House of Eratosthenes

One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father. On Tuesday, November the 17th, I returned home. If you read the papers the 18th you may have seen a blurb where a AirTran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff. It was on Fox.

This was NOT what happened.

I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the 1st stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she was not there.

The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now….they are only permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her. (don’t ask me….I don’t make the rules, but I’ve studied). The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said “shut up infidel dog!” She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin. This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say “I got your back.” I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said “you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!” As I “led” him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him. I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, “You WILL do the same!” He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go. As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control. I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.

We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happen, when suddenly, the door open again and on walked all 11!! Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this, she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw the whole ordeal. She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston. The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent “we and our crew will not fly this plane!” After a word or two, the entire crew, luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door opened again and a whole new crew walked on.

Again…..this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked “What the hell is going on!?!?” I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said “I’m getting off this plane”. The stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off. (now I’m mad!) I said “I am a grown man who bought this ticket, who’s time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door, or I’m going through that door with you under my arm!! But I am going through that door!!” And I heard a voice behind me say “so am I”. Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the same. Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of people who got off that flight, it was cancelled. I was supposed to be in Houston at 6pm. I got here at 12:30am.

She has a follow-up posted earlier this week, from Rusty Shackleford:

If after 9/11 native Arabic speakers don’t get why the rest of us get nervous around them on an airplane then they are living in a fantasy world.

Yes, you make us nervous. Especially when you behave in ways normally considered rude. We tend to overlook rudeness to varying degrees depending on the context of the situation.

And the language you speak does add an extra layer of context.

I certainly don’t approve of racism. But I’m also quite aware that hijackers are thousands of times more likely to be Muslims than of any other religious identity. And that a great number of Muslim hijackers are also Arabs. Like, all 19 on Sept. 11th.

So, note to readers: Arabs speaking loudly and ignoring the requests of stewardesses are probably not hijackers, just assholes.

But note to native Arabic speakers: show a little self control and sensitivity. You make a lot of people very nervous when you behave rudely. Some might call this fear irrational and they may have a point. But no more irrational than, say, instructing passengers how to use the airplane cushions as a flotation device. The odds of being hijacked and surviving a crash long enough to need them probably being similar.

Yes this sucks. We don’t live in an ideal world. It could be much worse. Embrace the suck.

Well put.

[…] Read it. […]
- DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » Islamic Terrorist Dry Runs | 12/12/2009 @ 12:51
Incidents like this have certainly taken place.

There’s a snopes article on this one. I know, I don’t necessarily believe everything I read on snopes, either … but …it’s worth taking with a grain of salt until further investigation is done.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/flight297.asp
- philmon | 12/12/2009 @ 21:24

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Islamic Terrorist Dry RunsSaturday, December 12th, 2009

Islamic Terrorist Dry Runs
Saturday, December 12th, 2009