United Airlines popcorn controversy: What sayeth the Dis?

[Lilsia]

I would really love to see how many of you that have commented have cleaned the table or floor at a restaurant with their kids. You pay for a service. Kids make messes. The area around my table at a restaurant looks like a blast zone. I tip handsomely for that. If I want to clean up everything after them, I stay home and do that. If I am flying first class, I pay a premium for that. If they told me to clean that up, I would tell them to go fly a kite. I love how great people and parents are on the internet (when they can hide behind an screen) and yet live such different lives. Nice piling on.

What? You go to a restaurant and pay for the food, not maid service. Normal bits and crumbs is one thing, half of the kids' food on the floor it NOT normal. And people letting their kids make such a mess is relatively new in society. 30+ years ago, people didn't do that. They taught their kids how to eat properly or they cleaned up after them. Would you go over to a friend's house and let your kid dump a bunch of food on their floor and just leave it? And I would have no problem telling this to anyone's face. It is shameful behavior. Billions of parents have taught their kids to not make a mess but these few piggish people somehow get a pass? Whatever

 

[Lilsia]

I would really love to see how many of you that have commented have cleaned the table or floor at a restaurant with their kids. You pay for a service. Kids make messes. The area around my table at a restaurant looks like a blast zone. I tip handsomely for that. If I want to clean up everything after them, I stay home and do that. If I am flying first class, I pay a premium for that. If they told me to clean that up, I would tell them to go fly a kite. I love how great people and parents are on the internet (when they can hide behind an screen) and yet live such different lives. Nice piling on.

I have worked in food for over 30 years. What you describe, with food all over the floor didn't happen 25 years ago. It gradually got worse and worse when we stopped shaming parents. Up until then, people cleaned up after their kids or taught them how to eat properly. Our kids didn't make that kind of a mess, my sister's kids didn't, my brother's kids didn't. The only family that we knew that did was my SIL and she just flat out said that she didn't care and was too lazy to teach the kids how to eat. Her house should have been condemned with how filthy it was.

 

[Lilsia]

That's not what happened though.

What didn't happen? Them making a mess or her kicking it back? I am willing to bet everything that I own that that is exactly what happened. There is no other way for all of that popcorn to get under her seat and in that other person's space like that. Unless you are saying that they threw it up and over behind them.

 

[bcla]

What didn't happen? Them making a mess or her kicking it back? I am willing to bet everything that I own that that is exactly what happened. There is no other way for all of that popcorn to get under her seat and in that other person's space like that. Unless you are saying that they threw it up and over behind them.

You're making all these claims that this or that happened, and the family in question claims that all the happened was that popcorn was spilled. This is the not the hill to die on over stuff on the floor that can be easily cleaned up by crews that service aircraft.

 

[Lilsia]

You're making all these claims that this or that happened, and the family in question claims that all the happened was that popcorn was spilled. This is the not the hill to die on over stuff on the floor that can be easily cleaned up by crews that service aircraft.

No one is disputing that it got dumped on the floor somehow. I think that if the mom had made an effort to clean it up instead of kicking it out into the aisle and behind her, it wouldn't have been an issue. I am sure that they don't want half of the plane stepping in it and grinding it into the carpet as everyone got off of the plane. Again, what if everyone acted this way and dumped food all over the floor. We live in a society here and everyone else should not have to deal with your mess.
Just by the tone of their post, they seem to be out of touch a bit.

 

[mousefan73]

I’m astounded reading online how many parents are commenting that if you go out to eat with toddlers they’re gonna make a mess and that when they dine there’s food on the floor and everywhere. Implying that this is normal. I don’t think it’s normal. I don’t know I raised two kids myself and I never had this issue. Granted, accidents happen and I’ve had many spilled drinks or maybe food that ended up more on the table versus the plate or on the clothes, but never all over the floor or seating. Even when my babies were learning to eat when we would go out to dinner, I would feed them myself just so we wouldn’t make a mess even if they were in the learning process of feeding themselves.

I also didn’t carry snacks like Cheerios are pretzels that make a mess. Mainly because our pediatrician really stressed don’t give your kids snacks as a behavior modification. ( boredom, or to silence them.)

 

[Disneylover99]

I am with the your mess, you clean it up. But I suspect there was some "attitude" from the flight attendants that probably didn't help the situation.

Just speculating of course, but I figure the attitude may have started because of the mom. Maybe some of the popcorn was accidentally spilt, but maybe the toddler was observed by the flight attendant throwing it on the floor with no consequences from the mom.

 

[RedAngie]

When a “celebrity” is outraged about something, you can be sure it’s their fault.

His post makes both he and his wife appear to be privileged entitled dilwads. And I’m sure he expected everyone to agree with him and was surprised by the backlash.

 

[John VN]

I'm a *child of the '50's.*
As we grew we went from making a mess while eating to no elbows on the table, chew with your mouth closed and don't make a mess but when it happened the instruction was - "clean up your mess before you leave the table" and that included when eating away from home. Common sense simple *rules to live by*

 

[RedAngie]

I haven’t read the whole thread yet, but what’s up with this comment??

View attachment 754284

What is that supposed to mean? Implying the flight attendant somehow got in trouble?

It means UA placated the entitled ballplayer with empty words but secretly laughed at him.

 

[sam_gordon]

I would really love to see how many of you that have commented have cleaned the table or floor at a restaurant with their kids. You pay for a service. Kids make messes. The area around my table at a restaurant looks like a blast zone. I tip handsomely for that. If I want to clean up everything after them, I stay home and do that. If I am flying first class, I pay a premium for that. If they told me to clean that up, I would tell them to go fly a kite. I love how great people and parents are on the internet (when they can hide behind an screen) and yet live such different lives. Nice piling on.

We've raised three kids. I don't remember ANY time leaving a mess on the floor, much less a "blast zone", much less it being "normal". Also, you mention you tipped handsomely because of the mess you make. THAT'S how you made amends. You realized you were asking the staff to go above and beyond and compensated with them. Somehow I doubt people are tipping the FA when they leave a mess. I don't think they can accept tips.

Common sense says that the mom kicked that popcorn back behind her so she didn't have to look at the mess and step on it. I am betting that is what caught the flight attendant's attention. The person behind could have said something about popcorn landing under their feet. I am sure that they didn't want to have to crunch popcorn into the carpet and they shouldn't have to pick it up. There is no other reasonable explanation as to how that popcorn got all the way behind them.

Common sense says the mom was across the aisle (based on the picture). That would make it extremely difficult to kick popcorn to the rear. I also wonder how the popcorn got behind the seat. But zooming in on the picture, I think I see kernels in the junction of the seat cushion and seat back (under the kid). So I wonder if the spill was actually in the seat and the kid (because she doesn't want to sit in it) brushed it under the armrest and some fell behind. *IF* that's what happened, I really side with the airline. The mom should have had the kid clean up the kernels while they were in the seat, not just brush them onto the floor.

 

[RedAngie]

I am with the your mess, you clean it up. But I suspect there was some "attitude" from the flight attendants that probably didn't help the situation.

I suspect the “attitude” started with the mom when a FA asked her to please watch her kids more carefully and not make a mess.

 

[RedAngie]

Somewhat off topic.

@fly girl , I heard that FAs don’t get paid until the doors are closed. I do hope your hourly wage is high enough to compensate for all the unpaid hours you work.

 

[GAN]

What if everyone on the plane left that kind of a mess? Do you really want your flight to be delayed while they do a thorough cleaning? This is unacceptable behavior to be this disrespectful to the plane and the people around her. It looks like she kicked the popcorn back under her seat and made it the person behind her problem. There was no excuse to make such a mess and there is not excuse to not pick up after your kids. If the kids are messy, than feed them one or two at a time. I will never understand defending bad behavior like this. Imagine if everyone acted this way.

None of us were there, so none of us know how she "acted". It sounds like you're assuming the worst -maybe the child accidentally spilled some of it between the seats. Personally, I couldn't imagine getting in an aisle, mid-flight, to pick up popcorn under a seat ...the vision of that alone is hysterical! Whatever the situation, from a customer service standpoint it was a huge fail for the airline. Rather than scolding the parent(sounds like that's what happened), the flight attendant could have gone up to the children to ask if "someone made a little mess" in a pleasant tone. You'll either get a response from the children or the parent, either way you've made your point and they might apologize and offer to clean it up or possibly do nothing. If you deal with the public you're going to clean up some messes in one form or another -right or wrong. The world is on fire because of 30 kernels of popcorn ...and all it would have taken was for the situation to be handled correctly by the flight attendant -not defending the parent at all by the way.

 

[fly girl]

Somewhat off topic.

@fly girl , I heard that FAs don’t get paid until the doors are closed. I do hope your hourly wage is high enough to compensate for all the unpaid hours you work.

That’s correct. Doors have to be shut and beacon needs to be on to start pay. The kicker of it all is boarding is typically the absolute worst part of the flight.

Delta actually made a change last year to start paying during boarding. They made it to keep the union out.

FWIW, pilots still don’t get paid. However, that time for them includes the walk around and safety checklists.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I tend to side with the airline but feel a little less compelled if they provided the popcorn. Overall, I do think it's a crappy situation for EVERYONE. Not fun for a pregnant lady with 2 kids traveling alone to do that but also not fun for the airline to do more work. I wonder if she was being difficult/rude and they just had it with her?

Either way, this is a classic case of "everyone sucks."

 

[mrodgers]

4. Why didn't the kids pick up the popcorn..I recall when my kids were little and that age, i would have them pick stuff that fell to the floor for me all the time.. for them it's super easy. So maybe get your kids off the ipads and have them pick up their own mess??

This shows the massive difference in the era people grew up in. I can imagine at home the response is "oh look, you made a mess. Now I have to clean it up." vs "Look at the mess you made, you need to clean it up now."

I lived with that as an adult with my own children. Whether it was food or toys, all I had to say is "you need to clean up this mess" once and it was cleaned up if mom wasn't home. When mom was home, it was fighting with her whether I or the kids needed to clean up the mess. When she was at work, the house was clean. When I was at work, I came home and the house was trashed.

 

[mrodgers]

Staff should be ashamed of themselves. It lacks common decency, the workers should be reprimanded for making the brand look bad. If I was on the flight and saw this pregnant mom struggling with little kids I totally would have cleaned for the mom, embarrassed the attendants with sarcastic comments, complained to the captain and crushed the attendants with complaints everywhere I could find after the fact. What is wrong with people? Just yuck, how are they not embarrassed?

You are projecting facts that aren't there. You said the mother was struggling with little kids. She may not have been struggling at all. She may have been completely ignoring the kids while she read a book.

 

[mrodgers]

Sports prima donnas. Ugh.

This is how the kids grow up to be adult age and throw wheel chairs down the steps...

 

[mrodgers]

I agree with everything you said here and I also agree that this couple seems VERY entitled.

BUT...

Anyone who says this is a big mess either does not have kids or does not remember when your kids were this age. The kids did not get into a popcorn fight - they just dropped some popcorn. It's really not that big of a deal. You also cannot just demand that the kids pick it up because they are on a moving airplane and presumably are seat belted for the duration. What are you going to do? Go into demanding parent mode to teach them a life lesson just when all the other passengers are dislodging suitcases from the bins above their heads? That's why I side with the parents - but just by a hair.

Going back to the parents, yes, Mom should have done a little clean-up, maybe even been apologetic, but I am sure she did not and was not. That's why I believe they are acting entitled and probably what pushed the button of the FA that made this an issue in the first place. If that was the case, I would side with the FA, but, being in the service industry, it's really not her position to "parent" the Mom either. That would just cause problems, like, you know, pictures being taken, social media being posted, airline customer care being involved, all that rot. Who needs it?

Personally when flying with my kids, especially when they were younger, we always sat in the back of the plane. That way we were not in the way of the flight crew or the other passengers no matter what might transpire during the flight.

One piece of popcorn dropped on the floor, I would have picked it up and said to my kid, be careful, don't drop popcorn on the floor because when my kids were little, I paid attention to them. It would never have gotten to the point where the plane landed and the floor was covered in popcorn. You're in public, don't act like animals as adults and teach your young not to act like animals.

This discussion is discussing an event long after the main event, which is the mother not paying attention to her kids on public transportation during the entire flight.

You allowed your young to make the mess to begin with. Clean it up now at the end since you've ignored it the entire time.