Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass has sparked a heated debate on social media after accusing a United Airlines employee of being rude, according to CNN. Specifically, this male flight attendant “forced” his pregnant wife to clean up food spilled on the floor by his children.
In a post on his Twitter account, Anthony expressed his displeasure: “United Airlines flight attendant just made my wife, 22 weeks pregnant, and two children aged 5 and 2, kneeling to pick up popcorn dropped by my youngest daughter. Is this a joke?!”.
This post of the male baseball player immediately attracted the attention of many netizens with mixed opinions. After just 3 days of sharing, Anthony’s story received more than 40,000 comments and 11,000 likes.
There are many people who agree with Anthony because his wife is 22 weeks pregnant anyway, she should not be forced to kneel to pick up popcorn dropped by the baby.
However, not everyone agrees with Anthony’s outrage at the notion that parents are responsible for the mess their children cause.
One Twitter user commented: “Be a nice person and if you want to feed your kids popcorn on the plane, be ready to pick up the seeds.” While another wrote: “Pregnant women can still bend over. Or if you don’t want to have to bend over, it’s best not to feed your child popcorn on the plane.”
Another user, who identified himself as a former flight attendant, wrote: “The flight attendant is there for the safety of the passengers, not to serve you or your kids alone.”
However, there are also many people who sympathize with the case of Anthony’s wife. They point out that traveling with young children can be difficult and that his wife can’t do it all.
One commenter criticized the flight attendant: “Have you ever flown ‘alone’ while pregnant, with two young children? Just trying to keep them still is hard work.”
Anthony accepts any argumentative comments for his posts. He also gave his own opinion on why the flight attendant didn’t ask the cleaning team to help. He added that it was United Airlines that served the kids popcorn.
United Airlines responded to Anthony’s post, saying: “We understand your concerns and we will look into this matter. When you have time, please send us your wife’s phone number along with any evidence relating to her interaction with this flight attendant.”
In another post, Anthony Bass added that he had received confirmation “United Airlines and is working on internal issues with flight attendants” and thanked fans.
A CNN reporter has reached out to United Airlines for more information but has not yet responded.
Jacqueline Whitmore, a etiquette expert and former flight attendant, asserts that a flight attendant’s primary job is to stay safe on board.
Crew on a flight “too busy to care about popcorn kernels on the floor”.
But Jacqueline also thinks it’s unusual for flight attendants to ask passengers to clean up after landing.
She said the cleaning crew will only come in on the last flight of the day to clean the plane, so dirt that falls on the floor won’t be cleaned up right away. If a child spills furniture on the chair or the floor, parents should instruct the child to clean it up by himself. It is a good lesson to teach children the sense of keeping their surroundings clean.
