gp

well said

gp- I disagree with you on a point

<<extreme liberal parenting>>

I submit that this is not extreme liberal parenting. This is just lack of parenting and neglectfullness.

I think this mother does not qualify for any intent in this episode other than to make the kids everyone else's problem. She didn't bring any extra funds along to cover food or accomodations in case of delays or cancellations.

I wouldn't give her the honor of extreme liberal parenting. I think she is just ignorant and ill-mannered.

Having watched the video a couple of times, I have to agree that the mom isn't guilty of anything as elaborate or deliberate as "liberal parenting." This looked to me more like a case of learned helplessness; she admitted that the kids were out of control but did not seem to think that there was anything that she could have done about it.

This was the kids' first flight, so she had no way of anticipating their behavior (there's that helplessness and lack of imagination again) and it's just consistent that she didn't think to plan for contingencies; they could just as well have been stuck mid-trip by bad weather as by bad behavior.

Obviously this woman is not functional in the modern world - just sits and waits to see what happens, then wrings her hands.

I'm really sorry they let them on the flight the next day. And refunded for the flight they were thrown off.

She needs a wake up call to reality - and serious parenting classes. Perhaps if she had been left stranded she would have had some contact with social services - who could try to get her organized - and give her a clue of her responsibilities.

The CNN story states that "Southwest flight attendants asked the parents to quiet the children, twice".

HUH?

If they were SO bad as to be threatening to safety, shouldn't flight attendants have done more? How unruly could they have been if they were just asked twice in a 3 hour flight to calm the children?

This video does not show us what went on during the flight. The children, in the airport, are not creating havoc. All of the vitriol towards this family is simply based on the way that they look. I hate to think that had they been wealthy and dressed-to-kill, everyone would have suddenly been on their side.

There is simply not enough information on this video to make such judgements about these people. Many of you have judged them solely based your prejudices and assumptions.

"'m really sorry they let them on the flight the next day. And refunded for the flight they were thrown off."

Southwest refunded all their money, and they completed their trip on an Alaska Airlines flight.

clark, you might be right about our prejudices, but I like to think that we would've been just as hard on a glamourous upper-class gal who said that same whiny stuff.

"If they were SO bad as to be threatening to safety, shouldn't flight attendants have done more? How unruly could they have been if they were just asked twice in a 3 hour flight to calm the children?"

The mother admits in the report that the children "kept getting up and walking up and down the aisles" and that they were misbehaving. Why is it up to the flight attendants to control her kids? If the FA's grabbed the kids and sat them back down in the seat the woman would probably be screaming child abuse.

"There is simply not enough information on this video to make such judgements about these people."

I am not basing my reaction on the video, but on the fact that the behavior was bad enough to warrant Southwest have law enforcement meet the plane and kick them off of the flight.

clark, you're kidding right? Southwest kicked them off the flight because of how they looked too, I suppose. They just made up the stuff about the behavior problems and disturbing the other passengers, because Southwest only wants rich, refined people on their flights?

Earth to Patrick!

Southwest may have had reason to boot these people, but their reasons had nothing to do with how they look. So why are there so many comments here about "trailer trash", "riffraff", "no teeth" and the like? What does her sister being pregnant have to do with anything? Do we sterilize bad parents these days? SHOULD we? What exactly are some of you trying to say?

This woman has an autistic child and a child with cerebral palsy, bless her soul. That right there should be enough to have people with any kind of heart or soul just BACK OFF! I can just imagine what her average day has been like for the last 10 years.

Not to mention that the kids don't look unruly to me. Why aren't they running around that airport and making-silly for the cameras if they're as bad as you all have let yourselves believe? I've seen lots of kids running on airplanes, why are these kids so much more terrible?

They seem well dressed and cared for to me. They've been up all day and on a long flight...(you should see what some of YOU look like after those long flights!)

I think that there is a lot of misplaced vitriol here. Let's blame this family for the whole unpleasant experience that is flying the unfriendly skies today, is that it?. Everybody has HAD IT UP TO HERE with the airlines so let's take it out on these folks. THEY are the reason that flying today is such a miserable experience!

My goodness, I have never seen you fodorites in such attack mode. And over WHAT? You've never had one of those "days from hell" with your kids?????

As bad as you'all have made this family out to be....it's a wonder that Alaska Airlines managed to get them from Phoenix to Seattle without tossing them out the emergency exit. That Alaska flight must have been hell with these "fat" "hillbilly" "pregnant no teeth" "trailer trash" aboard, not to mention the neglected children and the butch grandma who hopefully had a "bag over her head" before flying again.

This has been a most interesting thread to read.

The most interesting is that there is a Fodorite whose real name seems to be "Giulia Piraino" and who can be reached at "donkeytartare@yahoodotcom"

What in heaven's name is a "DONKEY TARTARE"? Please tell me it's not what I think it is! :)

""Maybe our perspective here is colored by the fact that most of us fly frequently and have had our fill of rude passengers""

Word.

This story is just so much fun!

What a freakin' train wreck of a family! SNL couldn't have scripted it better!

I'm sorry but when you volunteer to put your family in front of a camera (famewhore) you automatically become snark worthy.

I think Tracy is right. Although the video shows two women shocked at being treated that way and expecting an apology (I wondered if the news people helped with that response) I still feel some compassion for first time flyers with 4 children who don't know enough to sit still. I think we all know parents who shout 'stop that' and never enforce it. I wonder if the mother never realized that her family was going to get into that much trouble and improved her parenting skills for the Alaska flight or perhaps had extra help from the flight attendant on that flight. I also wonder if the airline dealt with them more severely because of their appearances, people who could be knocked down easily. Boy, next time a bunch of excited teenagers/tour group are behind me on a red-eye flight I am going to expect the flight attendant to shut them up pronto so I can get my sleep.
Also, if the airlines are going to stop disruptive unsafe behaviour could they please start with the size of carry-ons and the people with seats in the back of the plane who stow their carry-ons toward the front.
Maybe Alaska Airlines is more helpful. When my DIL traveled with her first born infant, her seat mate offered to hold the baby for part of the flight and the pilot held the baby while she stowed her carry-on.

". . .the pilot held the baby while she stowed her carry-on."

Geez. I hope you tipped him.

tracy....sterilize?? a little late for that!

and please don't tell people to back off. we are entitled to our opinions as you are entitled to yours.

so much anger.... did something similar happen to you?

I wonder how they got to the airport and found the right gate.

I know flying in and out of big city airports like O'Hare, L A International, and Hartsfield-Jackson is not a chore for the ignorant.

They are about as bad off as a group of semi literates I felt sorry for at a rest stop in Utah close to where I 70 originates for eastbound vehicles.

These 3 had set off to visit family in Maryland and claimed to have less than $50. They had started near San Diego and had driven that far with no clue how far they had to go. I told them, and they decided to go back to where they came from.

The scary part is that they reproduce.

Candygrll...you've basically just told tracy to back off because you have a right to your opinion, by telling her that she doesn't have the right to give hers.

She said "people should back off". That's an opinion.

Nice try....but there is no excuse for the hatefulness on this thread.

When Americans treat each other so condescendingly, it says a lot about our future. Some of us need a hell of a lot more than just a parenting class.

joe, and the saga continues. By your saying that people who have opinions other than yours are showing "hatred" and "need a helluva lot more than a parenting class", you are apparently showing the same "hatred" for those who have expressed their opinions. You think it's wrong for people to say people need a parenting class, yet you think it's fine to tell those same people they need even more than that? And if one poster says "back off", then why isn't it just as OK for someone to tell that person to "back off" as well? It's always funny how people side up with those they agree with.

The problems with the kids/mother must have been far more flagrant than a simple twice-time shushing.

I think there is far more to this story than we are hearing. Maybe the kids refused to sit still with their seatbelts on. That is a huge liability issue for the airlines if there is turbulence, and the attendants have a lot of authority to keep people (and their kids) from violating safety rules.

I just think there must have been some "verbal exchanges" between the FA and the family. Too bad no other passengers have posted any accounts.

Thank you for posting that Marginal. It seems that a lot of posters have lost sight of this as a safety issue. If the children were running up and down the aisles, that is a safety issue. A passenger's right to fly shouldn't overrule the other passengers' right to safety.

I agree that there must be so much more to this, otherwise, we'd hear about airlines ejecting people regularly. It's illogical to think that Southwest WANTED to toss these people off the plane -- great publicity -- NOT! This must have been a <i>serious</i>safety issue, or it wouldn't have occurred IMHO.