Man accused of slapping crying boy on Delta flight is out of a job

[A Turtle Named Mack]

An Idaho man accused of uttering a racial slur and slapping a crying 19-month-old boy on a Delta Air Lines flight is now out of a job.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/18/travel...ult/index.html

[Beachlife!]

IF the stories are true, he will be lucky if that is all he loses. I am surprised he didn't lose a few teeth on the airplane.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Wow, no kidding, Beachlife.

[geminilee]

I have never understood the logic of smacking an infant because they are crying. That isn't going to get them to stop. An older kid may stop, but not a baby.

I am also surprised that he wasn't spitting teeth.

[Sue]

I may be wrong but I'm assuming the mother and child were travelling unaccompanied. I have a feeling had this been a child travelling with a father this guy might not have been so quick with his hands (or his nasty mouth). On the other hand maybe he is just that stupid and evil tempered that he wouldn't have cared.

[JoeBentley]

Originally Posted by Sue

On the other hand maybe he is just that stupid and evil tempered that he wouldn't have cared.

Or drunk, which seems to be the case.

[Simply Madeline]

If that baby had been allowed to carry a gun, this never would have happened.

[Esprise Me]

...aaaaaaaand Madeline wins the internet.

[firefighter_raven]

Originally Posted by Sue

I may be wrong but I'm assuming the mother and child were travelling unaccompanied. I have a feeling had this been a child travelling with a father this guy might not have been so quick with his hands (or his nasty mouth). On the other hand maybe he is just that stupid and evil tempered that he wouldn't have cared.

Yes they were. I saw an interview with the father present and he was a big guy(looked like an offensive lineman). He mentioned that if he had been there then he probably would of gotten physical with anyone that hit his son.

[kismet]

I am baffled by this story. How does someone who is presumably educated and a professional in 2013 think it is acceptable to use that slur in public to a stranger? How does someone who is presumably educated and a professional reach 60 years old without realizing that a toddler or baby won't know how to equalize their ears and may cry during takeoff/landing on a plane? Even drunk, because this is the sort of basic knowledge that I retain even after I lose the power of speech from alcohol overuse.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Even drunk, someone who'd reached that age should have known far better than to slap the child of a complete stranger in public.

[DrRocket]

He's discovered (I'm pretty certain he already knew.) that alcohol has a powerful ability to make incredibly bad ideas seem like really good ones.

[kismet]

See, I get the slapping. Alcohol inhibits impulse control, and if he had the mindset to see a toddler and think racial slurs and demand the mother shut it up now, then the impulse to slap the child is not surprising. Because those are remarkably un-classy and hateful thoughts, a remarkably un-classy and hateful action is probably the predictable outcome of this guy drinking. But I just find it surprising that such an u-classy and hateful man had risen in society to the level he just vacated.

[damian]

I can understand punching the baby. The mother looked too tough to mess with, so he went with the one he thought he could beat up.

[JoeBentley]

I wish I could find a video of this. Yesterday the guy's attorney released a statement that CNN read that went on and on about how his client wasn't a racist, didn't use a racial slur, and so forth but not one word about hitting the baby.

"My client might be an asshole, a drunk, a communist, a puppy kicker, a baby puncher, and once beat a nun to death with a burning American flag at her mother's funeral... but he is not a racist!"

[Ramblin' Dave]

Usually it's the other way around, isn't it? "You can hate my client all you want and I'll even toss out some reasons why, but he didn't do this one thing."

[Horse Chestnut]

In vino veritas, of course, but I'm also betting a decrease in mental faculties. People who are starting to suffer from age-related dementia can get pretty mean and vulgar. His company had to fire him because of his in-public acting out, but they probably already knew what he was capable of. Odds are he's been spewing "ethnic jokes" in country club locker rooms and bullying subordinates for years

[Mickey Blue]

Originally Posted by JoeBentley

"My client might be an asshole, a drunk, a communist, a puppy kicker, a baby puncher, and once beat a nun to death with a burning American flag at her mother's funeral... but he is not a racist!"

Hey they gotta try right?

[ToadMagnet]

Originally Posted by kismet

How does someone who is presumably educated and a professional reach 60 years old without realizing that a toddler or baby won't know how to equalize their ears and may cry during takeoff/landing on a plane?

Or at least know that the crying is likely to be short-lived, because once the tot starts crying (opening mouth to wail), the pressure is relieved.