Posted on 07/12/2007 9:10:39 AM PDT by Abathar
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- A Georgia mother said she wants answers and action after she and her baby were kicked off a plane.
Kate Penland said she was glad to board the plane in Houston to visit her father in Oklahoma after an 11-hour delay. But she said a rude and aggressive flight attendant caused her to get to Oklahoma a day late.
Penland thinks her 19-month-old son, Garren, has a bubbly personality. But Penland said when they were aboard a Continental Express plane, a flight attendant became annoyed by Garren's personality when he kept saying three words.
"As we started taxiing, he started saying, 'Bye, bye plane,'" said Penland. "At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, 'It's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up.'"
In disbelief, Penland asked the woman if she was kidding. It was then, Penland said, the flight attendant went too far.
"She then said, 'You know, it's called baby Benadryl.' And I said, 'Well, I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight,'" Penland said.
Penland said when the other passengers began speaking up on her behalf, the flight attendant got angrier and soon announced they were turning around and that Penland and Garren were going to be taken off the plane.
"I was crying, I was upset and I was thinking, 'What am I going to do? I don't have anything with me. I don't have any more diapers for the baby, no juice, no milk," said Penland.
The mother said she later learned the flight attendant told the pilot that she had threatened her. Penland said that never happened.
Express Jet Airlines released a statement that said, "We received Ms. Penland's letter expressing her concerns and intend to investigate its contents."
A fellow passenger told Atlanta TV station WSB that none of the other passengers had problems with Garren and that Penland never threatened the flight attendant. Penland said she is considering legal action.
Joke RR, joke :)
tee-hee
Honey, I forgot to tell you........
OK.....I’m pretty sure that they would have given her milk or juice and she COULD have bought DIAPERS at the airport!
Educated intelligent people (whom I know but will not name)have even been known to forget to bring diapers.
Traveling with toddlers is a logistical nightmare.
I only hope the poor lady and her baby were not forced to sleep on the floor of the airport.
The stewardess clearly did not give a damn about the baby. This does not bode well for our society.
Obviously you or your wife are the higly educated people you are talking about....or am I wrong?
Moo!
I don’t have a wife.
I have a husband.
I would swear on a stack of bibles that I have never forgotten diapers.
I know some people who are very well educated and loving parents who forgot to bring diapers on a trip and ended up buying diapers at an airport which were so large they had to belt the diapers around the baby with string.
You would be surprised at what frazzled parents can forget.
Not me of course!
That’s my problem, only I didn’t think of it. I just don’t trust anything I read in the paper anymore, how could I. But the idea of the pilot turning around and what that entails . . .
I just wonder what the story is.
Haven’t flown on Delta since they treated my son and I poorly when he was 2. He is now 16 and I still let people know how awful they were and recommend they fly on a different airline.
Ping.
I have said for years it would be quite smart of an airline to have a family section in planes.
If I had waited 11 hours, I probably would have said something to the effect of not caring if the attendant had a pleasant flight either! lol
I was specifically told not to use Benadryl to sedate my child on flights. Because of possible side effects without being able to get medical attention.
LOL! Good one. :)
Whew! I thought I was setting myself up for a response like, "Well, there are exceptions to every rule..." LOL. Btw, I saw a news clip, and the mom is NOT unattractive. I don't know what the poster was talking about.
The two posts I had made to you on this thread? Because I honestly don't recall ever posting anything to you before, and if I had been inspired to come up posts to you that could be construed as denigrating or overly critical I would think I would have remembered you.
kids...young kids and babies can handle being on a plane just fine.
99% of the people on the plane realize a kid might find things a bit uncomfortable and will allow for some “forgiveness”. its the 1% unexperienced that get all pissy about it.
More likw what happened to flying in general? Flying used to be fun and pleasurable. Now, it’s a chore and you have to deal with delays because more people are traveling and airports cannot expand further, especially in the Northeast. Building a new airport takes time and may not fly well with people.
LOL :)
My husband was seated next to a large man on his last flight—he decided that both arms rests were his. He kept hitting the control buttons on whatever my husband was listening to/watching. Finally he had to say something to him.
Lots of expert advice on these parent threads. It’s usually the ones without kids that seem to know the most. (/sarcasm)
Actually, when asking our doctor, “We’re taking our baby on a flight, anything we should do?” the response was, right away, “Just give the baby benadryl 30 mn before the flight.” Giving benadryl isn’t doping the baby up, and anyway, it doesn’t really knock them out either. They sleep for a bit and then they wake up wanting many many things.
So, to you, drugging children is just another form of discipline. When a small child is saying, “Bye, bye, plane” repeatedly, you think it’s the parent’s RESPONSIBILITY to drug the kid quiet. Wow.
No, actually, most kids don’t need drugging (ADD, etc.), they need responsible parenting and discipline. If you are going to fly with kids, you need to bring books, portable DVD players, etc., to keep them occupied. The plane is not a playground and some of us love to read. Also, if there is going to be a long delay, please consider getting a hotel room and waiting for a flight the next day.
The mother remarking that she would not drug him just so the FA could have a pleasant flight makes me wonder who else she would have said that to and what else wouldn’t she do, including telling the child to be quiet.
I watched some video of this story and the FA was justified in removing them. As soon as you board a plane, the flight crew has the final say in all decisions and situations.
Maybe the mother should try being a flight attendant for a few days. She might experience what they have to deal with. Also, watch Airline, the show about Southwest on A&E—some of the people they dealt with would make your blood boil.
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