It all begins with spoiled brats who never are taught good manners and it goes downhill from there.
We see these people all the time:
In line at the discount store, trying to force the people ahead of them to go faster because they deserve to get done and leave ahead of everyone else.
In the movie theater where they believe they have the right to ruin an expensive movie for everyone around them by mouthing off throughout the feature.
In traffic where they think they can talk on their phone, mess with their stereo, steer with their knees and then expect you to get out of the way when they swerve into your lane of traffic.
And now in an incredibly expensive, cramped commercial airplane where, well, where this happened ...
Ali Alramakh, from Akron, Ohio, decided to act like a brat on a commercial flight and caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people.
According to an affidavit from federal court, detailing the events on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Germany, “Alramakh was speaking in a loud tone of voice, using profanity, with his face inches from the flight attendant’s face. The flight attendant asked Alramakh to step back multiple times, but instead Alramakh shoved the flight attendant backwards against the aircraft.”
As the Associated Press reported, the man’s tantrum messed up travel plans for everyone on board. “The pilot decided to land at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport because of the disturbance. When authorities boarded the aircraft in Cleveland, they found Alramakh restrained on the floor of the airplane near the lavatory.”
This guy was trouble from the get-go, the report continued. “Earlier in the flight, while the plane was taxiing off the runway, Alramakh entered the bathroom and used an electronic device and refused to respond to flight attendants who asked him to return to his seat and turn off the device, the complaint said.”
Now Ali is facing some serious charges, because you can’t mess with air transportation with impunity, though these self-involved people seem to be unaware of that.
It’s as simple as this — Americans need to learn manners again. We need to expect people to use manners, from our elected officials to the people sharing public space with us. And we need more cases like this one, in which people who don’t are held accountable.
Life is too expensive for the rest of us who are paying our own way to be forced to put up with rude behavior.
As Capt. Woodrow Call declares in a memorable scene of “Lonesome Dove,” “I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.”
That’s right, Capt. Call, and neither should we.
— Chuck Smith