United Airlines prevented a passenger from bringing on a flight an emotional support Jesus. The Jesus in question is a 6 foot tall blond blue-eyed blowup doll. Evangelical Christians are enraged at what they see is another case of prejudice against their deeply held beliefs.
Andrew Canard is a Customer Support Representative for United and was on the scene during the incident. He had this to say:
The blowup doll was too large for the passenger to share a seat with. The passenger in question refused to buy a second seat for Jesus. I offered them this option several times. Eventually, they asked if United would purchase the seat for Jesus. When I United wouldn’t do that they screamed: “Jesus saves, why won’t you save him a seat?”
It became apparent to Mr. Canard that asking the passenger to deflate Jesus would just make the situation worse.
Evangelicals have contributed $15,345 to the man’s legal defense fund.
“There’s going to be hell to pay for United since they refused Jesus!” wrote one donor.
Emotional support deities are not uncommon on flights. There is a rich history of passengers bringing on religious medallions, statues, and many invisible friends to help calm their nerves.
A Hindu man brought the entire pantheon on a flight in 2017. However, they were kind enough to be safely tucked away in this imagination.
* This Poe is based on the very real BBC story ‘Emotional support peacock’ barred from United Airlines plane.
I went on Amazon to see if one could buy a Jesus blowup doll. I did not find one.
🙁
However, there is this little fellow.
Andrew Hall is the author of Laughing in Disbelief. Besides writing a blog, co-hosting the Naked Diner, he wrote two books, Vampires, Lovers, and Other Strangers and God’s Diary: January 2017
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