(Southwest) Airline Makes Man Change Suggestive Shirt

[sabra]

Source: Local6

TAMPA, Fla. -- Southwest Airlines said it plans to apologize to a Florida passenger after an employee forced him to change out of a sexually suggestive T-shirt or risk getting thrown off the plane.

...

Largo resident Joe Winiecki said he was sitting in the last row of a Columbus-to-Tampa flight when an employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out or get off the plane.

The shirt, bought in the Virgin Islands, uses sexual double entendre to promote a fictional fishing tackle shop. The largest lettering reads "Master Baiter."

Winiecki argued that the airline was violating his right to free speech but changed rather than risk getting kicked off the flight and missing a day of work.

"It's really disappointing in this country when I can't travel from Ohio to Florida with the clothes on my back," Winiecki said. "Who's to say what's offensive and what's not?"

Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said the employee made a mistake.



Read more: http://www.local6.com/news/14276323/detail.html

[DrDan]

1. so if it were to be spelled in an alternative way, would Southwest still admit to a mistake?

[RamboLiberal]

2. Good grief - is Southwest employing a bunch of Christian Fundies

Starting to sound like it! As an adult I'd get a chuckle out of it, heck even as a teen I would've. And probably anyone under 10 wouldn't have gotten the joke. And anyone who would be offended I say so what, that shirt won't hurt your morals.

[babylonsister]

4. They must be getting tired of apologizing to people. nt

[tularetom]

3. Obviously Mr Winiecki isn't thinking of the children

It's OK if they get sick and die but in the meantime we'll protect 'em from seeing a t shirt with a dirty word on it by god.

[LakeSamish706]

5. Not sure why anyone flys this airline... They seem to be gathering...

a history of abusing peoples rights... This isn't the first instance that I have read about on DU regarding SouthWest and their practices...

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

25. I fly Southwest because their staff don't treat me like shit!

Southwest and Frontier seem to be the only airlines in America that don't go out of their way to hire the most hostile, lazy and belligerent employees not already working for the DMV!

While the clothing police routine seems stupid, this of the three known cases atleast seems a little reasonable.

[damntexdem]

30. cheap fares

But not convenient for me to use.

[iconoclastic cat]

6. Southwest is an example of the trickle-down fascism in the U.S.

How many stories have come out about their pilots and sky waitresses harassing passengers and capriciously throwing them off planes? There's also the planned move to eliminate preferential seating for parents with young kids and the disabled. It's all part of the "You're On Your Own" mantra of the conservative movement.

[MindPilot]

9. They sure seem to fancy themselves the passenger fashion police

Unfortunately a "You're On Your Own" concept is not what's being implemented. If it were I would be able to buy a ticket and get on a plane.

No, what is trickling down is "Big Brother will keep you safe from all dangers, real and imagined."

[musette_sf]

17. "planned move

to eliminate preferential seating for parents with young kids and the disabled"

no, they are not eliminating pre-seating for the disabled.

what they are eliminating is the abuse of the privileges of pre-seating of families with small children, that seems to now occur with some regularity.

i don't like Southwest and i don't fly them if i don't have to, but you're making a generalization that is incorrect.

[iconoclastic cat]

19. Agreed. Thanks for clarifying. nt

[Carni]

31. I had a Steward literally ATTACK ME on a flight

We were flying with our then 1 year old daughter. We had purchased a seat for her and she was in a carrier in the seat next to me.

The flight attendant was an asshole from the get go--he clearly didn't like kids and the worst part was... she wasn't crying, wasn't doing anything annoying...we were just sitting there in our seats minding our own business. I don't think she even made any noise throughout the flight.

At some point in the flight she fell asleep with a bottle full of juice and the juice leaked over the side of the carrier onto the seat of the plane. As soon as I picked up on it... obviously I put the bottle away and then took a number of napkins out of my purse, cleaned up the juice that was on the seat (there wasn't that much I have spilled drinks myself on planes that made more of a mess)
Then I put the napkins in a flight sickness bag, so that I could throw everything out when the FA went by to collect trash from the beverage service (I didn't want to hold sticky wet napkins... little did I know what a fracus I would cause)

SOOOOO...when he gets to us with his trash bag I started to put the flight sickness bag in the trash and he yells "I'm not taking that, it's a diaper" I said "No, it's a bag with some napkins and wrappers in it" He wouldn't take the bag and I had to hold it for the rest of the flight.

When we landed we waited until the other passengers deplaned because we had an infant with us and didn't want to get in the way (keep in mind I am still stuck carrying this trash in my hand trying to lug a one year old around in a carrier) So as we are walking down the aisle I hear the FA yell "This seat needs to be cleaned these fucking pigs let a baby piss all over it"

I swear to God that is what came out of the man's mouth and I was so shocked I didn't know how to react because it was so unexpected and bizarre.

After my initial shock, I turned around and walked up to the creep and said what is your name-
he said "Get the fuck away from me I don't have to give you my name" I said "what is your name?
I WANT YOUR NAME" -- at that point my husband was like what the hell is going on and we were near the cock-pit. The FA JUMPED ME and the co-pilot grabbed him and yanked him back before he actually touched me.

Would you believe that after we deplaned, the people at the gate acted like it was no big deal?
I wanted to file a report with the airport security/police (whatever they are, they didn't have TSA back then) and we waited and waited for a cop only to be told that because the incident happened on the plane that they didn't really have any jurisdiction.

Then we waited even longer to talk with a so called supervisor for TWA and he was terribly sorry but didn't know what he was supposed to do about it (I ended up with 200$ in 25 dollar off coupons for TWA that we never used)

I checked with an attorney the following week and got basically the same lame reaction...
if something happens ON the plane -- you're screwed, because it falls under some no man's land legally (unless that has changed)

I guess the point to this story is, if some pissy power mongering FA or other moron feels like giving a passenger grief there's zero that the passenger can do about it-- so like you said, you're on your own!

BTW the incident decribed above happened in like 1997, so I cannot even IMAGINE how much power they have NOW, or how horrifying it must be to fly commercially these days!

I pretty much stopped flying after 911 and all the security bullshit started-- thank God I don't have to fly for business reasons!

[iconoclastic cat]

32. That's f'ing insane.

While I haven't flown too much since 9/11 either, the flights that I have taken have not been anything other than annoying due to delays. I also find it very doubtful that the steward could avoid being charged with something now. What lunacy!

[Carni]

35. I seriously think the guy was nuts

I have never had anything so weird happen before or since (thank God)

The funny thing about it was, people used to practically jump through hoops over my daughter because she looked like the Gerber Baby (to the point where it was a bit much lol)

God knows I can be a jerk when provoked on flights but I was sweetness and light on that one--I don't know what in the name of God got stuck in that guy's craw--but it was a horrible experience!

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. Oh well, at least they're starting to turn into equal-opportunity discriminators

They've tossed women off flights for short skirts and cleavage.

Maybe they should just change their name to Burqair?

on edit: corrected spelling of burqa.

[Mike Daniels]

8. I guess I shouldn't wear my "Support Your Local Hooker" shirt from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center

if I ever fly this airline.

It's obvious the picture of a fishing hook on the front pocket and the picture of a big blue marlin on the back would totally escape them.

[MindPilot]

10. My "Good Bush / Bad Bush" t-shirt would get me sent to Gitmo n/t

[FormerRepub]

11. What I don't understand is..

I don't understand why it's a big deal to Southwest Airlines since most people remain seated during the greatest percentage of the time they're on the plane anyway......you don't even see most of your fellow airline passengers for more than a few seconds except unless they're standing beside you waiting to deplane.......

[sdfernando]

12. I HAVE to fly this airline soon to play

at a festival. They made all the arrangements. Perhaps I'll wear my yellow t-shirt with a picture of the blivet & darth cheney covering each nipple and the text "Who needs brains when you have boobs like these?"

edit for spelling error

[everydayis911]

16. You should

Wear that shirt. LOL Maybe you too can get TV time and go around and display your shirt. What about all the Viagra commercials we have to watch. What about the childrenS? They might start asking questions about E.D then what will christian mommy and daddy say to jr then?

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. You poor sap.

Southwest is the worst. They hire perky people in an attempt to mitigate for herding you around the airport like a stockyard. They overbook every flight and seat passengers first-come-first-served, so the passengers elbow one another to get to the front of the line. When I worked for a struggling company which pinched every penny it could we called it "Darwin air" - travel for the fittest.

[WritersBlock]

13. I supposed the "Bite Me" t-shirts sold in the Shreveport airport are out of the question, eh?

Just as well SWA don't fly to Louisiana, I guess (or at least they didn't used to do so).

They're beginning to sound like the UK's EasyJet, what with this apparent attitude of domination over and condescension toward their customers. Which is sad, because I remember SWA's early days, when they were a fun airline to fly.

[frazzled]

14. All these one-off nutty stories

are starting to piss me off a bit. So what if some demented employee did something whack that the airline doesn't have as its policy?

These are merely "news of the weird" things that don't really say anything about society in general. Not alll women are asked to remove their bras at courthouse security points; not all passengers are asked to remove their juvenile suggestive t-shirts. Why do we pay so much attention to them?

Before I get slammed, let me explain further. The Republicans have always liked to use these "stories of the weird" to try to paint some catastrophic picture of something they don't like (remember examples of "welfare queens" they used? sure, you can always find one system-abuser out there, but the anecdotal evidence never adds up; Rush just tried to use the example of one "phony" soldier to uphold his remarks about all soldiers who disagree with policy.)

These one-off anecdotes about employees-run-amok are not good examples for us to be using about abridgement of civil rights: we need to be truthful about where the real stories of civil-rights abridgement is happening. These are just colorful stories of the weird ... fun, but they don't mean anything.

[Fovea]

18. So what you are saying

is that it is wrong to counter frame an argument using an example from the far side of the curve? Even if your opponents are doing it to you?

Even if the audience is so numb and dumb that you can't get them to respond to anything that doesn't explode, or hit the referee with a chair? Sure it is infantile. But the average voter has supported ** because he seemed like a regular guy-- and because his handlers provided an understandable (if stupid) narrative of the confusing post 1900's world.

We make valid arguments about the average case too. The anomalous does two things, it shows what happens to people outside the new norm, and it sticks in the popular imagination.

And for some, stories do better than spreadsheets. Hence the enduring popularity of Homer, over say, clay tally shards in linear B. We had the policy wonk from hell, and he ran a far too narrow race against a drunken, coke snorting serial liar. But it was a mature, serious minded race that Al Gore won, and he won it far too narrowly.

Even Al Gore realized this, I think.

We are a sick nation in many ways, but our rational processes are so clogged with anxiety that voters need more slaps in the face, and fewer calm detailed explanations. Why?

Because the roof is on fire.

[DWilliamsamh]

23. Thanks for that ...

I actually kinda agreed with the point of view re: the anomalous nature of these "clothing banned" stories. But you response is quite logical - not to mention true. It is time for passionate and strong use of all honorable tools in the chest. Our house is on fire and there is no time to mince words.

Besides even as I typed this I am remembering the very first "you can't stay here in that shirt story," I remember being reported. It was the one in which an invited guest of a member of the US House of Representatives was thrown out of the State of the Union speech a couple years ago for having the audacity to wear a t-shirt that had he number of American troops killed in Iraq at that time printed on it. That was it. No other message at all. Maybe THAT's where these SWA folks get the idea that there is some unwritten enforceable dress code.

[frazzled]

26. You make a good point ...

But unless you care either about a jackass in a tasteless t-shirt or an overzealous, unauthorized employee, I doubt that anyone's imagination wil be particularly stoked. These stories don't have anything to tell you unless you are a wearer of suggestive sexist t-shirts.

What you say makes sense for the arts: which is why Homer has a universal impact even today; the story he told was bigger than life and possessed of a timeless urgency and universal themes.

I happened to attend a performance of Thyestes (by Seneca) last night. The House of Atreus, though over-the-top to the max, had some lessons to teach about power, revenge, and human emotion. I doubt that a "real" story about some schmuck who got his toga yanked at the Colisseum would have had as much impact as this fictional story of a brother who feeds a meal to his sibling of his own children's bones and flesh.

So if we are going to pass around stories that touch on the anxious state of our nation, I would turn to our playwrights and filmmakers and sculptors and novelists and painters to tell them better than the National Enquirer. But then, we got rid of arts support in this nation over a decade ago. Our souls could use some guidance and replenishment.

[Fovea]

27. The arts are dangerous in a totalitarian state

Ask Yevushenko, or Joachin Rodrigo.

The thing about works like the Orestia, for example, is that they are powerful and effective myths about not just the fall of Agamemnon, but about the rise of civil law.

In Shaxperian drama, the groundlings were sold different lines than the folks sitting higher than the orange sellers. This is important, I think to remember, is that we can show a more compelling narrative for the strength of community over the desire for endless wealth. Amerika has groundlings too, and their vote counts as much as Noam Chomsky's. So if we have Weekly World News on our side, so much the better.

We have sold our children's health for the sake of the future lotto winners of Amerika, our liberty for safety assured to us by liars. There are powerful stories in Amerika, but we create the frame for oppression of the common by first showing the uncommon. We set up serious violations of civil rights when we turn our back on the trivial and outre.

If we have no Homer or Aeschylus yet, we have to rely on Moore, Franken, and the Daily Show.

[iconoclastic cat]

33. What matters is Southwest's (lack of a) response to these incidents.

That makes a pattern. See?

[RaRa]

15. Would they make me change my child's "Mother Sucker" shirt?

a pro-breastfeeding shirt? Gee, wouldn't it be funny if a really large group were traveling together with clothes that offended them? Would they kick everyone off? What a bunch of idiots.

[Enrique]

20. employees make mistakes

I know I have

[truebrit71]

21. Here's the deal...these employees are obviously getting the idea in their heads..

...that they can be fashion-nazis from SOMEWHERE? Or are we to assume that all of these employees, individually, have decided to tackle the thorny problem of flying attire all by their lonesomes...

I
DON'T
THINK
SO.

This policy came from the top...

[Demit]

28. That's the nut of it. It's releasing everyone's inner Dwight Shrute.

It's more than one-off stories. It's an atmosphere that's censorious. There must be employee meetings where management is giving direction to employees that they have to WATCH OUT for aberrant behavior.

[RantinRavin]

24. Can someone explain this to me

"Winiecki argued that the airline was violating his right to free speech but changed rather than risk getting kicked off the flight and missing a day of work."

Is there any law that says an airline can't do that ?

[sarcasmo]

29. Welcome to the Police State.

The good thing is that guy didn't' die handcuff in a holding cell.

[yellowcanine]

34. That Southwest employee obviously has a dirty mind. He who is good at baiting hooks is the

master baiter. What else would you call him?