Major League Baseball player Anthony Bass divided parents and air travelers with a controversial tweet about United Airlines’ recent treatment of his pregant wife and two young children.
Bass related a recent incident in which a flight attendant on board his wife’s flight asked she get on her hands and knees to pick up scattered popcorn that the two children – a 5 year old and 2 year old – had dropped during the course of their in-flight snacking. Bass’s wife is visibly pregnant.
“The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife traveling with a 5 year old and 2 year old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter,” Bass tweeted. “Are you kidding me?!?!”
The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife traveling with a 5 year old and 2 year old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter. Are you kidding me?!?! pic.twitter.com/vLYyLyJC54
— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) April 16, 2023
Bass took his argument directly to the airline, which responded to him by asking for more information. He later acknowledged in a separate tweet that the employee was being “taken care of” by the company.
“Thank you everyone for the support. United Airlines is taking care of matters with the flight attendant internally,” he later tweeted.
As bad as the initial idea of this was, most of Twitter vehemently disagreed with Bass, who not only complained about people having to be courteous around others, but also seemed to get an employee in trouble for merely trying the airplane tidy for passengers. It’s just the latest example and reason why W2 workers should never stick their neck out for a giant corporation.
“Pregnant women can bend. They may not want to but the solution to that would be to not give your child popcorn on a plane,” one Twitter user commented to Bass.
“Be a decent human and if your going to give your kid popcorn on a plane be prepared to pick it up. My toddlers loved Cheerios but they were messy, I would never had served them cheerios on a plane,” another said.
“It’s called being considerate and we all know planes don’t get thoroughly cleaned during a day of flying,” still another offered.
“Won’t lie, the fact that the flight attendant had the guts to make the passenger clean up their own MESS kinda makes me wanna fly United more,”
Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong jumped into the conversation as one of the few voices to defend Bass, who came across mostly as a spoiled passenger giving off a “let the peasants deal with it” sort of vibe.
“Everyone who’s mad at Anthony for this doesn’t seem to realize that United has a cleaning crew to clean up spills like this. They shouldn’t be asking customers to clean up messes made by their kids, especially not when they’re pregnant,” Cheong suggested.
Everyone who’s mad at Anthony for this doesn’t seem to realize that United has a cleaning crew to clean up spills like this. They shouldn’t be asking customers to clean up messes made by their kids, especially not when they’re pregnant. https://t.co/oZXmaml23d
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 17, 2023
He then got blasted by his own followers.
“I’m not mad, I just think it’s impolite. My grandson makes a mess at almost every restaurant. I don’t sit back and say screw them, they can clean it up. I always volunteer or give a great tip and apologize. Cleaning up after your kids isn’t someone else’s job,” said one person.
“Yep. Definitely disagree. She’s 5 months pregnant. When my twin was 8 months pregnant she was STILL treating covid patients in hospitals during the pandemic. Picking up popcorn and being a decent human isn’t hard to ask,” another user commented.
Note to Bass: Airlines have clean up crews to ensure the plane is prepped for the next flight. It is not a cate blanche to leave a disaster in your wake. By his logic, he could litter wherever he wanted with the assumption someone else will just pick up his trash.
Not a good look at all.
Featured image; Twitter, Anthony Bass
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