I thought I would share a recent experience I had on a Virgin flight from Sydney to Brisbane. The incident left me angry, embarrassed and acutely aware of how society has become fearful of everyone. To the point that we are all presumed guilty and treated appropriately.
Is it media, the Internet or is society beginning to crumble away as human contact becomes lessened and we retreat into a cyber world of posts tweets and blogs?
But I digress,
It was a Sunday afternoon when I boarded the plane. I came to a row of three seats and there were two young boys ( about 10 years old) seated in the window and middle seat. I was allocated the window but knowing how much fun it was looking out the window as a child, I let the little bloke sit in my seat. I sat on the aisle seat and started to read a magazine as the pre-flight checks were being completed. After about 10 minutes, a stewardess approached me and asked whether I was in the correct seat. I explained how the child was technically in my seat but it was fine and he could have it. She quizzically acknowledged this and walked away. Although this seemed weird I didn’t think much of it and went back to my magazine.
The fasten seat belt sign was illuminated and we were clear for takeoff. Then the stewardess approached me again.
‘Sir we are going have to ask you to move’
‘Why’, I said.
‘Well, because you are male, you can’t be seated next to two unaccompanied minors’.
Shocked, I replied, ‘ Isn’t this sexist and discriminatory?’
She replied, ‘I am sorry, but that is our policy’.
By this stage a few people from the surrounding rows had started to look around and wonder what the problem was. The stewardess walked two rows up to the aisle seat across from me. She spoke to a 20 year old women and asked if she would mind swapping seats because I wasn’t allowed to sit next to the children. That was the explanation given.
The girl obliged . As I collected my things from the seat pocket I could see people looking at me and wondering why I was being moved. I was red from embarrassment. I felt like I was being judged and found guilty of a crime I hadn’t committed. It was an uncomfortable situation and I felt ashamed which was a weird feeling because I hadn’t done anything wrong.
As I sat in my seat for the 1 hour flight I started to get quite angry at the treatment I had suffered and couldn’t help but feel like I was being held accountable for all the paedophilic scum bags on the planet.
The irony of the situation is that I am a emergency service worker and if the children were in trouble I would be given the responsibility of protecting them. Men are policemen, doctors, social workers, teachers… people who are entrusted to the care of children but according to Virgin once you step on one of their planes you are a pedophile or a potential pedophile.
So being the narc I am I wrote to Virgin complaining of the treatment that I had been subjected to. I had stated in my email that women can also be predators . In response I was quoted their policy.
“Unaccompanied children will have spare seats allocated next to them when they are flying. In the case of a full plane then a female will be sat next to the children”.
Further to this I was told that they had incidents of children being interfered with before and they were all men.
So my suspicions were confirmed. Because I am a man I am presumed to be a predator and because Virgin were chasing the almighty dollar they overbooked their plane and allocated the spare seat next to children. It seems Virgin has the children’s best interests at heart until money is involved.
Shouldn’t the spare seat be deemed occupied if this is their policy. NO individual male or female should be allocated this seat. By allowing women to sit there and not men is blatant discrimination. BLATANT. I guarantee if this policy was reversed and women were not allowed to sit there and men were it wouldn’t last for too long.
This has inspired me to send another letter to Virgin and suggest some amendments to their seating policies.
Amendment 1# Men should only be allowed to sit next to other men.
Because after all the majority of individuals who commit rape are men. Shouldn’t we then presume that we are all rapists and cant be trusted to sit next to any female. Actually that discounts male to male rape. Sorry.
Amendment 2# No male should sit next to anyone.
A spare seat will be allocated next to any male at any time to ensure the safety of women and children.
What we all need to realize is that as soon as we step into the outside world we are potentially vulnerable. There are dangers every where. In our attempts to lessen the danger we must be aware that we are not projecting our insecurities onto innocent parties. Not all men are pedophiles or rapists and we shouldn’t be made to feel this way.
I would like to finish by saying that if we didn’t work so hard on protecting pedophiles and giving them new identities it may be a little easier to identify these scumbags rather than being mistaken for one.
Rant on,
Johnny
You see you’re problem is that you are an emergency worker. Now if you were a Priest…
ha yeah Kieran, well spotted. Recently a news report told us of a couple (man and woman) cruising in car in an ordinary lower class suburb of Brisbane, trying to abduct young children from their own front yards…this has nothing to do with the internet. Forgive society for being hyper-vigilant, but yes we should include all people in our gaze, but keep and especially intensive eye on priests, and other clergymen.
Clergymen – yes, including Catholic priests – are no more likely to be sexual predators than anyone else: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/04/07/mean-men.html Don’t turn a good post about an offensive discriminatory policy into an opportunity to stir up some hate and bolster some stereotypes. The Catholic crisis was a result of idiot bishops not dealing with the abusers in their midst, not priests being more likely to abuse than doctors, lawyers, estate agents or whatever.
Jacques, I fear you may have misundersterstood the deliberate irony intended by my statement. I was indeed trying to make the point that society these days seems more than happy to make sweeping generalisations of whole groups based on the behaviour of a small number. Cheers.
Finally men are standing up to bitch behavior courtesy of feminism’s entitlement regime: http://manhood101.com
Steve
You are a disgusting piece of shit
Why bring up the priest thing? More college professors and coaches have been caught being pedophiles than priests. Penn State ring a bell?
Everytime I see a story about child rape it involves a female teach and an underage boy.
I wrote this before I read your blog.
In a video about how children need to be aware of strangers, “Why is the stranger always a man?”
When a man enters a park without a child in tow, people, men included, put up their natural guard against him but not a woman. Because it’s assumed that when a lone woman enters a playground she is there with one of her children.
How many times do we hear stories of a woman kidnapping a child at a park?
Why couldn’t this man be viewed as a protector of the children? Maybe help them feel comfortable and be there for them in case of an emergency? Oh, I forgot, men cannot nurture and/or take care of a child in need.
Thanks for filing a complaint and sharing your comments on the blog.
Are you a dad, Johnny? If you are, I invite you to visit this website about a new book project – “Dads Behaving Dadly” http://dadsbehavingdadly.com
Hogan
Love your response, Kieran C!
This is disgraceful and I’m so sorry that you experienced this. How society has changed. In tribal days, a woman would watch her kids playing from afar. She would see a man standing nearby and think, ‘It’s okay. There is a man with them.’ Nowadays, the woman would react with caution.
If my husband were in that situation, I couldn’t think of a more caring person to watch over those children.
Yes that may be true & the same goes for my husband. But at the same time my husband would not whine about being asked to move either because he knows the importance of protecting children. That need would go above all else to him. He would not lose his dignity due to this. He knows who he is, what he is!! Some airline would not be a threat to his ego or pride! This man had his pride bruised. That’s all it is. He needs to grow up! Poor little man! Hope this is the worse thing that ever happens to him. He’d be mighty blessed then!! Please, he needs to find something worth importance to whine about!!
Melissa, you need to get back in the kitchen.
Oh, I’m sorry, did you find that sexist? It wasn’t sexist, it was just your pride being bruised. Don’t worry.
They could’ve handled this in a much better way. I suggest you see a lawyer and take them to the cleaners.
While I disagree with the way you were treated, I can see what they are trying to achieve with this policy, but there really has to be a better way of going about it. It’s not fair that you are made to feel like a second rate citizen and be made to feel like shit – you paid for your seat, therefore you deserve to sit in it. You didn’t ask to be sat next to two little kids. If they are going to have this sort of idiotic policy in place, they should teach their staff the correct way to communicate it so that you are not left wondering what you did wrong.
For them to offer the excuse of “He’s not allowed to sit next to children” is the worst thing of all I think. I have to admit, if I was the one asked to swap seats with you and given that reason, I would be wondering why and probably thinking the worst.
If they are so concerned for the welfare of minors travelling unaccompanied, perhaps they shouldn’t allow it – imagine how much extra money they could make if all those parents and relatives had to travel with their kids from now on! Hopefully though your post will get Virgin to reassess their policy and make it a little less insulting to people in the future (though I doubt you’ll be flying with them anytime soon!).
Anyway, I reckon you might have dodged a bit of a bullet – I know I hate getting stuck next to kids on flights, they get real fidgety real quick.
Reblogged this on bitsnbooks and commented:
In our haste to protect those who need it, are we losing sight of exactly how to do it?
I agree.
The reality is that most sexual crimes are committed by someone the victim knows. In this respect, seating a ‘strange’ male next to a child is actually safer for the child than allowing them to sit next to their father, uncle etc.
This is straight up misandry, and should always be called out.
Don’t know what misandry is, dear reader? You know what misogyny is don’t you?
Misandry is all around us, this is just one of the very many examples out in the wild. Fight back.
Making sure we can all identity those with a record of molesting children isn’t really a solution, because most such crimes are committed by people who are never caught (or who are not caught until much later). Focusing on a few identified individuals distracts us from where the geatest risk to children lies – within their own families. Virgin’s policy does the same. Stranger assaults are a very, very small part of the danger children face. Focusing on strangers helps society paper over more serious problems.
(And yes, they were unacceptably rude to you.)
very good Jennie. I’m a long-time feminist and think this man was treated wrongly/unfairly. I don’t know who came up with this sexist policy but I suspect it wasn’t feminists who run the airline.
Anyway, it’s disgusting that so many people react, really over-react the way they do in an effort to protect children.There are over 763,000 men, women and children (as young as 8 and 10yrs.old in some states) across the nation required to register. The “crimes” range from urinating in public, sexting, exposure, false accusations by a soon-to-be ex-wife, angry girlfriend, or spiteful student, viewing abusive or suggestive images of anyone 18 years old or younger, solicitation, Romeo and Juliet consensual sexual dating relationships,and a minority of cases… rape and incest
EVEN THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL HAS LEARNED !
‘The system is broken. It’s overwhelmed and I think the public is starting to realize that.
You can’t paint sex offenders with a broad brush.’ (John Walsh, father of Adam Walsh)
The registry is a way to make parents “feel good!” And this attempt by the airline is insulting to men in general and if really thought about would be seen for the sham it is…Now if you multiply 763,000 by 3 or 4 family members of the registrant there are over 2,000,000 folks suffering the collateral damage caused by the registries. Families are harassed, beaten, threatened, forced to leave their church, lose jobs, have signs placed in their yards, and lose friends and family. How is the family supposed to survive and become functional again under these conditions? Here is a little more food for thought. Many of the states contract the on-going maintenance of their registry to a company called Watch Systems and I won’t even go into how much you are/will be paying for what some say is flawed. But, you could vote to keep those 763,000 men, women and children incarcerated at approximately $26,000 per person per year. How about a reasoned approach? Vicki
Women Against Registry.com
free first class airfare to anywhere…anytime. for a year. no sense in being too greedy.
As if this man would want to have any more business with Virgin Australia!. As for Virgin Australia, and any other ‘Policy’ appliers, “Policy” is NO excuse for illegal or discrimimatory conduct.
OOPS. I meant ‘discriminatory”.
Ignoring for a moment that it’s a ridiculous policy, the airline knows in advance who has been assigned each seat (assuming they had been pre-booked, and not given to someone flying standby). I presume that when you book a flight for an unaccompanied minor, you have to indicate as much. And I also presume that they have access to a traveler’s stated gender. This is a situation that should have been quietly avoided or fixed long before it reached the point of needing to publicly embarrass someone.
Alternatively, it seems to me that asking you to take your original seat by the window should have been a reasonable solution. I can understand not wanting to seat unaccompanied minors where they’re “trapped” by a stranger (male or female). Policy or not, they certainly could have handled the situation better. They could have been more apologetic about enforcing the policy. They could have provided a less accusative reason to the young lady who switched seats with you. And they absolutely should have offered you something for your trouble. A free drink, or a voucher for a snack at the airport, or whatever.
What if those kids were yours? Sat close by an unknown man… He can be a firefighters, he can be a teacher, unemployed, priest or even a policeman… I used to be a F/A, and had that kind of situation, but “too late”, the guy touched this little boy, and guess what that guy was? F/A for the same airline traveling on his own for his holidays… Nobody is trustful… Now think about it again… I think this is a normal policy, and you should have understood it.
Many years ago close friend was sexually assaulted on a transpacific flight by a man sitting next to her. Do you think if that airline had a policy of no single men next to single children that would have happened? Grow up John do you think the worst thing that can happen is being asked to change seats. Did it occur to you that by moving you the airline also protects you from any complaint which might be made against you which you might be forced to defend. From a firefighter I really would have expected so much better.
really your response is ignorant and idiotic considering you obviously didn’t read the story the stewardess TOLD another passenger he wasn’t allowed to sit next to the boys .
idiots like you are called trolls
Logic consequence of this airlines policy would be, firefighters should be prevented from saving unattended children’s lifes.
I don’t know what the defamation laws are like in Oz, but it seems like a pretty clear cut case to me. Even if the policy itself is not defamatory–which it is–the way the stewardess communicated with the 20yo girl definitely is.
If I were you I would pursue this as far as you can take it.
ha ha yeay ok. Do that.
ea
O spare me. No one can hassle you if you have the grace to understand the situation.If you hadn’t made a scene, no one else would have noticed.
You had a chip on your shoulder & no one was going to take advantage of MEEE. “I FELT LIKE I WAS BEING JUDGED & FOUND GUILTY”. Go
find a good lawyer & sue those basters. Then schedule appt. w/your shrink. Lay on her couch, suck your thumb & POUT. Those dirty ……. I’ll
teach em to mess w/me.
I loathe sitting next to children on an airplane. I’m pissed off to find out that I’m more likely to get seated next to one. What, females are supposed to be intrinsically good with kids? How sexist is that. Aside from being completely misandrist, this policy is also offensive to women. Gender essentialism strikes again!
I agree. I’m a woman, and I don’t like children. If I were asked to leave my assigned seat and sit next to a child, I would refuse. The policy is offensive to men and women.
Oh please. All they are trying to do is keep children safe. What is more important?? Your pride or these little kids? While yes, these days you never know the kind of person you’re sitting next to regardless if it’s a man or woman. Bottom line, the man poses a higher risk. Fact! That’s some people’s problem these days….Oh no you insulted me, how dare you! Let’s sue & waste money because you wounded my pride! Get a grip & let’s all lend a hand & help protect each other. What the airline needs to do if this is their policy is leave the seat empty at their expense or make the parents pay for the empty seat. But sit back & think if it was your child sitting next to a molester! Everyone would blame the airline & sue the hell out of them for sitting a man next to children flying solo. It’s a no win situation for them.
‘Bottom line, the man poses a higher risk. Fact!’
Really? Sounds more like your opinion.. The seat ought to be empty at all times, which would likely be the outcome of any suing. He was singled out on no basis except for gender as a danger to children. Everyone gets to choose their social causes and sexism is a valid choice.
Lee, not my opinion. Check the statistics!
I have checked the statistics..
lol – what statistics? You don’t provide any – you just rant the same old thing, over and over.
We heard you in your first post!
Really? Do I have to do this? You both seem to be able to get on the internet & look for yourself. Lee, don’t know how you missed it but there are plenty of articles in the Google seach engine. If you really did check Lee then you would know the truth. If you look & know how, you will find the rest. Look up BJS
3/4 of the violent victimizations of children took place in either the victim’s home or the offenders home.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991.
• Males are reported to be the abusers in 80-95% of cases
-Thoringer, D., et al., 1988.
• About 60% of the male survivors sampled report at least one of their perpetrators to be female.
-Mendel, 1993.
• All but 3% of offenders who committed violent crimes against children were male.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991.
•The typical offender is male, begins molesting by age 15, engages in a variety of deviant behavior, and molests an average of 117 youngsters, most of whom do not report the offense.
-Dr. Gene Abel in a National Institute of Mental Health Study.
Yes, I’ve seen statistics of all kinds and also what you are saying. Bear in mind that its pretty difficult to get molested in an airplane and the more logical fear is abduction upon leaving the flight, which someone does not need to sit next to them to do. Statistics are very simply not a good enough answer to the issue.
For example, lets take a look at the statistics found here: http://ygoy.com/2009/07/08/child-abduction-statistics/
Some stats for Non-Family Abduction
-75% of abductors male
Well don’t put the males there, you say.
-67% of them are below 29 yrs of age
Guess we can’t put young adults there either.
At what point does this get silly? I think it already has.
Read Justapedophile….That is the exact reason we need the kind of protection like Virgin has & maybe more. The sick fuck! You want that sitting next to you or your kids! Damn shame because it’s probably happening more than we know!
That’s a troll. >.>
its simple don’t let your children travel alone just because you want to save money .to me if you send your children @ age 10 out alone you the parent should be held accountable for whatever happens the airline needs to fire this woman and change it to be so expensive to send your kids alone (buying whole row of seats would do it) that hiring a nanny to go and come back would be cheaper . its just bad parenting to trust the world not to harm your small child if you left two 10 year old at home alone a problem would arise would it not?
Touch. Pause.engaged
Misandry and sexual discrimination. Just sue them already. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10401416
Since the kid was sitting in your assigned seat, then the airlines should have moved the kids to sit next to a female. The inconvenience should have been placed on the children because the airline knew by name that there would be a male sitting next to the window, with the seating assignment list. So it was the airlines bust that they made you look like a pedophile to the other passengers.
You know it just doesn’t make any sense on one hand western societies go ballistic in protection of children against pedophilia, and then on the other hand society promotes and protects pedophilia through legislation.
I guess one could say that society doesn’t know its ass from a hole in the ground, and neither does the airlines.
You seem to not know of the common dual-gender names. for example, “Jamie, Skyler, Charlie, Casey, Jessie(Most commonly used as short for Jessica, but also used for a guy’s name), Logan, and believe it or not, I’ve got a really close friend who’s a female named Johnie(another of the spelling differences)
I’d have demanded a 1st class seat.
I am glad you brought this event / issue up and hope it results in change. Not just at Virgin Airlines but in greater society as a whole. On the positive side, based on the comments it looks like most people agree that men should not be universally considered predators.
They should have required the child who was in your assigned seat to move to a different seat. Then put the other child in an isle seat thereby putting an empty seat between you and the unaccompanied child. Problem solved.
Sounds like Virigin should have a “no unaccompanied minor” policy if they are really … I mean REALLY… worried about their “safety”.
I imagine it was embarrassing, considering how it was handled. BUT, I think you’re being way too sensitive as to the policy. The policy ROCKS and should stay. Get over yourself and think of someone besides yourself. Like the kids. If you had kids and sent them as an unaccompanied minor on a flight wouldn’t it relieve your mind to know this policy was in place? If you were a real man, you would have volunteered to the flight attendants at the beginning just to remove any thought of impropriety. As a safety to not only the kids, but to yourself. Imagine if the kids were interminable brats that decided it would be fun to accuse you of impropriety during the flight. The airline would hold you for the police, you’d be arrested on landing and then have to pay megabucks to lawyers to prove your innocence. Get over your hurt feelings and realize this is a non issue and applaud the airlines for taking steps to keep children safe.
Dear Fran,
Are you that afraid of men that you think it is proper to assume that all men are potential child rapists?
Do you believe that all Asians are good at math and martial arts?
Do you believe that all females are incapable of horrible deeds and are nothing but nurturing walking uteruses?
Do you believe that women should be excluded from sports activities because of their delicate constitutions?
Do you believe that you are good person?
Can you see where this is going or are you too stupid?
I believe that you are a disgusting, discriminatory pig of a human.
No you moron, I don’t think all men are pedophiles. But I’d rather hurt the itsy bitty feelings of a supposedly mature grown man by asking for his consideration than run the risk of an ACTUAL pedophile one day sitting next to an innocent child and ruining their life forever. Grow up you imbecile. The world is not out to get you!
FRAN your an idiot thinking that this was the proper way to handle this if i walked up to you and said how much do you charge would you get offended??? that’s nowhere close to having to go through a busy airport with the tag he cant sit next to kids get over yourself and look at the big picture here the woman was wrong and you don’t like that fact so piss off . people like you should be shown through a prison just to see the type of people there and then you let us all know if those guys weren’t in prison would they be out to GET YOU!! freaking MORON
Wait, what? He should assume that the airline is going to think he’s a paedophile, and so voluntarily “remove any thoughts of impropriety”? Sorry, when I get on a plane I don’t automatically worry that someone will think I’m a potential murderer, rapist or child molester. I guess I don’t think the way you do.
Well it’s good to see that Virgin Australia are going to review the policy, no such progress with regards to Qantas though. How do we start to apply some pressure to the man-haters who run that company?
If the airline is so concerned about a minors safety, then MOVE THE BLOODY KID!. Put them all around the Flight Attendents, within (kids) arm reach, there – problem solved.
why on earth would he volunteer to move?? He isnt a threat to children, he probably didnt think anything of it! I dont believe the issue here is the policy entirely, a lot of it is how it was handled. they just said “its our policy” and then made him sound like he was an offender when they told the girl “he isnt allowed to sit next to the children” The seats were assigned so they should have taken care of the seating prior to boarding and if that was not possible then they should have said that the policy is that the seat next to unaccompanied minors has to be vacant or filled by a woman. They should have told the woman that policy dictates a woman has to sit by the children not just say oh he cant sit by them.
Fran you are so right. This is a man who had his pride & ego bruised! He needs to grow a a pair & get over himself. He stated on his thank you blog that he lost his dignity due to this. What kind of man is he?? Goodness he must be such a weak minded person with very little self esteem for him to claim such a thing.
Melissa, you’re not a real woman because a real woman doesn’t hate men as much as you do. You’re probably a female child abuser trying to distract the world from your horrible crimes. Most child a users are women.
Regardless, men have more than just their feelings hurt. They’ve been kicked off planes when the dipshit flight attendants couldn’t find an alternative seat, etc. Recently a Brittish MP was moved away from his own children because the sexist airline considered children accompanied by their own fathers to be unaccompanied. If some airline “stewardess” (don’t get your panties in a bunch here) tried to remove your own children from their father when you weren’t there, I bet you would be singing a different tune.
“If you were a real man, you would have volunteered to the flight attendants at the beginning just to remove any thought of impropriety”
That speaks volumes about you as a person.
Personally, I don’t see children and think “oooh – I better move away because people may think I’m a pedophile”.
If someone comes up to me and says “its our company policy to not let adult men sit next to unaccompied children” I still don’t think “oooh – I better move away because people may think I’m a pedophile”. My first thought is ‘well why did you put them or me here then?’. Its not like they don’t have the information when assigning seats. If they had used the information, then their discriminatory policy wouldn’t even be discussed.
As to your other non-sequitor – I wouldn’t be paying megabucks if I was unjustly accused of being a pedophile. My lawyers would be on contigency, and would rake in a windfall when I won the case.
Quit expecting everyone else to take responsibility for your children. Just because you wish to abandon your children to strangers to fly them somewhere doesn’t give you more rights than me. Keep your own children safe.
“you would have volunteered to the flight attendants at the beginning just to remove any thought of impropriety.”
I agree. That’s exactly why you should stay away from sitautions where you are alone with oyur mother. Just in case. Who knows you might fuck her.
Better yet: All men should cut their dicks if they want to live in a rape free society.
Does the airline realize that females also sexually abuse children? This is full blow discrimination!
Boo hoo, you’re an idiot!!! 1. You obviously don’t have children or your would know how stupid you sound. If children weren’t raped and/or killed while their mother stood outside the bathroom waiting for them to come out, my son wouldn’t have had to accompany me to the ladies room until he was 13 and no longer looked like a sweet, innocent, young boy. Young children are being abused constantly…by MEN, not women. Have their been rare cases? Sure, but very, very few, and usually the women were influenced by a MAN to participate. 2. Do you have a tattoo across your forehead that states you are an “Emergency Service Worker”? So, no one knows who you are or what you do? ..and so what if they did. Just because that is your job title it means you couldn’t be a predator?? LOL Sure, men are policemen, doctors, social workers and teachers. They are even priests and football coaches for some of the most influential teams in the country. Read the news much, moron?? There is absolutely NO correlation between one’s career and his sexual preferences, except that pedophiles tend to gravitate towards service jobs. lol 3. Okay, you say Virgin shouldn’t be allowed to sell the seat next to a child? I’ll be sure to write them a letter telling them so…so the next time you try to book a flight, late, and the only available seat on the plane is next to a minor, I guess that flight, the one that was your preference, won’t be an option for you and you will have to choose something less convenient. Oh well, poor you! 4. Men do rape women. lol This statement is the one that really highlights your stupidity. A grown woman is an ADULT!! She has the maturity to raise her arm and push the call button if the moron next to her tries to stick his hand down her pants. Children are regarded differently by law…for a reason! THEY ARE CHILDREN! They do not have the maturity to stop an advance, and they are easily manipulated. I will say thank you for one thing. If you don’t want to fly Virgin anymore because of their policy, then don’t. But thanks to you publicizing Virgin’s policies, I will make sure to give them my business as often as possible in the future.
)
Well said Kathleen. Nice to know I’m not alone in thinking this guy needs to grow up!
If only the statistics supported your theories, DAMN!
Beginning to think Fran, Melissa & Kathleen are all the same person
Kathleen: I would have appreciated your opinion but after you have laden it with insults and direct attacks on my character I find it may be difficult to have a mature and sensible debate with you about the subject.
I will state this though.
If I was to assume that you were a potential paedophile when ever you stepped into society would you be happy with that?
I may be a male but I am nothing, nothing like these depraved scum bag child molesters. I am the same as you . There is no difference between you and I when it comes to our differences between these people.
If I was to happily get up and move seats this would only support the theory that men cant be trusted at any time and the cloud of suspicion is always above us. I hate to tell you but women commit crimes against children. You may state that it doesn’t happen as often but it still happens. More frequently than you think (google it). So if women are capable of committing this crime then why are they not walking around with the same cloud over their heads.
To make a baby you need a man and a woman. From what you are saying that as soon as this is done the male can no longer be trusted with any child but his own. Fathers, husbands and uncles are moved because of this policy. You saying they can’t be protectors?
Well society says they can be a protector as long as he is running into a burning building, resuscitating a drowning victim or pulling the child from a car wreck. But as soon as he boards a plane he is a potential animal.
There a hundred of judgements, generalizations and myths I can insinuate about woman. But today’s society has ensured that these judgements cannot be applied to all females. Everyone must be taken on their merit. You cannot discriminate against someone because of their sex. Many women have fought and won against this kind of discrimination. Because I am a male you believe I should just accept this. Well I am human being first. No human being should accept discrimination ever.
Finally should all muslims not be allowed to board a plane? Because it has been shown that they may be a terrorist. Never! These shocking attacks where conducted by only a few. They do not represent the whole community.
The same goes for all males. Because of the acts of some depraved paedophile scumbags we should not judge and make policy against all males. This at the very heart of the matter is DISCRIMINATION.
Kathleen hit the nail on the head – your entry and comment here only expose you for the self centered egotistical loser you are (so sorry for the personal attacks, but it is just so infuriating to read your senseless garbage). Why shouldn’t society make some informed decisions and sound policies that protect those that are most vulnerable? To do anything less would be senseless. As for your feelings about big bad discrimination, try taking on the feelings of an 11 year old that has just been molested. Get over yourself, you were simply asked to move to another seat – no one cared then and no one cares now (except a few other like minded fools on this board). You are disgusting and if the policy is changed I hope you will be proud of yourself the next time some sick individual molests a child sitting next to him.
If you’re that worried about your kids, don’t send them unaccompanied on an airplane flight. Simple as that.
And what’s the difference between not being able to purchase a seat, and purchasing a seat that you then are prohibited from sitting in?
Very sound judgement.
I GUESS YOU ARE THE MOTHER THAT SENDS HER KIDS TO THE STORE TO BUY CIGARETTES OR BEER GROW UP AND BY THE WAY HE DOESN’T HAVE I RAPE KIDS TATTOOED ON HIS FOREHEAD EITHER I PRESUME YOU AND FRAN NEED TO STOP TRYING TO BE MAN BASHING FUCKTARDS AND SEE WHAT THE WOMAN DID NOT THE AIRLINE
PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND FRAN MAKE ME SICK
Hey charles, though I agree with you (partially), typing in caps and swearing is not the way to argue. If anything, it solidify’s the other’s position. Also, the woman seems to have done nothing wrong or discriminatory. She simply followed policy (albeit rudely). It is the policy makers of the airline who are to blame. Look how Britain handled this and all business relating to discrimination. They are years ahead of the US in this way.
And for people who believe this is just an “ego bruising”, imagine if this policy or a similar one was enacted against women. Think of all the groups that would immediately spring up, making a huge ruckus about this. The NOW (National Organization of Women), the FL (Feminists for Life), and many more. Real equality would be set back by years as this would become the hot topic for politicians and the media. Men who tried to ignore it or thought it was just a “ego bruising” would be labeled “female haters” and the like. Even if it was a policy to keep a set of the population safe, it would last a few months, if all the lawsuits took that long.
Please think on your position, and see that, though it might be protecting children, this policy is sexual discrimination. A man is forced to change seats because he has a Y chromosome. Nothing more, nothing less.
‘Next time you book a flight’,…are you kiddin’?.
My Wife and I are flying Virgin Australia this december, and, be very very sure, I will be very closely following any potential incident of this nature, should it arise.
I wish I could change the Airline I’m flying with, but my wife pre-paid all costs some time ago, we cannot afford the potential financial penalty.
TL/DR
Skimmed, saw the lack of line breaks and a heavy use of exclamations and capitalisation and assumed that there were very few facts amongst it (and that I should perhaps be glad that this cat-throwing lady doesn’t have the ability to pitch her feline projectiles through cyberspace).
Kathleen, it’s obvious you have nothing better to do then post your long and rather boring comment on things people already know about. It’s not about the policy it was about his dignity in front of other passengers and about a filight attendant that didnt have any sense between her ears. You have put your foot in your mouth, try putting your shoe on the other foot!
I happen to have kids, and I can say that If i was that concerned with my Child’s safety, they would not fly solo… Just saying Folks… DONT leave it to an Airline to take care of your kids. Also, there is a good percentage of women that are predators. To say that the Male is the only one is just plain wrong. Either set aside a seat from everyone and keep the kids segregated from all passengers or remove the rule…
I understand where they are coming from, and I can agree that they are trying to do a good thing, but you can not do it in that manner. Who is saying the woman that got moved over there was not a predator? There is no real way to tell… Odds are she was a perfectly nice lady, but how did they know? They didnt! They didnt know that anymore than they knew this guy might have been a predator… They took a guess based on this fella having male parts, versus a woman. So all of you Bleeding Heart *Save the Children* fools, really need a reality check. Watch your own kids, and you wont have to worry. If that is not an option, and it does happen, then it is you not the airline, that is sending them out to the wolves…
Again, i agree Kids should be protected, but the policies have to be fair. Other wise we are back to the Victorian and Elizabethan Eras, where women are weak, and good for housework and children, and men are only good with money, and thinking work… Im just saying. Fairness is key. You can not say all men are bad by nature, just like you cant say all women love and are good with kids… It is simply not true.
Thank you Josh. Exactly my feelings towards the subject
my god just think if the man had been middle eastern in apperance , he would have not only been thought of as a possible Paedophile but also apossible terrorist where would they have to move him too?
I agree, how sad for society. I’m a mother of three boys and trued to raise them with the belief that are ‘mankind’ is equal. This type of discrimination burns me. My oldest, a very sensitive young man with a large heart, loves working and playing with children. He always has – he is gentle and kind and wants to become an elementary school teacher, yet is shunned from babysitting jobs because he is a boy.
In short, I think you are ad Douch Bag. (That’s an American term that basically means you are a selfish a-hole) You obviously know only how to think of your self. How dare some one think YOU would be a pedophile…???. Its not about you, jerk-off. Its an airline company that services thousands of people a day and all it takes is one real pedophile to cause serious damage. Some type of precaution needs to be taken into consideration. They cant stop every single incident, but they try. Statistically, disallowing men to sit next to unaccompanied children is a good start. YOU however, act and think that Virgin should some how be aware of and uphold YOUR existential virtue. YOU are an amazing and honorable fellow, and the the fact that a commercial airline company that fly’s millions of people annually didn’t notice you – correction – “accused” you by by enforcing a rule that applies indiscriminately to EVERYONE is some how an abomination. What has this world come too..?????? Listen dumb shi* – wake up. This world hasn’t come to anything. There have been, and there still are, and always will be bad, really bad people in the world that need to be feared. Its not the media’s fault, its not he airlines fault. You just happen be a prick who is full of himself and cant stand the thought of getting his feelings hurt.
@Steve in LA,
I didn’t get that out of his post at all. He said children should be protected, but he also said the Policy needs to be enforced equally… Arbitrarily moving males just because they are male is not the answer, just like moving women next to kids, just because they are women, is not the answer. Like I said earlier, who is to say the woman they put next to the kids wasn’t a pedophile?
The only way I see this working out to be fair is to reserve a seat around children that no one can sit in, or move the children to first class, away from the *gen pop* folks. But even then, the wealthier folks have the same proclivities as the less affluent. Again, I say. Gender does not matter, if you are human, you have the potential to be a predator, I’m not saying you ARE a predator, but you that you could be. and Gender does not define that role. The Policy is flawed and needs changed.
Their hearts may have been in the right place, I get that, I truly do.
But their heads where stuck somewhere completely different. (If you know what I mean)
And for the final time,
EQUAL Enforcement of the Policy is the ONLY way to achieve success, without discriminating against both males and females.
Perhaps he thinks that Virgin should treat him with the same respect that every other person who purchased a ticket to fly on Virgin. Not MORE, and not LESS.
In short, I think you are the Biggest Moron on the Planet (yes, this is an actual title i’m bestowing upon you). Seriously, are you educated? I think you got your big words out of the dictionary.
Do you REALIZE the impact of being accused as a pedophile?? Even if it is proven untrue. that accusation can follow a person for a LIFETIME. It is not something to be thrown around lightly – and the fact that you treat it as no big deal is disgusting. Should be bar Muslims from getting on the plane? I mean, “some type of precaution needs to be taken into consideration”. RIGHT? Oh, and you DO know that statistically there have been plenty of women child molesters, don’t you? Ah, but who cares what life you destroy, as long as the CHILD-RUN are safe. Talk about mob mentality- you people scare me. And I say this as someone who has been molested as a child. Yes, children safety is a concern, but NOT at the expense of innocent people.
Yes, there are bad people in the world – but it’s not the airline’s responsibility to parent and protect YOUR CHILDREN. That is YOUR JOB. Get off your lazy ass and get on the airplane with the kid if you’re so concerned.
You just happen to be a prick who is woefully ignorant and can’t stand the thought of actually parenting your own child.
No one accused that man of being a pedophile. Way to stretch it! This man was not asked to give up his life!! He was asked to move!! Get a life! Stupid!!
Once upon a tome In America, if you were a black woman sitting in a bus and a white person got on, you would be told to vacate your seat and move to the back of the bus.
Once upon a time In America, if you were a black woman sitting in a bus and a white person got on, you would be told to vacate your seat and move to the back of the bus. Before that, in America, there was this place called Salem where women were thought to be witches and of course the only real way to find out for sure was to get a confession from me under torture. Americans have a real gift for seeing the bigger picture when it comes to hatred, always finding great excuses for it. In America, we just love god and hate pedophiles, unless of course the two things somehow get mixed in which case it all gets swept under the rug (just like everywhere else). This quintessentially American ideal of due process, of freedom to pursue happiness, it tends to have some pretty hard limits when it comes to people’s outright hatred of others. As long as this doesn’t hit too close too home, it’s alright to infringe on other peoples freedoms. Right?
Oh, the laughter! That really brought tears to my eyes, thanks Steve.
If only you’d kept it short (you got my hopes up with your first two words, then crushed them to dust with your drivel).
I’ve raised two daughters to expect to live in a world where their abilities and shortfalls should never be assumed based on the fact that they have two ‘X’ chromosomes. The same world should not have my son judged because he has a ‘Y’ chromosome.
Pretty bloody simple, really.
And speaking of ‘simple’…..
You said that (Virgin) “accused you by by (sic) enforcing a rule that applies indiscriminately to EVERYONE”.
The rule applies only to adult males, not “EVERYONE”. That’s the mistake in that little pile of ejecta quoted above. And that makes a farce of you saying that the rule is applied “indiscriminately”.
So rather than play “I’m so scary when I’m anonymous and invisible”, why don’t we all stick to the facts.
The facts needed here include: What percentage of the population commit sexual assaults on minors? What percentage of those are men? etc. etc. Surely your indignance indicates that you know what these figures are so perhaps you can share them with us?
Here’s one to get you started:
According to the Australian Government’s Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault:
Most child sexual assault is perpetrated by a person known to the child (indicating that the children would be more likely to be assaulted by their own uncle than the author of this article, should he have accompanied the children). In fact, only 13 per cent are committed by strangers.
With this in mind, perhaps Virgin should amend their policy so that all children accompanied by men only (i.e. don’t have a woman present to police the second-class citizen she’s married to) will be shuffled so that all children are sitting next to men they don’t know.
The logic is just as sound, right?
Thanks again for the hilarious read Steve, keep up the vein-bulging, eye-popping ignorance champ.
Point 1 – Every single person MIGHT be a pedophile. Not only men, and not only strangers. So if they want to operate on what MIGHT be, they shouldn’t allow anyone, male or female, to be seated next to unaccompanied minors.
Point 2 – Most child sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone the child knows, like a family member. So, if a male stranger can’t be seated next to a child, a male relative shouldn’t be allowed either, since statistically they are more of a threat. Is there a policy stating that fathers can’t sit beside his children on a flight? And those who think the policy is right, I assume you are against male teachers, male babysitters, male medical professionals, male school bus or taxi drivers, right? I mean, if it’s justified to avoid children being near a man because he can sexually assault them during a few hours of flight, it’s only logical that men shouldn’t be allowed to have children in a classroom for hours a day for a year.
Point 3 – If the airline has a policy preventing unaccompanied children to be seated next to male passengers, no matter how sexist the policy may be, it’s their responsibility not to book male passengers next to unaccompanied children. And if they do make a mistake and book a male passenger next to unaccompanied children, it’s their responsibility not to humiliate said passenger during the correction of said mistake. What would the other passengers think, seeing a man made to change seats so as not to travel next to the children? I believe most of them didn’t know the airline had such a policy, so I believe they would think there was a special reason to keep this guy from traveling next to the kids. Now, what if the flight attendant had asked the children to change seats instead? Everyone would just think they sat on the wrong seats and that’s that. The policy would be respected and no one would be humiliated in the process.
Point 4 – Despite the litigious society we live in nowadays, the responsibility for the safety of children still lies mainly with their legal guardians. So, where were they? Too busy keeping their schedules to take some time off to watch their children during a flight? I know this is a cheap shot, but when push comes to shove, they should be the ones ensuring the safety of the children, not delegating this responsibility to employees of an airline. Imagine if one of the flight attendants was in fact a pedophile?
It’s about time men start experiencing sexual discrimination.
great story, thanks for the warning!! f* those airlines …
How about everyone letting go of that “But i digress’ fixture?
Look, it was cute about two million blog entries or speeches ago, but now it’s old and tired.
It doesn’t make you sound smart! It makes you sound like a parrot!
Stop telling us you’re digressing when we already know you’re digressing.
Digress the fuck off the planet if you must.
Ironically Paul, your whole reply had nothing at all to do with the matter at hand. A digression in its entirety.
Honestly, the amount of childish responses… people telling him to get over it would be the first ones bitching if it happened to them.
If it’s any consolation, you can sit next to my kids on a plane. I’d much rather have someone trained in rescue than some random female who get’s the designation of “safe” simply because she has a vagina. I don’t have any kids, however… so it’s moot.
Wrong! When you have kids then you understand the need to protect them. It’s not so far fetched! If something like that makes you lose your dignity then really how much dignity do you have then. The guy needs to grow up & grow a pair! Next he’ll probably be complaining how this caused so much emoitional stress on him, he’ll be hiring a lawyer! He’d be thanking the airline if it were his kids they were trying to protect! He’s a whiny baby!
What a load of old rubbish… first of all, if your children are so important to you, why are you handing them off to a complete stranger to fly somewhere unaccompanied? And second – why does this man’s dignity come at a lower price than some parent who couldn’t be bothered to ACTUALLY make sure their child gets somewhere safely by accompanying them? Lastly – I wouldn’t be thanking the airline for demonstrating to MY children double standards and how to treat people rudely. Granted – they will get that from most airline employees, but I still won’t be thanking them.
First of all I’ve never handed my kids off to anyone. Truth is though it is sad. It is just the way of the world these days. Too many creeps out there! Personally I don’t think I could send my children some where by themselves. In case of an emergency & I had to, it’s nice to know that someone is watching out for them. Also that doesn’t mean if a parent does send a child off that we as humans shouldn’t take the extra step just out of decency for the child. Does it really hurt you?? People are just so worried about being offended these days that it overshadows common decency.
I’ve raised four boys & from day one I have taught them to never put themselves in the position of being alone with a little boy or girl. I never allowed my boys to babysit just for the fact that anyone could accuse them & it would not be true. it’s sad to have to do that but I didn’t want one of my children’s lives ruined because of false accusations. They weren’t offended because they thought I thought they were child molesters. I just explained the ways of the world to them. Now with that said I honestly believe my boys would have gotten up & moved to a different seat & not made a big deal. And again I will repeat myself (will repeat it 1000 times & I don’t care if you like it or not. That’s my confidence!)……A confident, self assured man who knows who he is & doesn’t allow his pride & ego to rule him would not have a problem with moving to another seat.
Like one person wrote…No one would have known anything about this had the male passenger not let everyone know. Here I go again……wounded pride!!
“A confident, self assured man who knows who he is & doesn’t allow his pride & ego to rule him ”
A confident self assured man wouldn’t waste his time worrying about whether he was alone with a little boy or girl. You’ve taught your boys fear and mistrust and to constantly monitor their environment to make sure someone doesn’t think ill of them.
Hardly confident and self-assured now, is it. Please not the lack of the question mark on that last sentence.
I am just amazed how many (all) men still don’t see their role in society. They are all considered (potentionally) pedophiles, rapist, criminal, armed and dangerous.
Men are the slaves of society. Period.
Before one can enter the airport and plane, there will be lots of security inside the plane. I think minor needs not be accompanied, so even if a convicted paedophile, I think should be safe, there were so many other passengers in the plane, it is not like he is going to have sex with the minor on the plane seat or drag him to the toilet to have sex, that would already take too much attention on the flight especially if the flght is full, if the flight is half full or empty, they could have easily put the child on another seat. Can’t their computer system be calibrated to say that the two minors is not with parents and is seated next to a stranger and an alarm system or warning would not allow the minor to be seated on that seat? It is just an adjustment to the software as now everything has been computerized
As an RN, and male, I totally sympathize with the man. In line with our litigious society here in the USA, perhaps he should file suit.
This is bigotry and sexism at its worst. Every person who is for equality should be appalled by this. So many in society want men to be pack mules and do as they’re told. They see men as utilities to be used not as people. We all have fathers, brothers, sons. Don’t let society make them second class citizens. It is wrong on every level.
People’s fears on this subject have been manipulated by a drama-driven media, esp. FAUX “news”, unscrupulous politicians and overly zealous prosecutors. This event is the tip of the iceberg, I fear, for how the U.S. has changed.
In case some readers may care to know WHO exactly is on the sex offender registry because of mass hysteria from a small number of truly heinous crimes against children:
If someone is 19& has a girlfriend 15 or 16& it’s consensual -If someone reports it (often malicious), if someone gets drunk & urinates in a public place, if an adult man sees a teen prostitute or a girl who solicits the man (even if she lied about her age), if someone streaks or moons someone, they can& do end up on the registry. And the “child” porn-?almost all of it is teens. Is there NO difference in your mind between a man going after a 10 yr. old & someone LOOKING at a 15 or 16 yr. old posing nude or doing something sexual on the net? Distinctions don’t seem to matter when it comes to sex offenses.Why is that? With other crimes, it matters.
No wonder that they couldn’t find Garrido .the registry is bloated with so many who don’t belong there. These laws are so unjust, so extreme. But the self-righteous, hateful, off with their __ ‘s fanatics want to bring back Salem. I hope more rational minds will prevail. The registry is ruining people’s lives who don’t deserve it. There is proof of some being murdered or else killed themselves. I guess the fanatics are happy about that. ” One was an old man in Florida who was beaten to death by a young guy with a baseball bat and his was a case of mistaken identity. He wasn’t even on the registry. Another was a young man in Maine who was 19 and he was in love with a 15 yr. old girlfriend. He was shot to death.
http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2011-05-are-we-being-smart-about-sex-offenders
Read Jim and Nancy Petro’s book “False Justice” and Richard Wrights’ “Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions” See the movie “Conviction” and Sean Penn’s documentary “Witch hunt” on the web at
Melissa, why do you hate men so much? Do you hate all men equally? When a man is presumed to be a child molester and complains of blatant sex discrimination, you say that he has wounded pride. What? Your sympathy and sense of fairness is underwhelming. Maybe your husband does exactly as he is told and that makes him a “real man” to you (one you can train like a circus monkey). You have double standards regarding equal respect and treatment and you think that’s a good thing. You’re wrong.
Steve, LOL….Hate men? Why? Because I think this guy is acting like a whiny little boy?? Sorry, but just because I disagree with him has nothing to do with how I feel about men, just him. Sorry you are unable to separate the two.
Yes, his world was turned upside down & destroyed because he was asked to move. Give me a break!
Just so you know. A real man doesn’t do what he is told. A real man does what is right, what is kind & loving. A real man is full of passion & love for people, especially children!! A real man is not threaten by being asked to move. Because like my husband who is strong, confident & so self assured in who he is, this situation would not belittle him or the four boys I raised like it has this little man. It’s all in how you see yourself, feel about yourself. Apparently he needs to work on his self esteem.
Hey Melissa, why don’t you talk to Rosa Parks about the seemingly trivial implications of being asked to move to another seat? Your ad hominem attacks on Johnny’s manhood (calling a firefighter a “little man” is quite an interesting choice of words) and your exhortation that he should be a good little drone, suck it up and be a real man in the face of being unfairly discriminated against speaks volumes to you as a person. You are, in short, a vile bigot.
Ryan, big difference!! Children were not the reason Rosa Parks was asked to move. You cannot compare the two. Well I guess you can if you want to totally disregard the reason he was asked to move to make your point. And what you think of me has no importance to me because I know who I am & am strong in my beliefs! With or without your permission. I’ll say it a million times! Wounded pride & ego is all it is! Don’t like it?? Too bad! What are you going to do next?? Defend justapedophile & his sick comments??
Rosa Parks was asked to move to another seat by virtue of the fact that she was black. Johnny was asked to move to another seat by virtue of the fact that he was born with a penis. The invocation of “the children” does little to detract from the fact that in both cases baseless, ridiculous justifications and assumptions were made – pseudo-science on the one hand and specious statistical reasoning on the other – and in doing so, undue discrimination was visited upon both individuals. Apples, meet apples.
Please note it is here where my comparison ends. I am well aware of the context under which Ms. Parks exhibited great courageousness and bravery and that this case does not involve a threat to anyone’s life or livelihood. To point that out would be entirely besides my point.
Check your privilege, Melissa. Women can and do inflict abuse on “the children” as well. Your justification that women are the minority of an already small sub-sect of the population at large is what fuels your self-righteousness and shaming I guess. Whatever floats your misandric boat.
BTW, would you consider Johnny to be a “little man” and other such disrespecting shaming language if he helped you out of a burning building?
“The children” do make this different. So you comparison is moot! You’re just insulted because you’re a man who would have acted the same way & your poor little feelings would have been hurt.
I don’t know how this man conducts himself in other areas of his life & I don’t care. In this situation he was a small man with a small mind!
What he does for a living has nothing to do with this. Is he or are you saying because he holds a respected position there is no way he could be a molester?
Why is he so insulted?? What was he so afraid of or what is he afraid of? He’s ridiculous!
Wasted a day of my life on this, so done with it!
To the men who are so insulted by this….grow some balls & act like real men! And yes Ryan that means you! Have a blessed life!
Indeed. Have a blessed life and thank you for demonstrating your bull headedness and myopia. It was a slice.
If anyone is making this into a drama – its you. You consistently ascribe motive and beliefs to the author that he himself NEVER stated and rant on and on about your four little boys and your husband who are so self assured – yet never spend any time with children because they are afraid of looking like pedophiles – something you proudly taught them. Fear.
Just because you choose to live your life in fear doesn’t mean everyone else has to – and it doesn’t mean that a stewardess can announce to another passenger that the author “isn’t allowed to sit near children”. That statement implies that he personally is not be trusted – something that the stewardess has no absolutely NO right to state.
Common decency is treating men and women with the same amount of respect and dignity. This is bigotry and discrimination pure and simple. It can not be tolerated.
How and when did we become this perverse society that makes it OK to completely violate one person’s rights in order to protect another person’s potentially endangered rights???
And why, oh why, is it OK to rate one demographics immeasurably more valuable than another???
Isn’t it saying that one demographic is more valuable than another exactly the same as saying that:
The upper class is more valuable than the lower class;
The white people are more valuable than the colored people;
Straight people are more valuable than homosexuals;
Tall people are more valuable than short people???
I can do this to the end of time, but do you get it???
We are evolving into the society of doubt and mistrust in which more and more people/organizations/companies believe that they have to “prove” how much they value children by making adults feel completely worthless.
You do realize that the kids are kids only for the first 18 years of their life? After that they will be adults too.
Careful what kind of society you are going build for their adulthood!
I believe a Paedophile was involved in making of this policy. Poor you!
David (EU, Malta)
Well, in fact, most kiddy-fiddlers know their victims. So I will be writing to Virgin, suggesting that to further enhance their child protection policies, they should ban children from sitting next to people they know, especially parents. Sounds perfectly sensible to me!
I feel your shock, but at the same time I agree with the “basic” policy of the airlines.
At an early age of (11 years), before Internet, Facebook & I-phones, I was a victim of molestation on a public city bus transit system.
I was sitting next to the window & a mature male (30 ish), sat next to me & started to caress my right leg & inner thigh, getting ever closer to my private parts. How do you think I felt? Scared, shocked & embarrassed, all the time scared to get up & walk in front of this man to get to another seat. Finally my stop arrived & I had to leave.
I’m now 56, and to this day I can still feel his touch.
Children traveling alone MUST be given the outside aile seat (just to have the freedom to escape).
What’s more important, the air-line public perception (be it negative, but sadly reality) or public understanding the impact on ONE child if they are fondled?
No life is not fair, to either side.
i am done here and my apologies to anyone i may have offended by getting a bit dirty worded lol so to speak but i let my opinion be known and that’s the best i can do. i did learn something though! that there are so messed up people in the world like fran melissa as well as kathleen that are the main reasons why people get charged with a crime before the evidence is produced even as it is produced they still hold firm to there own little scenario in there mind. that’s why a lot or people are released form prison after their lives have been ruined
Well knowing thispolicy exists I will be delighted to tell the crew I have to be seated somewhere else because that is in their policy and because I don’t wanted to seat next to kids because I want to rest!
Seriously, I have 2 kidsand I think tis policy is really really silly.
I applaud this brightful policy THAT PROTECTS CHILDREN, you macho asshole!
Details of the St John ambulance paedophile protection network are here:
http://www.stjohnnz.com
you totally should have filed a law-suite against them what they did to you is wrong in so many ways and a lawyer would have had a field day with those ignorant scum bags!