'No Diet Coke for you': Islamophobia at 30,000 feet leads to viral United Airlines boycott

[cosmicone]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by TexasTowelie (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: The Guardian UK

What happens when you ask for an unopened can of Diet Coke on an airplane? If you’re a Muslim woman, according to one report, you don’t get served.

And the man sitting next to you gets an unopened can of beer just fine.

Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim chaplain at Chicago’s Northwestern University, documented these allegations from onboard a United Airlines flight this weekend in an episode that almost immediately went viral – and led to pledges to boycott the airline.

On her Facebook page, Ahmad claimed a flight attendant was “clearly discriminating against me” after she asked for an unopened of soda for hygienic reasons and says was told, “Well, I’m sorry. I just can’t give you an unopened can, so no Diet Coke for you.”

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/30/diet-coke-islamophobia-united-airlines

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OMFG ... how stupid can flight attendants get? Unbelievable.

[Sgt Preston]

1. I can't get excited about it.

Maybe Hillary will fix it if and when she is elected.

[valerief]

2. As stupid as a gazillion Americans. nt

[mainer]

3. I was just on a United Airlines flight. They gave me an unopened can of tomato juice.

And the woman across the aisle had an unopened can of diet Coke.

There is no policy about unopened cans.

[yurbud]

7. you don't have muslim superpowers to turn a can into a WMD

That stewardess was just lucky the woman didn't melt her with her Muslim-vision.

[NutmegYankee]

4. Even worse was the passenger's comments to her.

Awful assholes out there.

[gregcrawford]

5. So, flight attendant, you gotta ask yourself...

... was it worth losing your job over the momentary satisfaction you got from spewing your ignorant malice and racism?

[SoapBox]

6. FYI! This was NOT United Airlines.

Last edited Sun May 31, 2015, 02:20 PM - Edit history (2)

This was on a contracted "express\connection" flight...not a United flight...and United does not own that carrier.

That being said, the minimum pay FA on that flight was not too bright, if the story is accurate. She got into a pissing match over a soda can, that was going to be unwinnable.

Edited: Upon research, I found that "chaplain" is no longer just a Christian title. The military (and other institutions/organizations)in particular is now using that title for a variety of beliefs. I jumped to a conclusion that the "chaplain" reference was assigned by the article author.

And...don't EVER drink from a pop can unless you've washed it...they are filthy dirty.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Boycott them anyway. Boycott someone. Anyone.

Can't go a day without someone being a victim.

[niyad]

38. there is not a day that goes by where someone is NOT a victim.

[TheCowsCameHome]

45. Yep, some real, some not so much.

But yes, every day for sure.

[niyad]

14. "breathless and dramatic", eh? and why chaplain in quotes?

[still_one]

30. Pretty important distinction if you ask me

[Lizzie Poppet]

9. No problem with the policy, but you HAVE to enforce it the same for everyone.

[niyad]

15. what kind of weapon do you think can be made of an unopened, or

even an open can, for that matter? and just how widespread do you think that information is?

[Lizzie Poppet]

20. I wasn't saying it's a policy I'd make.

Only that I have no problem with an airline instituting it...so long as it's applied equally to everyone.

Personally, I think much the bullshit "security theater" stuff introduced since 9/11 is nonsense and does fuck-all to increase safety.

[47of74]

16. My experience has been that...

...they generally open the can and pour as much as possible into one of those little cups with ice in it, then either use the rest for someone else or give you the half full can.

If you're going to open the can before giving to one person you have to do the same for every person.

[Demeter]

19. I really don't have any problem with that--One Can, One Person!

besides, that's what service USED to mean on an airplane.

[Lizzie Poppet]

21. That's basically the only way I see it done any more.

[Adrahil]

48. I sometimes ask for a can of soda...

Sometimes I get it, and sometimes I don't (usually they say they are "low on it".... whatever.

For whatever reason, they ALWAYS open it before I get it.

[47of74]

49. I wonder if it's more with pressure/movement of cans

That the flight attendants would rather be the ones that get hosed down with soda/beer/etc than having passengers getting sprayed if pressure changes cause problems with a can.

[bluevoter4life]

10. You can thank FOX and their ilk

For convincing Americans every Muslim is evil and can MacGuyver a weapon out of a rubber band, a paper clip, and some pocket lint.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

28. Thanks for seeing the whole point of this nonsense. Whether or not the policy is BLAH BLAH BLAH

Americans, by and large, tend to be stupid when it comes to anything or anybody who is in any way different from them.

Fox tells these mental midgets that this is normal and healthy behavour, so when we see incidents like this we can look at ourselves in the mirror.

To show you how fucking insane it is to consider an unopened can a weapon, I couldnt figure out for the first few minutes here why the bigot was doing that or why the bigot sitting next to her would care.

stupid fucking bigots

[Rossi]

31. Exactly right.

I agree.

[niyad]

12. what flavour pizza do you like?

[47of74]

46. He didn't hang around long enough for us to find out.

I'm guessing this;

[lastlib]

47. I would've guessed "beef", not pepperoni.......

[MichMan]

13. Sounds like someone is looking for an issue

So someone else opening the pull tab on a can of pop for you makes it unhygenic?

If she is that offended by someone from another religion touching her food, does she never eat out? Maybe the flight attendant should be offended because the Muslim woman thought her merely opening the can made it "unclean"

[BrotherIvan]

24. MIRT!!!

[catrose]

53. THANKS, MIRT!

[csziggy]

26. With the level of anti-Islam sentiment I would worry about contaminants

If I were the woman in the article - especially after the delivery of an unopened can to the non-Islamic person sitting next to me - I would very concerned about what could have been added to my soft drink. Since the flight attendant had just lied to her I don't blame the chaplin in making a point of this.

Haters are willing to do all kinds of disgusting things to vent their hatred.

[Rossi]

35. That's why I never send anything back in a restaurant.

I used to work in one.

[niyad]

39. welcome to du.

Last edited Sun May 31, 2015, 03:17 PM - Edit history (1)

[cosmicone]

33. On occasion, I may give credence to something what you posted

However, in this case, the passenger had no knowledge or even a minor anticipation that she would be refused a whole can of coke. She must have asked for a full can before and never refused prior to this.

I must therefore, strongly disagree with your predicate.

[jberryhill]

52. Some people like to clean the top of the can first

Soda cans are not always stored in the best conditions.

I knew a guy like that. He would always clean the top of the can first, and it has nothing to do with religion.

[ananda]

17. Customer Service 101

The customer is always right.

[MichMan]

18. Customers can also be unreasonable

I really don't agree with that oft used statement. Many customers can be unreasonable in their demands and at times outright abusive. Does that still make them "right"

What if the flight attendant was AA, and the customer was white and didn't want to be served the opened can because it was "unclean" Would they be justified? My guess is that DU would call the customer a racist in that case.

[eggplant]

25. It was a perfectly reasonable request.

From the story:

the United employee had “acknowledged it was unethical and said he never should have said anything”.

[MichMan]

27. Just disagreeing with "The customer is always right" statement n/m

[eggplant]

32. No, you're not.

"If she is that offended by someone from another religion touching her food, does she never eat out?"

[SheilaT]

37. Most people who say that seem never to have

actually dealt with the public.

Often a customer is wrong. Doesn't give the employee license to be rude or abusive, but when the customers start acting like arrogant, entitled assholes, they are not right.

The above sentence is NOT a comment on what supposedly happened on the plane, but merely a response to "The customer is always right" remark.

[MichMan]

43. Thank you

That was the basis for my reply a few posts above which had nothing to do with this specific incident.

I have seen a lot of rude and entitled customers that were quite abusive and/or unreasonable. Anyone who has worked in retail has probably dealt with them from time to time.

[jmowreader]

51. Customer Service 102

The customer is always the customer.

NO, the customer is not always right. A lot of us here have worked retail and any of us can tell you war stories that'd make your head spin. Customers are to be treated with respect, but so are employees - and an unyielding "the customer can do whatever the hell he wants to my workers and they have to take it" policy leads to a LOT of terrible things happening to your business.

Having said that, telling someone "we don't pass out unopened cans of Coke because people will just use them as weapons" is unforgivable.

[cab67]

22. I can see one difference between a can of pop and a can of beer...

Passengers have to pay extra for alcoholic beverages. This may be why a passenger was given a whole (unopened) can of beer.

What the article doesn't make clear is whether passengers asking for soft drinks were being given whole cans (which I sometimes get opened, sometimes not) or the little plastic shot glasses they sometimes use, with one can being used for more than one cup. I can find neither rhyme nor reason why a given flight serves one or the other.

If passengers were being given Dixie-cup-sized servings, the flight attendant might have declined the request on the basis that individual passengers weren't entitled to full cans on that particular flight. This is why I'm leery of accusing the flight attendant of bias.

The passenger who made the remark about using it as a weapon, however, owes the woman who asked for the can a public apology.

[Moonwalk]

34. As the article is about the can being open, not a cup of soda from a can....

...I'm guessing that she was given an open can, not a cup of soda poured from a can. So, she should get what the guy with the beer got. I'm not sure why the attendant made a big deal of it, outside of the usual (time limit, tired, over-worked, under-paid, customers demanding...) It *should* have been easy enough to switch cans, opened for unopened if she'd just opened it there and then.

That said, I don't necessarily think this was racist. I think it might have been a rude attendant who didn't want to deal with customer demands (i.e. the attendant might have said the same to any customer demanding an unopened can for any reason--like someone who's hyper-hygienic). I think they open up most of the cans ahead of time and give them out, and perhaps the attendant didn't have any unopened cans on hand and didn't want to head back to find one, etc.

[LisaL]

41. The guy had to have paid for the beer, because alcoholic beverages are not free.

If you pay for the beer, you get the whole beer.
Soft drinks are free.
So you don't get the whole can.

[sarisataka]

36. The article makes it quite clear

“We are unauthorized to give unopened cans to people, because they may use it as a WEAPON on the plane.”

That was from the flight attendant.
Clearly soft drinks are served in cans since they would give her an open can.

[jdadd]

23. I haven't flown for a number of years, But....

I've seen flight attendants fill more than one cup from the same can. I figured that's because Soda and water are free. You will pay for alcohol, ergo you bought it, You get the whole can.....

[LisaL]

40. I have flown recently, and they always fill more than one cup from the same can.

[BlueJazz]

29. At least "The soup Nazi" discriminated against everyone. Now we have the Coke Nazi.

[bluestateguy]

42. Flight attendants are nasty and mean nowadays

It ain't like the TV show Pan-Am anymore.

[cosmicone]

44. They have been given outrageous powers after 9/11

and that power has gone to their heads.

This is why Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Korean Air have such profitability. They're eating away at the US carriers' profits just based on excellent service.

[47of74]

50. I've never had problems with US carriers

Maybe I've just been lucky.

Of course when it comes to flying I subscribe to don't start none, won't be none.

[Helen Borg]

54. I have a hard time believing

What the passengers said to her... Dunno, seems so over the top as to being unbelievable.

[Beartracks]

55. I guess you can throw an unopened can with great force...?

I always wondered why a flight attendant would open the can before giving it to me. I presumed it was so that passengers didn't end up awkwardly spraying fizz on eachother while sitting elbow-to-elbow in their seats.

===========================

[TexasTowelie]

56. Locking thread.

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Article was published at Saturday 30 May 2015 20.45 EDT. Suggest reposting in General Discussion.