Who's responsible for cleaning up messes on planes: the parents of the children who make them, or the flight attendants who work for the airline? Jessie James Decker is sparking this debate all over the internet after she called out United Airlines for the way they treated her pregnant sister while she was flying with her two young children.
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Jessie called out the airline on Instagram
The controversy started on Sunday, when Jessie took to her Instagram Story to share what happened to her sister, Sydney Rae Bass, while she was flying with kids Brooklyn, 5, and Blaire, 2.
"As you know, she is five months pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children. Blaire accidentally spilled some popcorn in the aisle and the flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop," Jessie wrote.
"My poor sister is on her hands and knees, crying in the aisle completely humiliated and exhausted, with her children while everyone else watched. Way to go United," she added.
Sydney's husband shared a photo of the mess
Sydney's husband, MLB player Anthony Bass, took to Twitter to speak out about what happened himself, sharing a photo of Blaire and Brooklyn in their plane seats with popcorn scattered on the floor beneath them.
"The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife traveling with a 5 year old and 2 year old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter. Are you kidding me?!?!" he wrote.
Some people are outraged at the situation
Plenty of people believe that it should be the job of the cleaning crew to take care of the mess and are appalled at the way United handled the situation — especially considering the fact that not only was Sydney pregnant, but she was also traveling solo with two young children, which can be challenging enough.
"@united pays cleaners between flights to vacuum and clean the plane. As a former F/A employee this is disgraceful treating a family like this," another person tweeted.
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Others were siding with the flight attendant
Many people believe that Sydney is the one who should clean up after her children, no matter where they happen to be at the time.
"Genuinely curious who should clean up the mess your 2 year old made? As a parent of three kids I am the one responsible for them," a fellow parent tweeted.
Another added, "Hey @united, I’m about to board one of your flights and I SURE HOPE you’ve given this flight attendant a raise and a day off. They’ve earned it and you’ve got a ton of people watching to see if you’ll do the right thing, or reward the wrong behavior of a rich, entitled white guy."
Traveling with kids is never easy
And traveling while pregnant and wrangling young kids is a totally different level of challenge. It's easy to see both sides of the argument here, and it doesn't seem like this debate is going to be settled anytime soon.
The takeaway from all of this: Don't give kids messy snacks while traveling and you can avoid all of this entirely!
