This past weekend on the night of the 18th, a Chinese flight attendant posted on Weibo complaining of how an angry passenger splashed 3 cups of boiling water on her to vent their anger. In just the past two days, her message has been retweeted re-weiboed over 40,000 times.
Many netizens sympathized with her plight and strongly condemned the unruly passenger online. But there were also those who suggested that the airline should provide better explanations of flight delays, and that flight attendants should more actively appease passengers and ensure their emotional well-being.
Here’s the actual post:
Really, I’m not fit to be a flight attendant. Because when you splashed three cups of boiling water on me due to flight delay, I could not hold my tears back. I still cried. I want my mommy.
Many people shared their views of this incident on Weibo. Of the two sides, there were significantly more sympathizers who thought the passenger went overboard and should be added to the blacklist (red side), than those who believe the airline should work harder to explain the situation and appease their passengers (blue side).
Some comments from the Red side:
- Why would this be the flight attendant’s fault?
- Sue them sue them! This person meant intentional harm! Splashing boiling water will cause burns and disfigurement!
- If it’s a matter of service problem then the passenger should complain directly to the flight attendant or their supervisor. If it’s only about flight delay then the person should have used their head. Flight delay affects passengers’ travel plans, but it also forces the flight attendants to work overtime. Both sides have a different role to play but both are affected.
- So excessive, no matter what extreme actions are wrong
Some comments from the blue side:
- How did the passenger come to possess 3 cups of boiling water at the same time?
- Girl, why would you give passengers boiling water? Meekly asks a person who’s never been able to get boiling water on a plane.
- Even though you are upset you can still take a picture, send a Weibo, and think of your mom. So contrived!
- In the service industry you could meet customers who are even more unique. You need to learn to control your own emotions. If you can’t even control yourself, don’t talk about controlling your customers emotions. haha.
What are your thoughts?
