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'Legal'
trumps common sense
An Orthodox Jew was removed from a United Airlines flight after not
returning to his seat during a prayer last week.
Shortly after boarding, the man made
his way to the back of the plane, and as is Jewish custom, once a prayer
is started, it may be interrupted only in an emergency.
Other passengers aboard the plane said
the man’s friends tried to explain the religious law and told
attendants the prayer would be finished in two minutes. But the plane
was getting ready for take off, and all passengers were required to
take their seats.
Once finished, the man apologized and
said he wasn’t trying to be rude—but again reiterated his
position. At that point the attendants called security and had the
man removed. The flight continued as scheduled without delays.
Admittedly, the man exercised poor judgment
in deciding when to commence with his faithful routine. But was it
grounds for removal from the plane?
It might be a stretch of the imagination
to label the actions taken by the attendants, and subsequently the
airline, as religious persecution. But this incident does point to
an increasing trend among corporations, and our own government, which
esteems bureaucracy over individual treatment.
Was the man breaking an airline policy?
Sure.
Was he being disruptive? Probably not.
Did he delay the flight? According to
sources, no.
Indeed, rules and policies exist to keep
corporate order, but they should not invalidate the use of reason.
Simply taking the time to explain to
the man, who may not fly very often, why it is important to obey such
rules would have been far more effective, and probably better for the
group as a whole, than having him removed.
Still, whenever a rule exists, so does
the opportunity to break it. And some of the greatest historical events
are full of people doing great things … and breaking rules to
do them.
Rosa Parks, mentally exhausted and physically
aching from a long day of work, refused to give up her seat on a city
bus. And rightly so—she was entitled to it just as much as the
next person. But her actions were the catalyst that helped mobilize
a long-awaited stand against racial segregation.
In Biblical times, strict adherents to
Jewish law demanded that an adulteress caught in her sin be stoned
to death. But Jesus stepped between the woman and the angry mob and
declared that whoever was without sin was to cast the first stone.
One by one, the crowd dissipated as the rocks fell from their hands.
As the population grows and more regulations
are implemented to preserve order, common sense and reason should dictate
the universal enforcement of those rules—as that is the root
of diplomacy and, consequently, customer service.
But diplomacy is a practice that seems
lost among the politically correct missteps of people who attempt to
paint masterpieces in black and white.
True brilliance, and humanity itself,
exists within the grey areas of a spectrum, not just the absolutes
or polar opposites.
Thus, United Airlines can legally justify
removal of the man from the plane, but common sense says otherwise.
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