Should she sue?

[Raerae]

Beat me to it.

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Originally Posted by lipstickandhate Yes. But Americans aren't really concerned about neo-Nazis, fundamentalist Hindus, or Chechen rebels in airports b.c they didn't fly planes into the World Trade Center. I don't know what else to say. It may be stupid, stereotypical or ignorant but all of that is moot, it's a very real concern here and its not going away anytime soon. The best way to avoid coming into contact with Homeland Security is not to be suspicious. And now, a group of men speaking Arabic in an airport is considered suspicious. Add into the mix questionable comments about an American toddler and get ready to be reported. Consider taking seperate flights or prepare to be potentially hassled. Same with standing on the corner with a group of 5 other black men @ 3 AM in Brownsville in blue shirts. Or with a gaggle of Vietnamese in Roxbury @ 10 o'clock. Be black in Howard Beach. Its fine to argue there shouldn't be unpleasant possible consequences just by virtue of being a certain nationality in a certain location at a certain time, but in reality, there are. And they aren't going to change anytime soon.

 

[user79]

Sorry, but at an airport you're bound to hear pretty much every language under the sun, I would NEVER expect people at an airport, probably in transit to somewhere, all to speak English. Wow, they spoke Arab. I think it's one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. Expecting everyone to speak English while traveling is ridiculous, regardless of what place you are in.

 

[Shimmer]

It wasn't, in my understanding, an expectation of them to speak English, it was a misinterpretation of their demeanor, including the way they were looking at her along with the fact the gentleman 'insulted' (whether he intended to or not, she perceived it as an insult) her child.

 

[Raerae]

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Originally Posted by MissChievous Sorry, but at an airport you're bound to hear pretty much every language under the sun, I would NEVER expect people at an airport, probably in transit to somewhere, all to speak English. Wow, they spoke Arab. I think it's one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. Expecting everyone to speak English while traveling is ridiculous, regardless of what place you are in.

No one is expecting everyone to speak english while traveling. Your missing the point. The point is, as a group of traveling Arab men, you can eigther play to your steriotype, or try to play against it while your in the United States.

Pick one, there is no right answer.

1.) Speak Arabic. It's fine. But when you make the CHOICE to speak Arabic, in an Airport in the United States in a post 9/11 social/political atmosphere, you accept the fact that your helping people steriotype you. Speaking arabic only helps people think your from the Middle East.

2.) Speak English (going on the basis that this group obviously spoke English). At least the Americans around you can understand you. These people are probably the majority of the people in an American Airport. They are also the people who are going to steriotype you the MOST.

Is it really that much of an inconvienence to speak English in America when you know the language, before boarding a plane? Yes you can't change your appearance, but you can choose how you speak.

But when you isolate yourself both physically and verbally, your only throwing fuel on a fire that everyone knows is burning.

 

[Shimmer]

Additionally, it's incredibly rude to switch between languages whilst in the very near proximity of someone you've just ostensibly had a small conversation with. =/

 

[Raerae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimmer It wasn't, in my understanding, an expectation of them to speak English, it was a misinterpretation of their demeanor, including the way they were looking at her along with the fact the gentleman 'insulted' (whether he intended to or not, she perceived it as an insult) her child.

No, the lady didn't expect them to speak english in the article.

I was just pointing out, that, if I was the woman, and the man I was speaking with in English, suddenly walked off with a group of his buddies off to the side and they all started chatting in Arabic, only helped her put them into her little perception box of what a potential terrorist looks like, based on what she knows from the post 9/11 news, gossip, whatever.

It's kinda like how you said, their demeanor, how they looked, etc. Switching to Arabic only helped fuel that misinterpretation.

 

[Shimmer]

Ok, I was making sure that I wasn't misunderstanding the article. Thank you for clarifiation.

 

[Raerae]

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Originally Posted by Shimmer Additionally, it's incredibly rude to switch between languages whilst in the very near proximity of someone you've just ostensibly had a small conversation with. =/

This drives me nuts. The two hispanic girls I worked with used to do this all the time. I would hear them chatting away about nothing in english from around the corner, and as soon as I turned the corner, they switched to spanish.

All it does it make me think your talking shit about me.

Or in the terms of the Article, talking about something you dont want me to understand. And then leaving it up to my imagination to fill in the blanks with whatever fear I want.

 

[archangeli]

The only time that I've ever had any issue with dress code on a flight is in Business/ Executive Class. For passengers who have paid top dollar for their tickets, they can wear whatever they please but if employees travel on company passes and are bumped up we need to be following a certain dress code. The dress code doesn't stipulate what we have to wear, only what we can't wear - miniskirts, low cut tops, sweatpants, rubber-soled flip flops or anything that's considered "beach wear" is not appropriate.

Personally, I've only had to deal with this "dress code" issue once. I had a girl (in her 20's or so) travelling with her friend who was an employee so both of them were bound by the dress code rules. This girl was wearing sweat pants, faded T-shirt, a hoodie and sequined "slipper" shoes. If she had been sitting in economy class I wouldn't have said anything (to be honest I wouldn't have even noticed) but she was sitting in Executive class with many business people in suits and she stuck out, so out of curiosity I checked the passenger list. When I realized she was traveling with a staff member I mentioned it to the Service Director who wrote up a report, but at no point did we speak to this girl about her inappropriate attire. We could have asked her to get off the plane, but that would have been a judgment call for the Service Director and/or the captain.

 

[Beauty Mark]

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It's one thing to complain that life's not fair but everyone already knows this. Perhaps the smarter thing for people to do is to avoid drawing suspician to themselves and knowing that certain things will always draw suspician, make sure that when the police officer comes over to see what you're doing, you don't give him any reason to arrest you.

Life isn't fair, but I think it's important to work on making it more fair. Getting back to the original topic, there was no way those girls on the SW flight would know they were dressed inappropriately. It's normal clothing. Shorter and more revealing than I would wear, but it's fairly standard. It's not like they were rocking string thong bikinis and expected to be treated as though they were in jeans and t-shirts.

 

[righteothen]

Exactly. They were let through security, were given their boarding passes by people who work for the airline, and were allowed to board, once again by people who work for the airline. If what they were wearing was truly inappropriate for that airline, shouldn't at least one of those people have told them?

I know that the employee said that someone complained, but who? And why didn't that person complain before she boarded?

The situation is confusing, and it doesn't help that we aren't hearing the full story from both parties involved. I do think she deserves an apology, though, because there is no dress code, and as long as she was wearing clothing that was covering all appropriate body parts, she should not have been treated like that. The worst that employee should have done is told her there was a complaint, and could she please put a blanket on, or something like that. Even then, this is a request that she does not, and should not, have to follow.

 

[Kuuipo]

No, she shouldn't sue. Businesses have a right to aks people who are disruptive-and that includes the way they are dressed-to leave.

 

[jillianjiggs]

if anyone saw this on dr. phil a while back, she got her apology (after stating that all she wanted was an apology) and still wants to sue them.

so, new topic: should she sue NOW?

 

[righteothen]

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Originally Posted by jillianjiggs if anyone saw this on dr. phil a while back, she got her apology (after stating that all she wanted was an apology) and still wants to sue them. so, new topic: should she sue NOW?

No, absolutely not. Suing for an apology is one thing, because they needed to give her one. Now she's just being greedy.