Letters to the Editor
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Short Version
I was a total jackass on the plane, partially because I got drunk and then took pills that I know amplify the effect, although it's pretty clear I'm an unpleasant jackass when cold sober. I was then shocked when I wasn't treated differently than other criminals, in spite of the fact that I'm American and white and the rules shouldn't apply to me.
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Mr. Kurth's vacation
So, Mr. Kurth has a few drinks in the airport bar, which he admits doesn't go with his medical regimen. He doesn't explain anything about this to the crew. He's drunk and abusive to the crew in-flight. He admits to "loudmouthed pig-headedness."
As a retired airline customer service agent I spent 25 years listening to assholes such as Mr. Kurth. I always chose the prescribed route of trying to calm them down while my stomach churned inside.
Some people don't seem to realize that airline employees have another title: people. They go home to husbands and wives and kids and dogs and mortgages. They don't like being abused and threatened as Mr. Kurth describes any more than Mr Kurth would like it had it been directed at him.
I say: good for BA and their crew and British justice for throwing the jerk in jail. I can think of only one better sentence: He should be sentenced to stand behind a check-in counter at LaGuardia Airport on a perfectly clear beautiful day in May when all flights are being cancelled because of thunderstorms north of the city. And the passengers will threaten him and call him names and all he can say back is, "Sorry, you're right."
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Got what he deserved.
So? He got what he deserved, and it sounds like he fitted right in with the rest of the prison population.
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Sorry Mr.Kurth
I don't feel bad for you. You asked for it. Only a few days left on your passport? Yet you leave knowing how stringent immigration has become. You get drunk? You take pills? You act like an asshole? Yet you are suprised you got your ass thrown in jail. You kill me.
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Four pages?! Can no one edit anything any more?
1. Don't drink and fly. Period.
2. Don't abuse the air waitresses.
3. Don't whine about why your asshole behavior nets you.
4. Keep track of your own fucking laptop.
5. Sheesh(tm).
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I bet the passengers were cheering
I bet anyone who was on that airplane with him would think he got just what he deserved. And hasn't he read a newspaper since 9/11?
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I agree
...with the other letter writers here.
The fact that Mr. Kurth is white, educated, and articulate means that he has absolutely no excuse for his blatant ignorance of the consequences for his absurd behavior on an international flight in the wake of 9/11. I'm not going to say he 'got what he deserved,' but he should certainly not be confused with real victims of the criminal justice system.
P.S. I find it ironic that the subtitle of this article is "After a nightmare flight from etc." Whose nightmare, Mr. Kurth? The crew of the plane was not responsible for your lost laptop. The crew of the plane was not responsible for you getting into a position that would enflame your medical condition. Neither the crew nor the Brits were responsible for you flying with a passport dangerously close to expiration. And no one but you was responsible for your terrible, unresponsible behavior.
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Get past the circumstances...
If you get past the circumstances of his arrest, this really is quite a compelling piece by an excellent writer.
I found it fascinating to read this slice of life from inside the British prison, and Kurth is certainly an evocative writer.
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The punishment for being a jerk on an airplane
I can't believe the letters I've just read; who ARE you people? Can anyone really think that the punishment for being a jerk on an airplane should be months of incarceration, without appropriate custodial conditions and therefore including multiple rapes?
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blame him for being intoxicated
but it's awfully arrogant to blame him for flying on a nearly expired passport.
I know a lot of intelligent people who, if they needed to go to the UK for some reason, would see their passport expiring as a good reason to take the trip now. Do you know how long it takes to renew them these days?
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Don't be silly
It strikes me that in reacting to the writer's confession of assholic behavior, the critics who feel he "got what he deserved" are too willing to allow the security regime a free pass. It's true his libel against Victorian England is annoying, but jeez.... nobody was endangered and you used to get a night in the drunk tank and a fine. What I don't understand is why he couldn't make bail --
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He asked for it (?)
Did he ask for it? Pretty clearly the answer is yes.
But did he deserve it? No, he didn't deserve it. No one does.
It was a glimpse at something I hope I never actually see. It was well-written and informative. It was worth four pages, in my opinion.
He did some stupid things, yes. But he also owned his behavior. He didn't blame anyone else, and I didn't really notice any whining. I don't understand why posters are so unkind to him. It's not like he got away with anything.
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This is Bush's America
Damn every one of you who read this article with glee. I'm assuming, of course, that most of you got past the first few paragraphs -- that's assuming a lot, of course. All the torture and rape this man went through? "Hey, he was rude on a plane! He deserved it!"
You people are the essence of America, distilled to poisonous core. Not Blue America, or Red America. Just America. You're Bush's dream come true. You're the end result of every twisted, base desire to do harm.
Goddamn all of you.
Hey, you know what? I'm an American, too.
So Goddamn me as well.
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woah
Seriously, what is wrong with the people who think this guy "got what he deserved"? It's not illegal to fly on a valid passport, even if it's near expiration. And how many people actually knew before reading this article that one can't enter the UK with less than six months remaining validity? I certainly didn't, and I go there frequently.
You people are seriously disturbing. Every now and then I'm even more horrified than usual with the state of the world, and the bloodthirsty mindset of so many people. A guy gets drunk, acts like a jerk, and deserves to be anally raped for weeks?
I'm just glad I don't have to inhabit your minds. Talk about a nightmare...