So, “FrequentFlyer,” are there any limits to where the airline fashion police can’t go? If I wear a Boston Red Sox shirt and the gate agent is a Yankees fan, can they keep me off the flight?

oh yes, the arabic.
so if it said ‘love’ in english and arabic i assume that would be offensive too?
TSA, Jetblue, etc. deserve an a$$reaming

So are we banning Arabic or other offensive or “it’s funny if you’re 15? t-shirts everywhere? No. Should the guy on the ground dealing with the situation have some latitude?

First off, Arabic or other offensive shirts? I sure hope you don’t really think that Arabic script is, by default, offensive.

Second, the question about giving folks on the ground leeway is a fair one. Leeway is sensible if the people given that leeway have a modicum of common sense. The jetBlue and TSA representative sounds like they lacked that common sense. Maybe they DO need a zero-tolerance policy on the books, with clearly defined boundaries.

So, did we ban the use of the word “Fire” in movie theaters? No, we have laws against panicking people in certain places.

For example, it is *not* against the law (here in my state, anyway) to yell FIRE on a city street.

So are we banning Arabic or other offensive or “it’s funny if you’re 15″ t-shirts everywhere? No. Should the guy on the ground dealing with the situation have some latitude?

Well, that depends on if you think the zero tolerance rules in schools today are an improvement on the rules we had when I was a kid where the principal and teachers had leeway.

-TF

PS - I have thbe “celebrate diversity” t-shirt full of different kinds of guns on it. I wear it to shoot skeet, but would *never* wear it on public transportation. I suspect it might make people very uneasy…..

In that case, the passenger was clearly being a provocateur, but the airlines overreacted. But while I didn’t feel his shirt warranted being kept off a flight — especially with the canard that his shirt was a security threat — I could see how you and others would be irritated by the guy.

In the Arabic script case, I don’t even see the guy as a provocateur. And I really don’t see any plausible reason to keep this guy off a plane. If people are offended by things written in Arabic, that’s their problem. Then, to turn your argument around, it’s they who should be opting to drive their car or ride the bus. And they’d better hope they don’t pass anything on the roadside that might threaten their heightened xenophobic sensitivities. They might lose control of their vehicle if they catch sight of a falafel stand.

Have you looked at the photo of the shirt? It barely draws any attention to itself. It doesn’t even meet the school principal test for being offensive.

I would have barely more sympathy for your case if he had something offensive on his shirt, but his “crime” is displaying a language far older than ours!