Mom and Chatty Toddler Removed From Flight

You don't have children, do you, Joe?

sozobe wrote:

That's not what he's accused of doing -- he's accused of saying "bye-bye plane."

Well, he's accused of saying "bye-bye plane" according to the mother. As far as I know, the airline still has not issued a statement regarding the incident.

sozobe wrote:

I don't think it indicates much about what actually happened on the plane.

On the contrary, the mother said her li'l angel was "fussing" on plane just like he was on the set of GMA.

On the contrary, the mother said her li'l angel was "fussing" on plane just like he was on the set of GMA.

Other passengers came to the aid of the mother, and from my own
experience I can say, that passengers are usually not that sympathetic
with mothers and young children in general (on planes that is).

OK, I saw the video but without captioning I didn't see that she was equating what he was doing there with what happened on the plane.

That's more than saying "bye-bye plane," but it still doesn't seem like enough to throw someone off the plane.

One important difference is that the mother couldn't focus on him because of the nature of what was happening -- trying to do the interview -- whereas she could on the plane.

Whether he was fussy or being too noisy by saying "bye-bye plane" nowhere does it say he was out of his seat or screaming or annoying other passengers.

It is as important for persons with children to travel as those having none. As I see it, if the child is not running amok, the rest of the passengers ought to grin and bear it when one makes some noise, or becomes tired and whiny.

sozobe wrote:

OK, I saw the video but without captioning I didn't see that she was equating what he was doing there with what happened on the plane.

That's more than saying "bye-bye plane," but it still doesn't seem like enough to throw someone off the plane.

That's only true if you believe the mother's version of events.

sozobe wrote:

One important difference is that the mother couldn't focus on him because of the nature of what was happening -- trying to do the interview -- whereas she could on the plane.

How do you know that?

As an attendant reviewed the flight safety instructions, Garren began to bid Houston adieu.

"There was a plane next to us, and I pointed it out to Garren, and he started saying 'Bye, bye plane,' over and over," Penland said.

Distracted and upset by the boy's words, the flight attendant went over to Penland after completing her safety demonstration.

ExpressJet spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said that if a passenger is understood to be compromising the safety of passengers or crew, or if a passenger undermines a crew member's "authority as the person responsible for safety" on board, they may be removed from the aircraft.

But Penland denied that she had ever threatened the flight attendant or that she or Garren had posed a threat to the security or comfort of the flight.

At this point I'm going by YOUR version of events. A child on a plane doing exactly what I saw in the video -- being squirmy and complainy -- is not enough reason to throw him and his mother off a plane. He wasn't screaming, and his mother had physical control of him -- she relinquished him when the co-host guy came to try to cheer him up (which worked for a while) but this wasn't a kid going amok.

How do you know she couldn't?

I don't know anything for sure, of course, but it stands to reason, and is corroborated by things like what FreeDuck pointed out about how she was managing his behavior by directing his attention to the planes out the window (to which he proceeded to say "bye-bye").

When you're interviewing, all of your attention is directed outward, at the person asking you questions. My kid was generally well-behaved at that age but if I wanted to talk to an adult when she was around, alternative arrangements had to be made (such as her dad watching her for as long as I wanted to talk, or the adult in question having a kid of the same age that she could interact with). Something about talking to another adult and being boring/ not paying attention to the toddler brings out the worst in 'em (toddlers).

sozobe wrote:

At this point I'm going by YOUR version of events. A child on a plane doing exactly what I saw in the video -- being squirmy and complainy -- is not enough reason to throw him and his mother off a plane. He wasn't screaming, and his mother had physical control of him -- she relinquished him when the co-host guy came to try to cheer him up (which worked for a while) but this wasn't a kid going amok.

MY version of events is incomplete -- that's why I'm not drawing any conclusions about what happened. I freely concede that I have no idea who is right and who is wrong here. If you, on the other hand, choose to do so despite what even you admit is incomplete information, that's your affair.

On the contrary, the mother said her li'l angel was "fussing" on plane just like he was on the set of GMA.

sozobe wrote:

How do you know she couldn't?

I don't know. But then I'm not making that claim. You, on the other hand, are claiming that she could control him. I don't know why you would make that claim without sufficient information, but that is, as I noted above, your choice.

sozobe wrote:

I don't know anything for sure, of course, but it stands to reason, and is corroborated by things like what FreeDuck pointed out about how she was managing his behavior by directing his attention to the planes out the window (to which he proceeded to say "bye-bye").

The mother's version of events doesn't corroborate the mother's version of events.

That's a rather odd inference to make. After all, the mother was presumably also talking to an adult when she was talking to the flight attendant, yet you think that she could control her child in that situation when she couldn't do so when she was talking to Diane Sawyer. Why was the former situation different, in that respect, from the latter?

What's your point Joe? You don't like kids, good, we can read that in
your statement. This is not a courthouse where people are on a witness stand.

People read this story, see the video and take sides. Whatever or whomever you want to believe is your right, and the opposing side can do the same.

You weren't present in the plane, neither were we. We give our opinion
just the same way you do, with the exception that you stand alone with your
opinion, aside from the stewardess of course.

Of course Snood, I left you out