LaGuardia Airport: Passenger Hears ‘Merry Christmas’ One Too Many Times, Gets Kicked Off Flight
Christmas travel can turn anyone into a Grumpy Cat — long lines, crowded planes, weather cancellations, and so on, can turn a Merry Christmas into a not-so-merry one. But a passenger at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Wednesday seemed to have lost his cool simply over being told “Merry Christmas” one too many times, WPIX (New York) is reporting.
An unnamed passenger on board American Airlines flight 1140 from LaGuardia to Dallas first took exception to being told “Merry Christmas” by the gate agent, according to the New York Post.
“You shouldn’t say that because not everyone celebrates Christmas.”
The agent then asked if the grumpy passenger could provide an alternative greeting he’d rather hear — perhaps “Have a nice flight,” which is as generic and unoffensive a greeting as could possibly be. But Mr. Grumpy Cat wasn’t interested in being helpful.
“Don’t say, ‘Merry Christmas!'”
Unfortunately for the flight attendant on the aircraft, he or she wasn’t aware that Mr. Grumpy Cat had already had all the “Merry Christmas” greetings he was going to take. When the flight attendant issued the unwanted greeting, the passenger completely lost his cool, screaming “Don’t say, ‘Merry Christmas!'” and lecturing the flight crew about their infraction.
The crew tried to calm the disgruntled passenger down, but he wasn’t hearing it, and he was eventually removed from the plane, to cheers and applause from the passengers.
Mr. Grumpy Cat isn’t the first passenger to lose his cool and disrupt a flight over a seemingly minor faux pas. Last month, according to this Inquisitr report, a Korean Airlines executive took exception to how her macadamia nuts were served to her (in a bag instead of on a plate, and without being asked first) and ordered the plane back to the gate so the crew chief could be removed. The air-rage incident ultimately cost the executive her job, which was rather unfortunate indeed, since she is the airline CEO’s daughter.
On social media, the incident has spurred some to bring up the old idea of the so-called “War on Christmas;” that is, a supposed concerted effort to make celebrating Christmas, and saying “Merry Christmas,” a cultural no-no.
The war on the war on Christmas claims its first victim. http://t.co/99x6Hq5Vlf
— Derek Wallbank (@dwallbank) December 26, 2014
The American people have about had it with anti-Christ bullies and bigots. http://t.co/zDHQ8FUqkJ
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) December 26, 2014
Do you believe being told “Merry Christmas” if you don’t celebrate the holiday is an offense worthy of screaming at and lecturing the offender? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image courtesy of: Us Magazine]
