Yes, free speech, Yes, sense of humor, but folks, I don’t make jokes on airplanes that could be remotely interpreted as an implication that the plane is anything less than perfectly safe (unless I think we are less than safe, which I never have). This isn’t 9/11 paranoia, this is an acknowledgement of the fact that there are very few situations more precarious than being in a several-thousand-ton machine 35,000 feet up in the air, and people should keep that in mind.
I learned my lesson as a high-schooler in Japan, when, on a VERY crowded train, I thought it would be funny to say, “Everybody down, I got a bomb!” in a situation so crowded that no one could possibly “get down.”
Well, one or two of the Japanese crowded in there with us turned out to understand English. Word to the wise: Don’t EVER do this.
Huh? Telling everyone you have a bomb - whether kidding or not - isn’t in the same ballpark as asking if the people who control whether you live or die during your flight are sober enough to accomplish their task, especially in light of the recent drunk pilots incident. Heck, it’s not even in the same sport, let alone the same ballpark. Had your statement been made in America, you would have been arrested for making terroristic threats before 9/11.
And only two people in your crowded train even had a clue as to what you said - how is this relevant to what the airline passenger said?
I imagine when you check in at the airport now in addition to the, “Did anyone handle your baggage…” question, they will ask, “Do you have any intention of asking if our pilots are; drunk, on drugs or of a fanatical religious bent that might cause them to crash the plane?”
Her comment wasn’t anything to do with security issues, and certainly didn’t justify her expulsion from the flight on security grounds. If they were simply pissed off with her then that’s a matter to be settled between themselves and her, but they appear to be using ‘security’ as an excuse for them getting shitty.