The year was 1987 and I was flying from Lynchburg, VA to LaGuardia. I was flying on Piedmont Airlines and the flight from Lynchburg was on a Dash 8 to Baltimore with a quick stop in Charlottesville, VA.
In Charlottesville a family of three (Dad, Mom, 11 year old son) boarded the plane. I was in the back row and it so happened the kid sat next to me while the parents were in seats somewhere up front. The kid was pleasant enough and very excited about being on a plane, so we had some nice “airplane talk” during the flight. He also had a small bag of snacks that he quickly ate during the short flight. I distinctly remember a bag of chips, a Hershey bar, a King Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and a pint of chocolate milk. There may have been more, but I definitely remember these items.
So the kid scarfed down these snacks and as we approached BWI we were placed in a holding pattern for 15 or 20 minutes and we were experiencing some mild to moderate turbulence during this time. I was enjoying the view out the window when I hear the kid say, “I’m not feeling so well.” I quickly removed the barf bag from the seat pocket and held it up to his face just as he began to puke up all the snacks he had just consumed. I, unfortunately, didn’t get it up there quite in time and some of the snacks made it onto my shirt and pants.
The parents who were up front were oblivious to this whole situation as was the flight attendant who was also strapped in up front during this time. I made the best of this bad situation and did the best I could until we landed, and at that point we were able to get everything cleaned up. The parents could not have been nicer and the dad gave me a $100 bill for my trouble. I told him this wasn’t necessary but he insisted. I appreciated him taking responsibility for his kid and the first thing I did in Baltimore was change my clothes. Fortunately, a few years earlier I had learned you should always carry a spare set of clothes in your carry-on.
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{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
I'm sure if this happen in today,in 2010, it would be an different outcome. Its sad how much peoples morals have changed!
You're correct Morgan. Nowadays the parents would likely not take responsibility for their child's actions.
I think that's an unfair statement. There are responsible people around today as well. They may not get the press that the irresponsible ones do, but they still exist. I don't believe that everyone's morals have changed. I think the internet and the 24 hour news stations need fuel, and as such make it seem that everyone is a depraved, immoral, irresponsible lout. At least in my experience, in my community, church, and employer, this profile just doesn't hold true.
I guarantee you there were irresponsible and amoral people in 1987, too.
I had a VERY similar inident happen to me back in 2000, minus the good parents!
Hugh, it is a fact that the MAJORITY of Americans are immoral & unethical. If you don't believe it, do some traveling and it won't take long to see it.
ask you mom how immoral americans are.
See, after I try to post nice things about people, I see this d-bag posting, and I start to doubt my own argument. What a friggin' troll.
Agree with you Hugh….your a changed man.
To hell with the troll
A fact, really? Can you please cite the source of said fact?
I travel a great deal. I see some things that make me shake my head, and other things which restore my faith in people.
Overall, I have found that people are generally good, and want to do the right thing. That doesn't always happen, but my experience doesn't support the majority of people being immoral and unethical. Perhaps if your experience is different, you are hanging around the wrong kinds of people.
One more thing…this "fact" of which you speak, is it limited to Americans only?
My experience is that people are people regardless of borders. Every country and culture has its share of saints, and of a-holes.
Yeah, I could give you some pretty compelling evidence that some Australians are rude! 😉
Indeed, people in our time are a lot more rude, selfish, beligerent etc and using the finger and the F word 24/7. Don't let me get started with highway driving or having dinner in a restaurant.
Hugh, you are the epitome of what I am speaking of. People,in general,can no longer have a debate without someone getting angry and debasing the other because of a difference in opinion. Just calm down! No need for calling others out of there name just because we fail to see eye to eye. When you say that "overall people are good", then maybe its due to the fact that you're so immoral yourself (demonstrated here by you're comments), that you can't see it.
Morgan… I'm not angry, I thought I made a very calm, well stated defense of my position. You seem to be the one flying off the handle. If you are referring to my comment to madachode, well, perhaps calling him a name was not the most mature thing, but as anyone who reads this site regularly will attest to, he is a troll and thrives on the negative attention. As for me disagreeing with you, I think you are way off base. I didn't get angry or debase you in any way. I will attest that I called you out on your statement and asked you to defend it, isn't that part of having a disagreement. From reading many of your other posts, you seem to have a penchant for calling names yourself. So, in summary,
– I disagree with your original statement
– I still challenge you to cite the source of your fact
– I disagree with your assertion that I am immoral
– I believe based on your other posts that you quickly resort to name calling when someone disagrees with you.
So, unless and until you cite the source of your stated FACT that the majority of Americans are immoral and unethical, I claim your post has zero merit. Simply stating something and saying it's a fact does not make it so. Have a nice day. 🙂
What Hugh said, except without the smiley face!
Morgan,
People can't have a debate with individuals such as yourself who pull spurious "facts" out of their nether regions. You can't have a credible debate with an individual who says 'the MAJORITY' of Americans are immoral and unethical. You don't have a credible basis on which to draw such a conclusion! So if I and others get a little bit irked with an idiotic broad brush statement such as you'd posted, and then you follow it up with further blather (e.g. "maybe it's due to the fact that you're so immoral yourself"), you have only yourself to blame when you get flamed.
"See, after I try to post nice things about people, I see this d-bag posting, and I start to doubt my own argument. What a friggin’ troll."
by Hugh on Sep 14, 2010 at 11:51 am
A comment that wasn't directed to you, love.
http://www.wakeupamericainc.org/americamoraldecay…
Good to know that my contributions to the Homosexual Agenda(tm) are doing so much good. Because obviously my very existence makes children puke on airline passengers and then compels the parents not to pay for their shirts!
Morgan, you realize this website belongs to a small NC-based evangelical church and is only their OPINION, don't you? You realize this doesn't support your argument, don't you? As was stated before, just saying something is so doesn't make it so.
Gotta love parents that hate their spawn so much that neither one will sit with it.
Gotta love someone who refers to a child as a spawn, and "it". It's a good thing you were never a child.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/128042/americans-outlo…
Morgan, this site is about flights from hell, not wether americans outlooks are clean or not.
My comments & links are directly relevant with the OP's post!
Too much cucko people here. We are good people not all is bad
I'm not implying that all is immoral, just that we have been & are in a state of moral decline which is deleterious toward our Nation. In a recent Gallup poll 76% of those surveyed agree.
Well, I applaud you for citing the source. I disagree with them as sources of fact. The first is a totally opinion piece from a website with an obvious agenda…not a bad agenda, but an agenda nonetheless. The second is a survey, hardly a source of fact.
Here's one showing almost half of people believe in UFOs
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/ufos/ar…
Here's one showing almost half of respondents don't believe in evolution, and believe man was craeted less than 10,000 years ago.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm
This one shows a quarter of people don't believe Obama is a US citizen:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/05/birther-…
This one shows that 20% of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/19/nearly…
So, my point is that a survey does NOT make facts. Had your original post been phrased more like your recent one that people believed in a moral decline, I woudl have NO objection to the statement…I woudl still dispute that *I* believe the majority of people are good, and only a small visible minority exhibit moral decay and a general bad or evil side.
Here's an article stating that America's charitible giving reached record highs, hardly a sign of immorality…charity for your fellow man.
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/J…
I think that we must agree to disagree on this issue. It doesn't mean I think you are a bad person or anything, simply that I disagree with you on this one issue. Have a nice day
Well, if everyone agreed with each other,earth would be a boring place. Hope you have a nice day as well!
I thought this was a site about plane rides?!?
Aaron…whatever gave you that impression? 🙂
Hee, hee!! 🙂
I believe that reason I'm getting so much flack for my comments, is because THE TRUTH HURTS!
Morgan, please believe that if it makes you feel better. I for one believe you are getting flack for making unsubstantiated claims based on spurious "facts" gathered from opinion websites. Then, when confronted about this you resort essentially to the "I'm rubber, you're glue" argument, or personal attacks.
Just look around, man. People don't help each other like they used to, more killings, more prisons overflowing, kids killing each other at school. The proof is all around.
More foodbanks, more charities, and more donations to charities than ever before too. Anecdotal experience, like you keep citing is NOT, I'll repeat, NOT proof. No matter how many times you say it, it isn't necessarily true. We have problems, people can be jerks, but I know for a fact violence and crimes existed before. Ever hear of race riots, lynchings, and the crusades? Hundreds, thousand, even millions of people impacted by these things…they are all but gone now…so while some things are new or have grown, others have gone away.
Hugh, is this all this all that you're life consist of? I notice that there are about 8 people on this website that does nothing but pick apart & argue with everyone! Evidently each of you live some extremely dull lives.
I know the people aren't nearly what they used to be at all. I also know, based on the comments by you & others that you all are, for the most part, as liberal as they come. Liberalism is destroying every fiber of this Great Nation.
This is ridiculous. Every time Hugh answers you in a reasonable manner, you resort to comments such as "is this all this all you're life consist of?" Setting aside the incorrect grammar usage (or at least the horrendous typing and proofreading skills), you continue to resort to personal attacks. It seems to me that you are significantly lacking in your debate skills at the very least, and possibly feel threatened due to Hugh's superior use of factual information. I will agree with you that culturally, there seems to be a significant leaning towards a sense of entitlement–however, that's my opinion…not, as Hugh states, a fact.
My oh my, you REALLY don't know me well. I am as far from a Liberal as one can possibly be. I am as right wing conservative as they come. WHY would you think that just because I see good in people that I must be a liberal?
I also see the bad in people, I'm not blinded by some ideology into thinking everyone is awesome, and we live in Mayberry. I just don't believe that people are worse now, or more immoral or evil than at some other random point in history.
You need to grow up and learn to accept criticism, and learn to deal with people not agreeing with you, at the very least you need to learn to make a convincing, rational, compelling argument. I will however agree with your last sentence.
Ron, thanks for bringing this MISTAKE to my attention.
My intention was to post, "is this all that your life consists of?"
I'm sure english teachers everywhere applaud you!
Morgan,
For someone that would probably espouse to being a Christian, you sure have a terrible outlook on life, people and God's creation. Geesh, I thought being a Christian was about being full of joy, God's love, etc… It seems that your attention is more focused on the things of this earth, than the things of above.
You my friend, need to quit dwelling on the negative, and focus on the postitive. For with your attitude, you are making yourself miserable…and attempting to bring others with you….that doesn't seem very Godly.
I like your casual writing style, OP. Nice of you to stay chill, nice of the parents to be considerate.
All this BS about Americans being totally amoral and totally different from 1987 raises both my eyebrows, though. I don't consider myself a "good" person but if this happened to me I'd handle it the same way…
You know this is basically the exact same story as the one I just read. It's called Youngster's Flight From Hell, but the boy is 10 and his parents don't even acknowledge the girl that tells the helped him. It was so rude. It was the poor kid's first time flying and his parents abandoned him four seats ahead. About an hour into it, he started crying, and when the girl asked the parents if they wanted to switch seats, they just said that he would be okay and waved her off. Rude much. You seriously are a good person for helping and staying calm.