We are (hopefully) just a day away from the end to one of the most bitter presidential contests in U.S. history. As polls and statisticians predict a victory for Hillary Clinton, one die-hard Donald Trump supporter tried to make an eleventh-hour plea to passengers on my United Airlines flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles last night and was threatened and nearly thrown off the flight for it!
Boarding United Flight 1652 bound for LA last night, I was tired — it was 10:20p and I just wanted to get home to my wife and kid. As I settled into my economy class seat all of a sudden I heard a woman chanting, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” as she walked down the aisle.
Later introducing herself as Maria, the middle aged woman was adorned in a zebra-stripe head scarf and a giant turtle ring. Around her wrists were two purple fingerless gloves like you might see a weightlifter use in a gym. Juxtaposed to the zebra-striped headscarf was a white skirt and white shoes. In her hand was Trump’s The Art of the Deal book, a small paperback “Catholic Voter Guide, and a manila folder filled with paperwork.
After shouting “Trump” until she reached the very rear of the aircraft, Maria aroused the passion of a Trump foe who she would later describe as “a homosexual” and a verbal altercation ensued, with the disgruntled man allegedly threatening her with physical violence. I was not witness to that.
A flight attendant directed her to rear galley where Maria began to explain why the FA should also support The Donald. She must have pushed too hard because the FA called the cockpit and filled in the captain on what was going on and moments later the captain came on the loudspeaker announcing, “To the woman causing a disturbance: I suggest you stop now. The authorities have been alerted.”
Two gate agents boarded the flight and marched to the back with the onboard purser. A discussion ensued and Maria claimed she was not causing any trouble, just enthusiastic about Trump. Appearing to have calmed down from her frenzied in-flight campaign rally, she was allowed to remain onboard.
Maria was brought back to the front of the economy class cabin away from the angry man — and perhaps so FAs could keep a better eye on her — and placed in middle seat…directly across the aisle from me!
Not one second after sitting down she immediately began speaking to her seat mate, who was quietly reading the NY Times.
MARIA: “Oh, NY Times! You can’t believe anything they write!”
PASSENGER: <No response>
MARIA: “Hi I’m Maria. Let’s talk politics.”
PASSENGER: “No, I’d rather not. Thank you”
MARIA: “Oh come on! Who are you voting for? I’m for Trump.”
PASSENGER: “I don’t want to talk.”
MARIA: But who are you going to vote for and why? I thought both of them were bad but you know something, that Trump isn’t as bad as people say. I know he comes off as gruff, but trust me, he’s actually a great guy with a wonderful family and is going to make America great again…”
PASSENGER: Please leave me alone.
MARIA: Look, why don’t you want to talk about this? This is huge! What issues are important to you? What are you concerned about this election? Let’s have a conversation! What’s wrong with a conversation?
PASSENGER: I said I don’t want to talk! Please leave me alone.
MARIA: Well, we are sitting next to each other, of course we are going to talk. Let’s talk issues. What issues are important to you? You might be surprised at how much you agree with Donald Trump about!
PASSENGER looks over across the aisle and starts laughing.
Meanwhile, Maria turned around and began pummeling her seat mate on the other side with the same conversation. The purser walked by and the passenger complained that Maria would not leave him alone and be quiet. She asked if he wanted her removed from the flight and he responded that he just wanted to be left alone.
The purser sighed and retreated to the front galley where she picked up the phone and presumably consulted with the captain. Moments later she returned to our row, where Maria remained engaged in a conversation with her seat mate about Trump (in which she did all the talking).
Tapping her on the shoulder, the purser said, “Ma’am, if I hear one more word from you, you will be removed from this flight. The captain is ready to turn this flight back to the gate!”
Maria responded, “Oh okay ma’am. Thank you ma’am! I understand ma’am. Not another word from me, scout’s honor!”
Bringing her index finger and thumb up to her lips, she imitated a zipper closing over her lips and then perhaps for good measure did it again. And again. And a fourth time.
The purser looked at the poor man on the aisle and said, “If she utters one more word, I want you to hit the FA call button and we will turn around and remove her.”
The safety demonstration concluded and Maria had still not said a word, though she turned to each seat mate and made the zipping motion with her hand again and then crossed herself like she had just entered church or received mass.
We took off. Would she talk? Nope, she was quiet, until the food and beverage carts rolled down the aisle…
“I’d like three cups full of ice, a full can of diet coke and a full can of seltzer water.” Then reminding me of Andy Pipkins, she began ordering food off the buy-on-board menu.
“I want that one and that one and that one!”
The FA had to explain that many of those items were not available on a flight departing at 10:35p to which Maria did not seem to understand because she attempted to order the same items again.
Finally she decided upon two snack boxes and a package of candy…the total came to $17 and change and she handed over a wad of cash.
FA: Ma’am, we don’t accept cash.
MARIA: I have cash
FA: We don’t take cash. Credit or debit card only
MARIA: I don’t use credit cards. I like to use cash so they can’t track me.
FA: They?
MARIA: The people Donald Trump is going to clean up when he becomes President.
FA: Debit or credit card only.
MARIA: I don’t have that, but I have a bank card.
FA: Uh, that should work.
(it did)
Her seatmates were both given complimentary alcoholic beverages.
Snackboxes in hand, Maria tore them open and began devouring the contents, chugging her beverages and loudly chomping on the ice.
A few minutes later the purser walked by to check on her and she ordered coffee, chugging that too as she feverishly ate her complimentary bag of snack mix morsel by morsel like a mouse eating crumbs off the floor.
The food appeared to have a calming effect on her because she remained quiet for the duration of the flight…until we landed in LA.
Upon reaching our gate, she tried to strike up a conversation with her seatmate again. He remarked, “Geez. If I didn’t have to drive I could really use another vodka.”
I then made the decision that I needed to speak to her. She was directly in front of me walking off the plane, but stopped to try to convince the FA and captain (who must have been very curious about the whole situation) that they should vote for Trump. I proceeded up the jetbridge, into the terminal, and waited for her.
Finally she showed up and was very happy to speak to me about what happened onboard. Rather than try to summarize it or edit it, here is the entire 17-minute conversation unedited–
This was indeed the way she spoke onboard as well.
I think United did very well in handing this incident. They could have thrown her off and let’s be honest…she deserved it more than I did for taking a picture of my seat. But choosing to deem her just a little nutty rather than a safety threat was the right call — imagine the headline on Drudge: “United Throws Off Trump Supporter”.
But my goodness, what poor etiquette. I’ve had talkative seat mates, political seat mates (like that time I flew with Donna Brazile or Wesley Clark), drunk seat mates, and obnoxious seat mates, but never this combination of oddness. I think Maria is a nice woman and I wish her all the best in her many endeavors, though I doubt Mr. Trump will be calling on her for battleground state campaigning. But who knows…
How do you think United should have handled the incident?
In any event, I think I speak for many of us in saying I look forward to the end of this toxic presidential election.
California – Fruits and Nuts! 😉
She’s what we in little Britiain call “a nuttter”. She should have been pushed off the plane. She supports a nutter and is a nutter. No way people should have subjected to her nonsense because that’s exactly what it was.
Mental health issues, sociopath like her favourite candidate call it what you will. Public disorder and worthy of being removed from the flight. I’m a psychiatrist and this behaviour in public should not be upheld condoned or encouraged.
We don’t let formerly convicted persons vote but we let CRAZY people vote…..logic and reason do not apply to them.
Yikes. United, and the other passengers seated anywhere near this woman, should be applauded for their patience and generosity. This woman does sound like a nutjob…but I also agree that she is no safety threat. That being said, anyone who disrupts the personal space of other passengers after repeatedly being asked to refrain from such behavior does qualify to be taken off a flight and refused service. It isn’t fair to passengers seated next to this crazy woman to have to endure her craziness. If she cannot keep it to herself and learn that social graces are important in our society, then she doesn’t deserve to be part of the flying public.
But she does offer more evidence to the narrative of how misinformed, how bigoted, and how clearly clueless and unaware the average Trump supporter really is. Wow.
but will the Trump Shuffle pick up like the Truffle Shuffle? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5whaRkuipU)
I’m going to have nightmares about this now
This is the funniest post I have ever read!! I do feel sorry for her seat mates – God bless them – but this is just hysterical! I would have loved to see this (but your narrative pretty much captures the moment).
Fantastic. Hilarious and terrifying.
That was hard to watch lol. I love how she said Dems were responsible for slavery. Also why bring up homosexuality like it’s a problem and then walk it back… it’s like saying “no offense, but…”
Fantastic description of the action! Makes for a funny post, but I hope I never have to sit by her.
I think UA handled this as they should have. She’s clearly a fruitcake and was being obnoxious, but wasn’t a safety threat. And you’re right, kicking someone off a plane for political speech would have gone over about as well as a hand grenade.
I could only get through a couple of minutes of the video…last time I heard that kind of ramble was watching pro wrestling about 20 years ago.
Matthew, what the heck were you doing in the economy class cabin?
Oh, how much glee lampooning this nutcase must have brought you.
This article underscores why I always bring headphones on flights. Hats off to the FAs and flight crew at UA for handling this incident the right way!
That is when you should have asked her for her name and ss# then tell her that you work for the IRS Audit division. Followed by, when was the last time we audited you? How did you pay for your ticket? where did you obtain the funds to pay for the ticket?
@Patrick,
You forgot “flakes”……that’s why Californians are described as being like a box of cereal, — full of fruits, nuts and flakes.
So Matthew are you staying on upgrd? And do you know why a bunch of the other upgrd writers are moving to Travel Codex?
A, I will be moving to Boarding Area as a stand-alone blog. Stay tuned for a much better blog experience!
Matthew,
I am currently taking psychological disorders this semester at college and believe that this woman could potentially qualify for a diagnosis of schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder.
This woman is worried about the Trump people tracking her, which is a dilution. That is a psychotic symptom.
She has clearly lost contact with reality. An airplane is not a place to discuss these issues, and even badly behaved passengers are not this bad. I have encountered a passenger who is rude about politics, but this is mentally ill.
I am not going to diagnose this woman because I am not sure how long her symptoms lasted, and I do not know if she had other symptoms. You do not need to be violent to be psychotic. I wouldn’t laugh about this matter at all since I believe this woman has some form of psychosis and is really mentally ill.
I have spoken to my professor about this, and he has confirmed that she has schizotide personality disorder. He said that she clearly does not know how to act, does not realize that she is being very annoying, and could be psychotic but is not necessarily. Either way she is mentally ill.
Matthew, do you know why the other blogs are going to Travel Codex and/or why upgrd is closing? Just curious. Thanks!
@Alan:
Greg: [v.o.] …and lately I’ve had the chronic fluctuating mood
disturbances which would indicate psychothymic disorder.
I mean, the hypomanic symptoms are there and yet I’m
experiencing moments of aphasia and aproxia and I just want
to pull my teeth out, Dr. Crane. What do you think?
Frasier: Well, Greg, two possible diagnoses come to mind. Either you
are seriously mentally ill and you should be institutionalized
immediately, or you are a first-year psychology student!
Greg: Oh yeah, I’m at UW.
Frasier: Yes, well, it’s not uncommon for students to feel that they’re
manifesting symptoms that they are studying. It’ll pass.
Greg: What do I do till it passes?
Frasier: Well, just relax. Though it might be a good idea to postpone
reading about male sexual disorder until after spring break.
[Roz signals to wind up the show] That’s all the time we have
for today. This is Dr. Frasier Crane, KACL 780.
Looks like she got the last laugh!
Bipolar or Manic-Depressive in full blown manic mode.
At less she was happy and didn’t also display a drinking problem.
One of my patients told me that the rest of us just don’t like manics because we’re all depressed. There might be something to that.
Well done. Usually we hear about nutty passengers and maybe get a blurry mobile phone video, but you went and talked to her. Impressed!