WTF Stories of the Week

[Not Afraid]

They threw it away!

I had to go read the story to calm my sense of horror.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

I had to go read the story to calm my sense of horror.

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.