Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt • Hacker News Board

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#41

Post by DanBC » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:41 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #18

powertower wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do NASCAR hats and racist tattoos have to do with this? This person knowing full well about the hysteria around terrorism, bombs, and air flights went out of his way to cause an incident, and is now complaining about "white racists", unfair treatment, and the airlines. All he had to do was show up dressed in a normal tee-shirt. But this wasn't good enough for him. He had to make a statement. In a cramped space o…

They have a lot to do with it, actually. My point is that if some speech, communicated by wearing a T-shirt and nothing else, is actionable, then perhaps other forms of speech should be actionable, too. This person did not "go out of his way" to cause an incident. He wore a T-shirt and that is all he did. "Making a statement" is ok. This is America. We supposedly protect that right, even when we do not agree with the…

You do not stand in a theatre and shout "fire!" unless there is a fire.

You do not use the "bomb" word in an airport, unless you suspect something is a bomb.

How many people need to be pulled off flights for people to understand that sometimes you just don't need to wear the t-shirt (that looks creepily white power) covered in BOMB DEATH KILL.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#42

Post by bithive123 » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:42 PM UTC

Last time I went through airport security the TSA agent kept pestering me to empty my pockets, after I found a dollar bill in one. When I produced a kleenex (tissue), he got all indignant "You can have nothing in your pockets, sir! That's not nothing, it's something!" so I placed it in a plastic bin and told him "here, you can scan that."

I was really annoyed but I knew they stopped exercising any judgement at all when they made it illegal to bring a bottle of water through security, even if everyone is 100% certain that it contains only water.

Unfortunately the airport is not the place for this kind of activism. This should be as self-evident as the TSA's idiocy.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#43

Post by otneusnocuh » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:42 PM UTC

awj wrote: post #17

I'd imagine the reality here is like many other times someone got "uppity" or "snarky" with people dealing in public safety: his version of expressing contempt for the situation was interpreted as belligerence and a lack of willingness to cooperate in the establishment of security. I get what he was trying to do. I even agree with his opinions on the situation. But if that shirt represents the attitude he held in the…

Yeah, let's all make up our own narrative of what happened.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#44

Post by otneusnocuh » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:43 PM UTC

bithive123 wrote: post #42

Last time I went through airport security the TSA agent kept pestering me to empty my pockets, after I found a dollar bill in one. When I produced a kleenex (tissue), he got all indignant "You can have nothing in your pockets, sir! That's not nothing, it's something!" so I placed it in a plastic bin and told him "here, you can scan that." I was really annoyed but I knew they stopped exercising any judgement at all wh…

"Unfortunately the airport is not the place for this kind of activism."

Then where is? Facebook?

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#45

Post by awj » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:44 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #29

awj wrote: post #17

I'd imagine the reality here is like many other times someone got "uppity" or "snarky" with people dealing in public safety: his version of expressing contempt for the situation was interpreted as belligerence and a lack of willingness to cooperate in the establishment of security. I get what he was trying to do. I even agree with his opinions on the situation. But if that shirt represents the attitude he held in the…

Right, just like those uppity negroes deserved to be put in their place back in the day.

We really need another version of Godwin's Law, but for slavery instead of Nazis.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#46

Post by otneusnocuh » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:48 PM UTC

dhimes wrote: post #14

What an immature little creep. There are plenty of people who are nervous about flying but who have to do so anyway due to family or business or what-have-you. So he shows up in this shirt-- why?? What's really the point? To get in the TSA workers' faces? To look like a tough guy to the scared grandma, who needed one less thing to worry about on the flight? Fuck off. Kudos to the pilot who made a decision based on th…

Are you American? Have you any care for history? Do you honestly think theres something wrong with protesting what you think is an enormous government misstep with a t-shirt?

I assure you your grandma is a strong woman. Get real.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#47

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:48 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #18

powertower wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do NASCAR hats and racist tattoos have to do with this? This person knowing full well about the hysteria around terrorism, bombs, and air flights went out of his way to cause an incident, and is now complaining about "white racists", unfair treatment, and the airlines. All he had to do was show up dressed in a normal tee-shirt. But this wasn't good enough for him. He had to make a statement. In a cramped space o…

They have a lot to do with it, actually. My point is that if some speech, communicated by wearing a T-shirt and nothing else, is actionable, then perhaps other forms of speech should be actionable, too. This person did not "go out of his way" to cause an incident. He wore a T-shirt and that is all he did. "Making a statement" is ok. This is America. We supposedly protect that right, even when we do not agree with the…

[deleted]

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#48

Post by cwisecarver » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:48 PM UTC

The morale of the story is don't fly Delta.

They're a business and they have every right to throw someone off the plane to enhance passenger comfort. He made it through the TSA checks so we can't blame them. The only way to explain to Delta that you don't want your freedom of expression or speech violated is to not fly on their planes. Let all the passengers that want to overreact to a t-shirt, something completely benign, fly Delta and everyone else can fly one of the other carriers.

Everyone's freedom stays intact.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#49

Post by awj » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:49 PM UTC

saraid216 wrote: post #37

awj wrote: post #17

I'd imagine the reality here is like many other times someone got "uppity" or "snarky" with people dealing in public safety: his version of expressing contempt for the situation was interpreted as belligerence and a lack of willingness to cooperate in the establishment of security. I get what he was trying to do. I even agree with his opinions on the situation. But if that shirt represents the attitude he held in the…

> But if that shirt represents the attitude he held in the whole encounter, it's no surprise things went to shit. It's not surprising, but it's also not right. Cops who don't know how to deal with an antagonistic attitude aren't really useful anywhere that deals directly with the public.

I agree, they aren't. But here we're talking about TSA agents (who more or less acted appropriately, in my opinion) and Delta employees. I expect neither of these to perform well when balancing public safety against antagonistic attitudes. Especially the Delta employees.

Re: Man kicked off flight by pilot for wearing anti-TSA shirt

#50

Post by saraid216 » Wed, Aug 22, 2012, 9:51 PM UTC

awj wrote: post #49

saraid216 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But if that shirt represents the attitude he held in the whole encounter, it's no surprise things went to shit. It's not surprising, but it's also not right. Cops who don't know how to deal with an antagonistic attitude aren't really useful anywhere that deals directly with the public.

I agree, they aren't. But here we're talking about TSA agents (who more or less acted appropriately, in my opinion) and Delta employees. I expect neither of these to perform well when balancing public safety against antagonistic attitudes. Especially the Delta employees.

That's what training is for. If it's ineffective, then it needs to be more effective. If the employee hasn't received it, then they shouldn't be handling customers. Same with the NFTA officers.