34 pm
Two new episodes tonight!
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Yankee_In_Ca
| Monday, January 12, 2004 - 7:02 pm
Thanks, Scorpiomoon -- I would have forgotten if it weren't for you!
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Scorpiomoon
| Monday, January 12, 2004 - 9:49 pm
Unbelievable! I can't believe how people behave! Those BMX people! Letting kids run around on a plane telling people they are going to die! Ugh! The mother with the glasses needed to be sedated. I felt so bad for her sons. That is a good example of why some men grow up hating women. She freakin' shows up LATE and blames everyone else! And the guy with the gun! "Do I look Arab?" Jerk! When the two women were telling him to settle down, I got the sense he was looking at them thinking, I'm not going to take orders from women--especially black women. UGH! What an ass! Why is it so HARD for people to understand that thanks to 9/11 things will never be the same and that all these things are done for THEIR benefit? It's so frustrating to watch these people be inconsiderate ane believe they have every right to be. I felt bad for all those stuck because of the power outage. I love this show!
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Yankee_In_Ca
| Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:00 pm
Scorpiomoon-- regarding the guy with the gun, my partner said the EXACT same thing you did about his "problems" with the employees. The way he looked at both of them was incredibly hateful. We were both appalled!!! I agree with everything else you said above, too!
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Maris
| Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:08 pm
Lol, the thing about the guy with the gun is I kind of felt for him a bit. Yes he was obnoxious and he did have a rifle in his luggage BUT he declared it, it was taken apart and wrapped. Added to the fact that he was in a wheelchair in his fifties and was on his way to a shooting competition gave him some credibility. Then the supervisor also told the women that he did have the gun packed properly since it was dismantled. We didnt see the conversation with the women as we only got Southwest's viewpoint. His comment about being an arab was definitely out of order especially since he works for a congressman, not a good image to give out. I think the show is fun to watch but I am always aware that this is a show that depends on the cooperation of the airline so those filming the show are not likely to put the airline in a bad light. Now I can understand the woman who got bumped off her flight being frustrated. She was travelling with two kids, wanted to get home and according to her she arrived in plenty of time. She claimed that her hold up occurred with the airline scrutinizing and holding up her credit card. Who knows we didnt see that exchange either. I have to say as the mother of the very large 16 month old, I probably would have been really ticked at the prospect of having to buy an airline ticket because the airline is calling me a liar. Then to top it all off, after she went through the whole production of getting in touch with the birth hospital to verify her childs birthdate, they hold her up at the gate because they have lost one of their boarding passes. I agree about the BMX travellers, I would have just bumped the whole lot of them and then let the parents deal with their kids when they get home having spent all that money for nothing. All in all though a fun show. I missed the point the woman was trying to make about her tearing up her nephews photos in the cockpit. But even the airline is trying to tell us that 50 passengers are all lying when they say they were promised hotel rooms and then the Southwest lady implying that they had five hours to get their stories together and finagle a hotel room. Like that would be on my mind after being stranded in an airport for 48 hours.
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Marameko
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 9:58 am
I really like this show, no channel surfing during commercials either. Here's my take on a couple of scenes: *The man with the gun had pure evil in his eyes, he was most unkind.Just the kind of person who would make me have to bite my tongue as an employee. As a black woman I also felt that "race" was one of his issues. He did have enough sense to not say anything racial. * The people with the questionable 16 month old were also rude.Must say I never knew about the birth certificate being so important when traveling. * The gay flight attendant was delightful. * I learned always have a credit card or $$ in case of a delay when traveling. I could have watched numerous episodes at one time.
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Yankee_In_Ca
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 12:04 pm
Interesting how people's perceptions can be different. I fly -- A LOT -- and so I didn't have a lot of sympathy for the dude who wanted to bring his gun onto the plane, even if it was taken apart and wrapped. They didn't want to take it from him, they just wanted to inspect it. Big hairy deal. I did not feel sorry for him one bit. I don't care if he's in a wheelchair, I don't care if he worked for a congressman, I don't care if he was an air force colonel (or whatever he said), he was rude and obnoxious, and his looks at the women were hateful. His argument that no one on 9/11 used a gun was silly too -- it COULD have been a gun, had someone let them walk onto the plane with it. So just let them inspect the darn gun and get on with it. I also had little sympathy for the woman who arrived at the counter late, but I agree that we didn't get to see the full story. However, I believe that often you get what you give out, and I've found that if you calm down and don't YELL at people, a rational solution often presents itself. I thought she was rude to everyone, and also rude to her sons. I understood her frustration because I've been there, but in my opinion she handled it completely wrong. Also, here's my opinion on the 16 month old. Southwest Airlines allows children under 2 years old to fly free. However, when you book, you are told that you must bring proof of age to get the free seat. I have done this before. Sooo, you know ahead of time that you need to show proof of age. Since the parents in this show didn't have it, and the child did look close to 2, I don't think it was a problem for the airline to ask them for proof of age -- they did say they'd refund the ticket if they could prove it after the fact. To me, the burden of bringing that proof of age to get a free ticket is on the parents. I don't think the airline was calling them a liar, they were just asking for proof. (And it was my perception at the gate that it was the parents who couldn't find one of their boarding passes -- you saw the wife ask the husband where they were, he said he had never taken them out of the envelope, and then she reached into her bag -- and then they were on the plane. It wasn't my perception that it was the airline people who lost their boarding pass... but maybe I saw that wrong.) I did not agree with the way they handled the bus that came in late. I think if you have a busload of people telling you that they were told they'd have a room or a connection, I think you have to believe that. Her insistence that she was "sure that Detroit told them" (paraphrasing) was silly and was probably completely annoying for those folks. Plus, it sounded like the bus showed up 3 or 4 hours late anyway. I'd be very unhappy if I were on that bus. I thought they should have given them free hotels right off the bat, no arguments. Since I travel so often, I totally feel that air travel is nowadays a humongous pain-in-the-you-know-what. Airlines give me huge headaches. The rules ARE often dumb. Seemingly-ridiculous safety regulations give me huge headaches. The fact that I have to show up at the airport three hours before my flight, then my flights are usually delayed an hour or several hours, is very very annoying. It could take all day for an hour and a half flight. But unfortunately it's reality, and I do it. I hate hate hate it, but I do take some personal responsibility for my part of it.
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Maris
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 12:37 pm
We only saw once side of the exchanges and we only saw the exchanges AFTER they had gotten heated. We dont know how these employees acted before the cameras turned on. I have met some pretty rude airline employees and have been bumped off flights that I arrived in plenty of time for. I am not saying the gun owner behaved properly in fact he looked pretty bad. However, we only saw the exchange at the tail end. That is true for every single episode with the passengers. I think it is a huge stretch to say that someone who is having an argument with an african american employee is being a racist. I couldnt care less what color a service employee is if they are treating me badly and being rude. Maybe he was just looking at her like he thought she was incompetent which he seemed to be saying she was. That is how it looked to me. Now as far as his comment of do I look like an arab? We all know the airlines are singling out arab passengers, look at the Iranian with the smashed up luggage. He was stating a simple fact, that he didnt fit the profile and why were they harrassing him, he had everything in order. I am not defending him just saying we didnt see the beginning of the exchange or what the issue he was arguing over the gun was even. According to her supervisor, everything was in order and the passenger and his gun were released as soon as he saw the scene. The parents of the 16 month old had a valid point, they werent asked for the birth certificate on the first leg of the journey when it would have been alot easier to go back home and get the certificate and rebook. What were they supposed to do when they were stuck at the return point. The airline was negligent in not asking for it on the first part of the trip and as far as I am concerned missed the boat. Honestly, if I were the parent and I was in their position I would have refused to pay and I would have been on that plane with my three kids.
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Scorpiomoon
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 1:02 pm
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you Maris re: the gun guy. I'm willing to bet, based on what little we did see--the look on his face, his behavior and the Arab comment--he is racist. On another note: Didn't, at one point, the airline employee ask the parents with the 18 month-old if they had, what was it? A yellow piece of paper of some sort--something they filled out that would verify the child's age? And the father said he threw it away? At that point, when the parents realized they were at fault, I thought they'd ease up. But they didn't. Wouldn't it be a given that if you're traveling you would take mulitple forms of ID for you and your children? I carry my birth certificate with me all the time. I'm sure I'd always have my children's available as well. I don't understand why they wouldn't. Also: Wasn't that 10 year-old boy adorable? I felt so bad for his mom! That was a touching element to include.
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Texannie
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 1:24 pm
Scorpio, you are right about the yellow form. The wife just looked at the husband and rolled her eyes, but was still bitchy. We got photo ID cards made for our kids (they have passports too) for when we travel domestically. Yankee..totall agree with all your comments! What about the Iranian man in baggage claim who kept saying our government had no right to search his bags.
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Gina8642
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 1:40 pm
Hmmm.... When I took Civics in highschool, it was made ABUNDANTLY clear that when a person travels over borders from one country to another you have NO rights, not even the ones promised to you in the constitution (speaking as a USA citizen here). It's a privlidge to visit a foreign country, not a right. Of course they can inspect luggage, guns, and anything else they want. Grrr.... That said - I don't travel by air very much, but have somehow had lots of bad luck flying. My luggage has been lost, I've been bumped, delayed for hours on end, put up in hotels, been selected for extra special searches, my flights have been cancelled due to maintenance, I've been treated like the dirtiest scum of the earth by airline employees. I even had Northwest lose my cat after paying extra for their Very Important Pet program (yeah right Northwest!!!!). All that said - this program just brings back bad memories. I watched the BBC Heathrow reality show that inspired this one. That was more entertaining. Perhaps I was just entranced by the British? Don't know... I've also been bumped to first class by Northwest - twice(!!) in one vacation - And, once was allowed to fly stand-by after literally forgetting my flight left Monday morning, not Tuesday (OOPS!) so it isn't ALL bad. LOL
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Scorpiomoon
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 1:48 pm
Oh man, Gina8642! How did you get through all of that yet still keep your sanity? Or, did you lose most of it, but were able to write your post during a brief moment of clarity?
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Maris
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 2:29 pm
The iranian didnt object to his baggage being searched. He objected to them breaking the locks and damaging his bag when the suitcase was unlocked.
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Sugar
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 5:41 pm
I refuse to fly Southwest. Forcing customers to buy an extra seat if they are large? As people have gotten larger, why not have a row or two of seats that are larger. I also think children should not be allowed to fly free or at discounted prices. They are taking a seat. Probably not the most popular opinion, but know others share it. The small kids should be in a car seat, not allowed to fly sitting in a lap. Don't even get me started on babies at the movies!! I've grown quite weary of crowded flights and airports full of rude people. Very tired of people bringing excessive carry-on luggage or packing it till in nearly bursts. We all want off the plane quickly, we all have other places we would rather be than in line.
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Texannie
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 5:47 pm
The child only gets to fly for free when they are a lap child (sits in a parent's lap). They don't take up a seat.
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Tabbyking
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 5:51 pm
i agree with all sugar says except about having to pay for 2 seats. i think if you take up 2 seats, you should have to pay for 2--you had best get 2, though, not still have someone wedged under your left check in one of the seats you paid for. if the flight turns out to have empty seats, the one seat's price can be refunded but on a full flight, the person should have to pay for 2 seats. it would have gone to someone else and been a paid fare.
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Scorpiomoon
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 5:53 pm
I think a good compromise would be to have a row of larger seats and those who need to use them would have extra (not double) to use them.
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Konamouse
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 6:10 pm
Problem with a row (or more) of larger seats - this means fewer paying passengers per flight. But the cost of the flight remains the same, so they have to increase the ticket prices for everyone flying. Then, who is to say who gets these "larger" seats???? If you want larger seats, fly First Class, or pay for two coach seats and lift up the arm rest. American did remove a row of seats in coach to create slightly longer leg room in all the rows. 'squeek'
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Max
| Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 11:15 pm
Southwest is not the only airline with the large passenger policy AND that policy has been around for a LONG time. They have, however, taken a lot of heat for it because they recently made it more public. Part of the problem with taking up more than one seat is that seats on Southwest are only 18" wide. Since Americans are getting bigger each year (on average), the number of people who have to cram into airline seats has grown. Anyway, my main point is that if this is the only reason you don't want to fly Southwest, you need to realize that they are not the only ones with the policy.
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Wink
| Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 7:40 am
When the gun guy said "do I look like an Arab?" my first thought was no, you look like an a**hole. And the last thing that woman with the two boys needed was more freaking coffee. Ritalin is more like it.
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Dahli
| Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 5:07 pm
I can't believe after all the notes I left for myself to watch on Sunday that I missed it!! I did catch it MOnday night and totally agree with what's been said here especially the guy in the wheelchair - what a jerk - I seldom yell at my set but was doing that all through this show....
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Tobor7
| Friday, January 16, 2004 - 10:04 pm
They used to have a name for shows like this... DOCUMENTARY ...not reality TV. BUT... this show played more like a Customer Service Training Video than anything else. All they would have to do is re-write some of the narration. Too many characters... no "insight" into the job. They should have followed a few... but that might have been EVEN MORE boring. This is not a reality show. It is a half-baked documentary that is trying to ride the reality show wave on a small budget. Watching it makes me NOT want to travel. If Southwest thought they were getting some free publicity out of this... THEY WERE WRONG. Plus... HOW did they let a guy on a plane without proper ID??? I never heard of the "second security check!" What is up with that??? I'm done with this show. Not impressed. A swing and a miss.
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