You know how some people dislike someone so much that they’ll say anything just to make that person sound bad, but in the process they make themselves look silly? That’s Fox News host Jeanine Pirro right now.
Pirro is an American conservative television host and author, and a former New York State judge, prosecutor, and politician. Her history is checkered but she currently has a TV show on Fox News.
Anyway, a few days ago, President Joe Biden announced that fines for those who refuse to wear face masks while flying were going to double.
“If you break the rules, be prepared to pay,” Biden said during a speech from the White House. “And by the way, show some respect. The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. It’s ugly.”
Show respect for flight attendants. Listen to what they say when you’re on a flight. It doesn’t matter what side of the political fence you lean on, it goes up there with other comments that should be common sense, like “Don’t let your dog drive a car.” Respect people. Be nice to them. It’s certainly not a thing that anyone should rebuke.
Well, unless you’re Jeanine Perro.
Perro was on “The Five” the same day that Biden asked Americans to respect flight attendants. The weekday opinion show is a round-table ensemble of five rotating Fox News personalities who discuss and debate the top news stories, controversies and issues of the day. Of course, the President’s speech came into conversation and she apparently didn’t like that Joe Biden suggested we respect flight attendants.
“Maybe some of the flight attendants ought to show some respect to us, OK?” said Pirro.
“If you’re trying to feed a 2-year-old yogurt without a mask on and they decide to throw the mother off, I mean, I could go on and on about the absurdity of people who don’t have power, who are suddenly engaged and have power, and then they abuse it,” she continued.
Jeanine Pirro is mad about Biden saying anti-maskers should respect flight attendants: "Maybe some of the flight attendants ought to show some respect to us." pic.twitter.com/ZAfF6jv2oR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2021
Now, I get it. Fox News is a conservative TV station and President Joe Biden leans to the left. They have to diss him to get their viewers to keep tuning in, just like MSNBC has to diss right-leaning politicians to get THEIR viewers to keep watching.
But really, of all the things they could have dissed about Biden’s speech, why focus on respecting flight attendants? When you’re up there, yeah, you ARE supposed to do what they say, to keep you and the rest of the passengers safe. Even if it’s the occasional FA who seems like they’re on a power trip (I’m not saying they’re not out there; there are indeed some), you still need to follow their directives. And then, if you want, you can report them to the airline AFTER the flight is over.
But to not agree that you should respect flight attendants? Or to suggest, even if it’s between the lines, that you shouldn’t respect flight attendants because of the actions of a comparative few of them?
It’s not a tit for tat situation, Jeanine. “Oh yeah? Well, what about…?” doesn’t apply. That’s just silly.
And unfortunately, because it was on TV, it could potentially convince yet another person to argue with a flight attendant, maybe get the plane grounded, delay everyone for a couple of hours, and get the arguer kicked off the plane, all while earning themselves a fine that’s twice as much as it was a week ago.
But again, common sense.
Meanwhile, don’t listen to Jeanine Pirro. If you’re on a plane, respect your flight attendants.
Feature Photo: Delta News Hub / flickr
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
18 comments
Fox News is a serious cancer in the body of the American nation.
Would that you were wrong.
As I said, MSNBC does the same sort of thing…and I’m sure many Conservatives say that IT, not Fox, is a serious cancer, yadda yadda yadda. But that’s not the point of the post ;-). It could have been said on HGTV, ESPN or even Nickelodeon…the point is to not diss respecting flight attendants 😉
Progressivism is a serious cancer in the body of the American nation. One that is fatal.
Some stewardesses are a on a serious power trip. Yes, there are the minority, but it is more than a few. It is a two way street
The term is “flight attendant,” not “stewardess.” I agree that some are on power trips and said as much in the post. However as I also said, they’re the ones in charge when we’re on a plane, not us. A FA can be as sweet as pie or the meanest person even but ever way, if they say to put a mask on, you put on on, without backtalk. After the plane has landed, you can complain to the airline, post about it on Facebook and even make a TikTok video about it, if you’d like. But while you’re in the air, if you’re told to put your mask back on, you do it.
But why do you need to be maskless to feed your 2yo?
“…feed a 2-year-old yogurt without a mask on” — I read it that the 2yo was maskless. But JFTR it may be possible for you to feed a 2 year old a pouch liquid yogurt drink while he is wearing a mask using a straw and a special mask that allows straws through.
It’s a two way street. A good flight attendant is a pleasure to be around. They assist the airline customers and are also responsible for cabin safety. A bad flight attendant is looking for a fight. They remind us that they are “primarily” there for our safety like a threat that customer service doesn’t matter to them. They are looking for a fight with their own customers. Usually you can spot them a mile away by all the FA Union flair on their lanyard. Fox News like most news outlets are looking to sensationalize everything. Ms. Pirro is very outspoken but she is right. She didn’t say that we shouldn’t respect flight attendants as your tag line suggests but that they should respect passengers as well. It is hard to respect anyone if they don’t respect you back. Heck we pay their salaries through the flights we purchase.
Clearly you need to be educated on the flight attendant profession. The statement “Flight attendants are here primarily for your safety” is an announcement right out of the company announcement book – the flight attendants didn’t make it up because they are somehow discounting customer service!! And, FYI, it is 100 percent true that they are there primarily for your safety! The FAA REQUIRES that a commercial airline staff an aircraft with a certain number of safety trained and qualified flight professionals based on number of aircraft doors. Anything beyond safety staffing is at the discretion of the airline. The customer service IS secondary – the reason passengers are reminded of this is because some people don’t understand that they can’t be up walking around the cabin in bad turbulence. Some people don’t get that you can’t loiter by the cockpit door. Some people think it’s a horrible devious plot by evil flight attendants if their meal choice isn’t available, or if they can’t get a hot coffee 3 minutes after takeoff. (Did you know that flight attendants are required by the FAA to be seated during taxi, take off and landing EXCEPT for safety related issues?) They tell you that they are here primarily for safety so that your expectations are reasonable, and so that the idiots out there who think they call all the shots with regard to what flight attendants do ‘because they pay their salaries’ understand that no, you don’t call the shots… the FAA does. It sounds like you are the one looking for a fight… as are some of these terribly irresponsible people on Fox News. Instigation is not the answer in the world we’re living in now – it’s understanding , education, and cooperation.
Flight Attendants and Pilots wear union pins to show solidarity to each other. It’s not “flair.” You will never find an airline pilot without their union pin on their uniform tie.
We ARE primarily there for your safety. Everything else is in competition with every other airline to attract customers. Did you know most airlines don’t even have customer service training? Because the FAA could careless if you got your pillow fluffed. They care that you get to your destination in one piece and alive. Airlines get fined for breaking FARs not rude flight attendants. Do you get snacks and drinks on the greyhound? No, but are we not transporting people to various destinations? Yes. An airplane is a bus in the sky but since we can’t pull over to the nearest hospital when someone gets sick or call the fire station when there’s a fire, you have people trained to help until we can get to those life saving services. We choose to be nice because we have common sense, love our career and respect people not because you “pay our salary”. You’re $72 fare is pennies in the grand scheme. The bad apples are few on both sides of this argument but they’re growing on your side. Oh and I don’t wear union pins but I will definitely let you know I’m here primarily for your safety and always do it with a smile.
She’s spot on about the stewardesses!
Perhaps you had some bad experiences with stewardesses back when they were called that in the 1970s. They’re called flight attendants now and in my decades of flying, I’ve rarely encountered one like that.
Nothing she said in this video was a direction to disrespect flight attendants, as your title states. All she did was add that FAs should respect passengers also.
As a retired flight attendant judge Pirro has no conception of a flight attendants job and until she walks or flies in our shoes she should keep her comments to herself. What flight crews are experiencing right with COVID and the mismanagement of the airlines it’s no picnic at 35000 ft.
Pretty sure “diss” isn’t a word. It’s slang for “disrespect”. I agree with you, but you lose credibility when you use slang in a news article.
Yes, most people have no idea what flight attendants are dealing with. It’s hurtful to be disrespected by passengers one every flight. I’d like to see how polite Pirro is after asking the 1000th passenger to wear their mask and fasten their seatbelt on day four leg four. I’m sure she’s just a peach.
Yep, “diss” is slang. If we were writing news articles, it’d be one things. Ours is just a blog and our use of colloquial writing is intentional. 😉 Thanks, though!