- It’s pretty sad when adults need to be treated like literal children.
When you were on a family road trip as a kid, did one of your parents ever threaten to turn back and go home if you didn’t behave? If they did, you hopefully learned your lesson.
But some people clearly didn’t. Recently, a Southwest Airlines pilot had to pull the same trick on his passengers.
The difference is that the misbehaving people were (supposedly) adults in this case. And they weren’t just arguing about nothing.
They were sharing unsolicited nudes over the internet.
But maybe the most surprising thing is that the threat worked. As far as we could find out, the plane took off and arrived at its destination.
Like Herding Children
The strange incident came to light on August 25 when Teighlor Marsalis shared a video about it on TikTok. In the video, Marsalis is on a plane headed for Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
According to media reports, a passenger on the plane received an unsolicited nude picture through AirDrop. In case you need a refresher, AirDrop is Apple’s proprietary system for quickly sharing files and images between Macintosh computers, iPhones, and iPads.
The person who received the unwanted d*** pic (we’re assuming that’s what it was) made a complaint about the incident to a flight attendant. They weren’t probably the only victim of the cyber flashing incident — Marsalis told Insider that she, too, received an unknown AirDrop request but denied it.
Soon after, the pilot told the passengers to behave over the intercom.
“So, here’s the deal,” he can be heard saying on Marsalis’ video. “If this continues while we’re on the ground, I’m going to have to pull back to the gate.”
“Everybody’s going to have to get off, we’re going to have to get security involved, and the vacation is going to be ruined. Whatever that AirDrop thing is, quit sending naked pictures. Let’s get yourselves to Cabo,” the pilot said.
He really does sound like a parent scolding a bunch of kids that are acting up. Which is actually pretty sad, when you think about it.
Support for the Pilot
You can make up your own mind about whether or not the pilot handled the situation professionally. But his employer does have his back.
“The safety, security, and wellbeing of customers and employees is the Southwest Team’s highest priority at all times,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.
“When made aware of a potential problem, our employees address issues to support the comfort of those traveling with us,” the airline added.
Granted, they didn’t directly praise the pilot. But considering they didn’t denounce his actions either, we’re taking that as a silent approval.
Marsalis, on the other hand, told Insider that she was happy with the pilot’s dad energy. She thinks the pilot handled the situation “perfectly.”
We didn’t find any reports of further incidents on the flight, so here’s hoping the passengers got to Mexico without being exposed to more naked human bodies.
‘Keep Your Pic in Your Pants’
Weird as the whole thing is, people exposing themselves over the internet is far from a new issue. There’s an unfortunate reason why “unsolicited d*** pics” is a common phrase on the web.
According to a 2017 study, 53% of women aged 18-29 have received unwanted, sexually explicit pictures on the internet. With men, the number stood at 37% — not as common but it still happens.
That data is five years old by now, but unfortunately, it seems that things aren’t getting better. A follow-up study from 2021 found that the overall prevalence of cyber flashing has stayed the same.
However, the severity of the incidents is increasing. The pictures are getting increasingly explicit and the harassers’ behavior more obscene.
As a result, states all over the U.S. have begun to crack down on the behavior. New York City, for example, for example, is planning to enact a law that would criminalize unsolicited d*** pics.
“In the old days, you had to have a long trench coat and good running shoes. Technology has made it significantly easier to be a creep. Keep your pic in your pants,” NYC Councilman Joseph Borelli told Gizmodo.
Texas, too, has had enough of the nudes. In 2019, the state teamed up with Bumble to criminalize unwanted nudes. California is also trying to push through similar legislation.
But since when have weirdoes cared about the law?
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