4 ms·

It's a bit disturbing and amazing to see so many people here taking the airline's side in this. No wonder things are the way they are - the general public supp

It's a bit disturbing and amazing to see so many people here taking the airline's side in this. No wonder things are the way they are - the general public supports it.

javajosh 14y ago
Uh, there are like 9 comments right now (12:54am PST) and literally none of them support the airline. What are you talking about?
- droithomme 14y ago
  All the "Well he shouldn't have used the T word" when he explained that he was taking the photos as part of his travel review job. There were no faults in the way he handled it. The airline was completely to blame, severely inconvenienced him, falsely accused him, and cost him money. Outrageous behavior against any passenger. That he is a 950,000 mile traveler on the airline and often writes articles recommending them to others (at a time when United is well known for being among the worst of the carriers) makes it completely idiotic from a business standpoint as well.
  - jemfinch 14y ago
    No one's taking the airline's side here, but he shouldn't have brought up terrorism. That was a mistake in judgment on his part, as I explained elsewhere. The irony here is that you're demonstrating the same sort of knee-jerk misinterpretation that arises when people say "terrorism" on an airplane.
    - Zealot 14y ago
      > shouldn't have brought up terrorism Word mightier than sword
    - UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
      I still don't understand why using the word "terrorist" is a no-no. It is a word. Context matters. Context in this case would suggest there was nothing to worry about. I swear sometimes it is like the whole world is a slightly mentally handicapped child who, upon hearing a bad word, starts repeating it getting more and more upset. I guess being adults and thinking things through is too much to ask from your average full grown adult?
      - jemfinch 14y ago
        It's not the word itself. The word could be "terrorist" or "bomb" or "Muslim" or anything, really. It's denying some wrongdoing without having first been accused of it. Humans learn very early on to be suspicious of people who offer denials prior to accusations, and we likewise learn in childhood not to offer such denials ourselves. When no one has accused you of stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, saying out of the blue, "I didn't steal the cookie from the cookie jar" instantly makes you a suspect. This is Encyclopedia Brown level stuff. (As an aside, your lack of intuitive understanding of this principle, combined with your righteous indignation and judgment of the world at large, makes me feel very much like you describe while writing this reply.)
        intenex 14y ago
        Except it wasn't used in that manner at all. As others pointed out, it's a fricken idiom and automatic response in a photographic context. http://goo.gl/CnV1s http://goo.gl/CnV1s It's the same as if he replied 'okay, don't worry, the photos will be dead and gone', and the flight attendant misinterprets that to mean he's going to blow up the plane and kill everyone. If the story is as he's relayed it, he's absolutely 100% not at fault and the flight attendant is a total fricken idiot.
        DanBC 14y ago
        > it's a fricken idiom and automatic response in a photographic context. http://goo.gl/CnV1s http://goo.gl/CnV1s It's part of an idiom, and that'a among a small niche community, mostly in London. Even if the guy was aware of the idiom I doubt the staff were too.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    I don't think it's people defending the airline, I think people just understand the unfortunate way things work now. When travelling by plane it's best to just shut up and do what you're told. The trouble caused by speaking up is obviously not worth it. If the writer had decided to follow the rules and not take anymore photos why did he feel the need to further explain himself? It wasn't going to change anything and at the very least was a waste of his time.
  - jfoster 14y ago
    He doesn't mention the other passenger who took photos getting booted from the plane. This suggests it was his reaction rather than the taking of photos that saw him left behind.
MichaelApproved 14y ago
It's very disturbing and amazing to see so many people here jump to conclusions when we've only heard one side of this story and OP has only contacted United after posting this article.

It's a bit disturbing and amazing to see so many people here taking the airline's side in this. No wonder things are the way they are - the general public supports it.

javajosh 14y ago

Uh, there are like 9 comments right now (12:54am PST) and literally none of them support the airline. What are you talking about?

droithomme 14y ago
All the "Well he shouldn't have used the T word" when he explained that he was taking the photos as part of his travel review job. There were no faults in the way he handled it. The airline was completely to blame, severely inconvenienced him, falsely accused him, and cost him money. Outrageous behavior against any passenger. That he is a 950,000 mile traveler on the airline and often writes articles recommending them to others (at a time when United is well known for being among the worst of the carriers) makes it completely idiotic from a business standpoint as well.
- jemfinch 14y ago
  No one's taking the airline's side here, but he shouldn't have brought up terrorism. That was a mistake in judgment on his part, as I explained elsewhere. The irony here is that you're demonstrating the same sort of knee-jerk misinterpretation that arises when people say "terrorism" on an airplane.
  - Zealot 14y ago
    > shouldn't have brought up terrorism Word mightier than sword
  - UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
    I still don't understand why using the word "terrorist" is a no-no. It is a word. Context matters. Context in this case would suggest there was nothing to worry about. I swear sometimes it is like the whole world is a slightly mentally handicapped child who, upon hearing a bad word, starts repeating it getting more and more upset. I guess being adults and thinking things through is too much to ask from your average full grown adult?
    - jemfinch 14y ago
      It's not the word itself. The word could be "terrorist" or "bomb" or "Muslim" or anything, really. It's denying some wrongdoing without having first been accused of it. Humans learn very early on to be suspicious of people who offer denials prior to accusations, and we likewise learn in childhood not to offer such denials ourselves. When no one has accused you of stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, saying out of the blue, "I didn't steal the cookie from the cookie jar" instantly makes you a suspect. This is Encyclopedia Brown level stuff. (As an aside, your lack of intuitive understanding of this principle, combined with your righteous indignation and judgment of the world at large, makes me feel very much like you describe while writing this reply.)
      - intenex 14y ago
        Except it wasn't used in that manner at all. As others pointed out, it's a fricken idiom and automatic response in a photographic context. http://goo.gl/CnV1s http://goo.gl/CnV1s It's the same as if he replied 'okay, don't worry, the photos will be dead and gone', and the flight attendant misinterprets that to mean he's going to blow up the plane and kill everyone. If the story is as he's relayed it, he's absolutely 100% not at fault and the flight attendant is a total fricken idiot.
        DanBC 14y ago
        > it's a fricken idiom and automatic response in a photographic context. http://goo.gl/CnV1s http://goo.gl/CnV1s It's part of an idiom, and that'a among a small niche community, mostly in London. Even if the guy was aware of the idiom I doubt the staff were too.
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  I don't think it's people defending the airline, I think people just understand the unfortunate way things work now. When travelling by plane it's best to just shut up and do what you're told. The trouble caused by speaking up is obviously not worth it. If the writer had decided to follow the rules and not take anymore photos why did he feel the need to further explain himself? It wasn't going to change anything and at the very least was a waste of his time.
- jfoster 14y ago
  He doesn't mention the other passenger who took photos getting booted from the plane. This suggests it was his reaction rather than the taking of photos that saw him left behind.

MichaelApproved 14y ago

It's very disturbing and amazing to see so many people here jump to conclusions when we've only heard one side of this story and OP has only contacted United after posting this article.