Rant #2,080: Flush the Fashion

You know, people today are just sooooooooooo sensitive about certain things ...

Take flying.

Some people have always been, let's say, a little squeamish about going on airplanes,

For those who need to take an airplane trip but are afraid to do so, there have actually been "classes" where people with this malady are shown how to adapt themselves to airplane travel.

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

And we know that alcohol is on board planes for those who feel the need to be knocked out when they travel.

But in today's more sensitive world, we have a new creation called "comfort animals," which some people claim help them manage a flight.

It used to be dogs or cats that were comfort animals, and placed in a proper carry-on vehicle--and properly walked just before boarding--few really cared that these animals were in the main part of the plane.

And it wasn't a regular occurrence, anyway ... airlines have always accepted seeing-eye dogs for the visually impaired, so bringing on a small dog in a carryon bag was no big deal, as long as certain guidelines were followed.

No news here.

But now, we have people trying to bring other types of, let's say, non-human species onto planes as so-called comfort "pets," that you have to really wonder what their thinking is.

In fact, when one woman tried to bring a "comfort" peacock on board, airlines started to draw the line at what species of non-humans could actually be brought on board to "comfort" nervous flyers.

The latest wrinkle to this saga involves Belen Aldecosea, a college student on her way home to South Florida from college in the Baltimore area.

She not only had her baggage with her, but she had her pet hamster Pebbles as a comfort pet.

She supposedly called her airline several times to make sure that she could bring the hamster onto the plane, and according to her, she was told that she could.

However, when she arrived at the airport, she was told just the opposite. Pebbles could not be brought on board.

Horrors of horrors! How was this pansy college student going to possibly board the plane without her comfort animal next to her?

Aldecosea claims that there was a medical emergency at home, and she needed to get home as quickly as possible. She tried to rent a car, but could not get one.

According to the Miami Herald, where, of course, she brought her story of woe for her 15 minutes of fame, a Spirit Airlines employee told her that with no recourse, she could board the plane if she got rid of her pet by flushing the rodent down the toilet.

And you know what? Desperate people have to take desperate actions, and rather than checking it in as a pet, and having it accompany her on the plane but in a separate section where animals are kept, she did what the employee allegedly told her to do--she flushed her dear pet down the toilet so she could board the plane.

And here is her quote about the traumatic experience: "She [Pebbles] was scared. I was scared. It was horrifying trying to put her in the toilet. I was emotional. I was crying. I sat there for a good 10 minutes crying in the stall."

Heck, she must have been crying so much that it is a miracle that she didn't miss her plane.

This story reeks of phoniness, yet the college student has, in fact, achieved her 15 minutes of fame, as the story has gone viral, and has made many of the TV news shows.

First of all, you have to question the "fact" that she could not get a rental car. This is highly suspect if you ask me; hundreds of cars are available at every airport, and she could have gotten one outside of the airport if need be.

Secondly, it appears that so many people are trying to avoid paying an extra fee for transport of their pet, claiming that these are "comfort" pets, and she may have been doing the same thing.

And third, even if she in fact was told to flush the rodent down the toilet, like my mother used to say, "If someone told you to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you do it?"

And this is a college student yet.

Look, I don't like flying either, although I am not afraid of it. I don't like the hassles related to checking in and checking out, which, of course, are 100 percent necessary now in the world we live in.

I also have a problem with my inner ear when I travel by plane, as my ears can get stuffed up and out of balance for days when I have to travel by air.

But when I went to South Korea a few years back, somehow I was able to withstand 19 hours of plane rides, one to get to California and the other to get from there to Korea--and then do it again back to New York.

I can understand people being skittish about air travel, but this "comfort pet" thing has got to go.

With peacocks and other animals being used for comfort, what will be next?

Lions, cockroaches, pigs ... I mean, Noah built an ark, but he wasn't traveling by air.

Sorry, Ms. Aldecosea, grow a backbone, use the brain that God gave you, and get with the program ... there are going to be bigger hardships in your life still to come, and will you need a comfort animal to be there when you ...

Graduate college?

Have your first job interview after college?

Get married?

Give birth?

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a nice weekend.