Southwest again tried to make a passenger change his clothes and again has been forced to apologize, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Flight attendants asked Joe Winiecki, 39, to remove a shirt promoting “Captn. Jack Hoff’, MasterBaiter,” a fictional fish store located in the “Virgin Islands.”
Sure, the shirt is tacky and eye-roll inducing, but no one appointed Southwest the fashion police. Southwest needs to more clearly communicate the situations where it is appropriate to approach customers about their clothing. Their own policy says its only in situations of indecent exposure, extreme vulgarity and clothes with threatening language.
Clothes call dings Southwest, again [St. Petersburg Times] (Thanks to Charles!)
RELATED: Mini-Skirt Customer Doesn’t Accept Southwest’s Marketing-Filled Apology
More From Consumerist
-
Southwest Airlines Pilot's Tiff With TSA Agent Escalates Until Cops Make Everyone Chill Out
-
Which Airlines Pile On The Most Fees? Compare And Learn
-
Southwest’s CEO On Perhaps Charging For Bags In The Future: “Never Say Never”
-
Southwest Airlines Introduces $40 Fee To Let You Pay For The Honor Of Early Boarding
-
Teen Learns That Cutting Southwest's Boarding Line Means Apologizing To The Entire Plane
i can’t believe the nerve of southwest. apparently they must have too many customers and are not smart enough to learn from their mistakes. either that or there is no such thing as bad publicity in their eyes. look at all the attention they got from the first two customers they had done that to. they got national t.v., web, radio, and newspapers talking about them—for free! how much would that have costed them out of pocket? and i’m sure they haven’t lost any business over it.
FREE BADVERTISING!!!!!!!!!
RTA. SWA doesn’t *have* a written dress code policy. Direct quote from the article:
“It was inappropriate for our employee to approach Joe,” said spokesman Chris Mainz. “We don’t have a dress code. Only in extreme situations would we want to address this to our customers.”
He cited three examples: indecent exposure, extreme vulgarity and clothes with threatening language.
Seems to me SWA shouldn’t be asking people to change clothes for violation of a dress code policy that doesn’t exist. OTOH, this guy’s cries of “free speech” don’t apply here.
Ugh, how old is this guy?
@not_seth_brundle: Aha! Then why is there an argument? SWA was wrong, they stated it, theres no dress code period. End of story.
That’s it. I’m breaking out the “Osama’s Homobortion Pot ‘n’ Commie Jizzporium” t-shirt next time I fly SW.
Well, crap, I’m flying Southwest in a couple of weeks. What am I supposed to wear, a burqa?
…oh, wait.
@cryrevolution: I think there’s an argument here only because people didn’t read the article.
And SWA isn’t arguing with the guy; they admitted the employee was wrong and apologized.
@not_seth_brundle: Oh, I know. I wasn’t disputing your comment, I was agreeing!
@royal72:
Where can I buy one? Come to think of it, I think I saw one for sale down on Bourbon Street last weekend
“Southwest prohibits “lewd, obscene or patently offensive” clothing.”
The T-Shirt might not be the best taste around but it meets none of the three requirements. it’s SUGGESTIVE, not patently offensive.
Ever shopped at Hollister/Abercrombie & Fitch? Their screen T’s are just as suggestive, if not more, than this guy’s shirt. In fact I first thought he bought it at one of those two stores.
WHoops, better not wear that “Jesus is my homeboy” t-shirt, because that’s patently offensive to non-Christians!
@SaveMeJeebus:
What’s that rumbling sound?
Oh, yeah — it’s the sound of my departed grandparents turning in their respective graves.
Must have been approached by those all so “well-trained” flight attendants with the inability to spell.
It’s nice to see that Pee Wee Herman is still out and about.
I think this guy is a moron for wearing the shirt. But I also think it’s his choice and my opinion of the shirt (and the wearer of the shirt) shouldn’t prevent him from wearing it.
@vaxman:
I guess that makes you a silver tongued devil!
When I was a teenager I got tossed out of church for wearing a Mr. Zog’s Sex Wax t-shirt. The church usher, who was about 75 and didn’t surf, asked me to turn my shirt inside out and I told him I would if he would. He refused so I left.
I later ended up working at that church as a youth group leader and I never, ever kicked a kid out of church no matter what he wore. I figured if God is able to love people just as they are, who I am to argue?
Southwest’s planes – Southwest’s rules. Wanna wear a retard t-shirt or revealing clothes? Fly some other airline. I think Southwest is right on target.
@kenblakely:
Please explain the “rules” considering that the Southworst spokesman said, “”It was inappropriate for our employee to approach Joe,” said spokesman Chris Mainz. “We don’t have a dress code. Only in extreme situations would we want to address this to our customers.”
You’re right, Southworst is on target, and they are apologizing to him. Thanks for supporting the guy’s right to wear a funny/poor taste T-shirt!!
The only vulgarity is in furthering the all-too-common misspelling of masturbation
If you like doing it, it’s worth knowing how to spell, and spelling right.
2 conflicting impulses:
a) never fly SW again
b) grab a tshirt off [www.tshirthell.com] & buy me a SW ticket to anywhere. . . .
Wow. That shirt is tackier than most MySpace pages. He should’ve been forced to change it as soon as he walked outside of his home.
But still, SW is just being nit-picky. They can’t even follow their own rules.
OK people:
Masterbator MasterBaiter
The argument is that it is close to something sexual but not quite. If we ban the second word, where’s the line? Should words like rod, pussycat and names like Dick also be removed from the public eye?
It’s not like he got the shirt from here
[www.tshirthell.com]
I think it’s time airline companies just came out with a dress code for their passengers. That way there won’t be this confusion. While I think he has the right to wear what he wants, a private entity has a right to ask him to change. I wish I’d had the guts (if I were there) to ask him to put on a sweater. Honestly to wear a shirt like that in public, I’d be afraid to sit next to that guy during a long flight in case he was a sicko or something.
I know his shirt is not a case of sexual harassment, but sexual harassment can be considered when a person exposes another person to something they may find offensive, even if the exposure is caused indirectly. ie: Someone is watching a very offensive movie in a public area on a portable dvd player. A family walks by. Was it illegal? No, but could it allow a case of sexual harassment–yes.
I was flying home from Philadelphia and got stopped by airport security because I was wearing a Tori Amos concert shirt that said “Mother Revolution” on the back. The security guard physically stopped me by grabbing my shoulders and asked me about the shirt. At first I thought she was a Tori Amos fan but when I explained that “Mother Revolution” was the name of a song I could tell she had no idea who Tori Amos was. So apparently wearing a shirt with the word revolution on it is a security risk!
@EmmaC: Doesn’t sexual harassment only apply in professional or educational situations?
Can you (passively) sexually harass someone by watching an offensive movie on a plane? And what is an offensive movie? Is that sex? Kissing? Two men kissing? An interracial love scene?