The first pass on this line I read this as "...to calm my sense of humor."




I wish I had more time to look into this. I want to believe that the airline employee did not tell them to throw it away, that there was just a misunderstanding. But there are so many things wrong here, just based on the story.

• The father and/or the older sister (22) might have been more proactive in ascertaining whether they could take the turtle on the plane
• Excepting for the possibility of having instructed to throw the turtle in the trash, I feel for the airline employees as they were screwed no matter what. If they allowed the turtle to fly, they faced getting into trouble for that, from the company and/or other passengers.
• The gate attendant I'm torn on. It would have been a great customer service outreach to offer to hold and make sure it gets to Dad (although they would have had to bring the turtle to a place before security as Dad wouldn't have been able to get past security without a ticket), but then officially it opens up the airline to liability issues. I lean towards that they should have done it (held for Dad).
• I am disturbed that the girls would opt to throw the turtle away rather than wait until the next flight. Regardless of whether they were "instructed" to do so or not, they still made the final decision to throw it away. I have no sympathy for the little girl on that accord alone.

In practical terms, if they were going to bring the turtle on board, they should have just smuggled it on once they passed security. I am guessing they decided to be up-front about it and be open with everyone along the way, but that is not the avenue I would have taken.

Thrown it away?
They could have at least ate it instead...

living in Hawaii, we are very fearful of creatures and critters coming into the state. We have no snakes and rabies. Taking a turtle from one part of the country to another might not be a smart thing especially where kids get tired of them and let them go in the wild.

While it probably could have been handled better at a customer service level, there are possible repercussions.

Is this a typo that should have read "snakes and rabbits"? Otherwise, I am not sure why you lumped snakes and rabies together as snakes (nor any reptile) can get rabies.

The part I don't get is that they threw it away figuring it would be easy for dad to find since the bin wasn't that full. How exactly was dad supposed to get to a garbage bin next to the gate without a boarding pass?

Must say, my response is "So what?" They can probably be used at most ATMs in strip clubs, liquor stores, amusement parks, yacht rental stores, etc.

Much better to make them take the money out at the convenience store across the street and then buy lottery tickets with the money. Money's fungible, if you want to insist that only certain things be purchased with assistance then open government run stores that only have those items and give people a checklist.

No worries. The story disturbed me too.

I'm with Alex on that one. If they're giving them access to cash, then it's their cash to spend. Either do everything via food stamps/vouchers that can't be used as cash, or just accept that fact that they're free to spend however they choose, as stupid as it may end up being.

Considering it's your cash they are getting, that's downright neighborly of you.

Again, if it's decided that how people spend the money is an issue, don't give them money.