DETROIT – A former Wayne State pitcher who is now with the Toronto Blue Jays has drawn widespread attention after he complained about a flight crew’s response to his children spilling popcorn on an airplane.
Anthony Bass is a Dearborn native who went to Trenton High School and Wayne State University. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 and now plays for the Blue Jays.
On Sunday, April 16, his wife and two children took a flight from Toronto to Houston, and Bass had some complaints about how the United Airlines flight crew responded to his children making a mess.
Here’s what Bass tweeted:
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?!?! pic.twitter.com/vLYyLyJC54
— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) April 16, 2023
Clearly, Bass expected the masses to come to his defense in collective outrage over this despicable behavior, but... that’s not exactly how it went.
Bass got ratio-ed to the moon. If you aren’t familiar with social media terms, that means he received way more comments in disagreement than he got likes and retweets.
People scolded him for trying to get the flight crew in trouble over something so trivial, and for assuming that someone else would have to clean up after his kids. It was probably a very frustrating moment for his wife after a long flight with a 2-year-old and 5-year-old, but the masses were not sympathetic.
On Monday, Bass publicly thanked everyone “for the support,” as if he had been through some traumatic event. Maybe this was a joke -- it’s hard to tell.
Thank you everyone for the support. United Airlines is taking care of matters with the flight attendant internally.
— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) April 17, 2023
Bass clarified that the airline provided the popcorn. He also said his wife’s doctor permitted her to fly for “a few more weeks.”
We’ve all been on planes with crying babies or children who act up, and the majority of people are pretty understanding and know it’s just part of parenting.
But what do you think: Was it the flight crew’s responsibility to clean up the Bass children’s mess? If not, should they have done it anyway to help out a parent traveling alone with two toddlers? Or should this fall entirely on the parents?
Most of the internet seems to side with the flight crew. But what about Bass’ own hometown?
