When it comes to air travel, everyone, at least in my mind, is equally capable of blowing up the plane with a shampoo-vodka concoction or slamming the aircraft into a skyscraper. And the chances of you doing said nonsense are multiplied by a million if you happen to have the same skin tone as me and the same propensity for a unibrow as me.
Which is why I can't call foul at an American Airlines pilot in San Diego who refused to take off after a passenger complained about six men speaking in Arabic to each other.
This is the kind of vigilantism we need in our skies. Forget blowing up Iraq. We should all be street fighters in the war on terror.
Love this quote from a representative for the Counsel for Islamic Relations: "Judging people by their language is one step removed from judging people by their race or religion."
My response: it wasn't a bunch of French-speaking nuns who flew our airplanes into the World Trade Center on 9-11. I have love for all people, but when it comes to air travel, everyone needs to be on their best behavior. Shut up, eat your peanuts, speak English or plug in your iPod and don't make any sudden movements.
GCL: As someone who speaks Spanish when more than 2 family members are in attendance, I am surprised at how quickly you judge this situation. Do I disagree with the pilot's decision? Not necessarily. But historically, this kind of fear has resulted in unbridaled bigotry and hatred.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, did it ever occur to these six men that chatting exclusively in arabic on a taxiing plane might be of concern to some passengers? They are certainly close enough to the situation to have a little common sense. In spite of their Iraqi background, you can be sure these men do their fair share of profiling when faced with the possibility of death on the front lines. You have to wonder what was motivated this kind of behavior.