Children & Friday Five

Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007 - 10:15 a.m.

Have you ever seen a story that bugged you on a multitude of levels?

Here's one:

WestJet allows stranger to walk five-year-old girl off flight

The parents of a five-year-old girl travelling alone are furious with WestJet for breaking its own guidelines and allowing a stranger to accompany the child off a flight.

Sara-Maude St-Louis, 5, was taking her first plane ride Thursday from Edmonton, where she lives with her mother, to Montreal to see her father. The parents paid a special fee to ensure someone from the airline would look after her. Her mother and stepfather took Sara-Maude to the gate under the impression that WestJet staff members would check on her during the flight and then escort the little girl off the plane when she arrived at her destination, which is the company's policy for unaccompanied minors.

Instead, nobody checked on her at all, said her father Steve St-Louis. He's furious with the airline and says Sara-Maude could have been kidnapped or hurt if not for a Good Samaritan who sat next to her.

Pierre Cataford, a father of four from Montreal, played games and drew pictures with Sara-Maude during the long flight. The girl was wearing a large VIP tag around her neck, but Cataford told CBC News that he did not see flight attendants check on her. When the plane landed in Montreal, Cataford said he waited for someone to escort Sara-Maude but no one came, so he walked the five-year-old off the plane as crew members waved goodbye to them.

Sara-Maude's father said he was shocked to see a stranger walking into the arrivals area with his daughter. "She was alone. Nobody came to see her. Nobody asked if she was okay. I mean it was terrifying. It was unbelievable," St-Louis said from his home in Pontiac, Que.

WestJet confirmed it's investigating the incident and issued a statement Friday: "The situation is of utmost concern for WestJet and we are taking this matter very seriously. We have apologized to the parents of the child and are doing all that we can to ensure that this does not happen in the future."

Canada does not have a policy that makes it mandatory for airlines to look after children who travel alone. "Canadian laws are set out that way as we speak right now and they give all the flexibility to air carriers to establish their own rules," said Jadrino Huot of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

The agency said it asked Air Canada to clarify its policy on unaccompanied minors last month after a 13-year-old girl was not escorted by airline staff to meet her mother in Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Sara-Maude's parents say they plan to sue WestJet. The airline is flying Sara-Maude's mother and stepfather to Montreal to pick her up at the end of the month, and the parents said they won't let the girl fly alone again until she's much older.

Yes, okay -- in the purest technical sense of the word, WestJet dropped the ball on this one. There was supposed to be extra attention paid to this child according to the contract between WestJet, and the parent who purchased the ticket and paid the fifty-dollar surcharge to have this done.

But the longer and probably sadder part of the story is that the parents have chosen to live so far apart despite the fact that they have a five year old; and that the mother simply couldn't find the time to make a round-trip flight in the course of a single day.

It's pretty apparent that the feelings of this child seem to be coming in near the bottom of the parents' lists of things to see to.

My guess is that WestJet is only going to be held liable for the fifty dollar refund, and with any luck, some judge with actual balls is going to chastize both halves of this girl's family for not treating her with a little more care and respect.

In my opinion, unaccompanied minor flights should be discontinued completely, in a bid by airlines to show that they put the safety of the child first and foremost, ahead of profit. No, I don't really give a shit as to how inconvenient this is for a parent. It would be a damned sight more inconvenient if the child vaporized into the departing crowd due to lack of attention from an inept airline staff.

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Last night at Cero's was just fine; the usual suspects were there, and even though I don't dance as often as I used to, I still enjoyed the band, and was happy to see everyone.

Patti was sitting next to me perched up on a barstool, and I was sitting down at a table and chair, and at one point, she accidentally clocked me pretty good when she was putting on her sweater, but as far as I can see, I've sustained no disfigurement.

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Britney Spears just keeps farting around and not showing up for court dates because she can't be bothered to drag her gorgeous little teakettle out of bed at the ghastly hour of eight in the morning to be ready for a court session at nine.

I realize nobody owes this ridiculously out of touch young woman the time of day, but in the Wouldn't It Be Fun category, I think it's time for some legislation to go on the books that states that a court can be convened wherever the proper personell happen to be sitting or standing -- and go have a hearing in her damn driveway.

Oh, and invite the press.

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Here is the Friday Five for this week:

Many people make a big deal about not being "labeled." And yet, we all are, constantly.

Pick one label that you think does describe you (race, religion, hobby, etc.)

American. Or maybe 'Fanboy', despite the fact that I'm female.

Pick one label that is often put on you, that you really think is inaccurate.

I am getting a little tired of the 'Satanist' thing, after seventeen years of trying to walk a reasonable Pagan path.

Pick one label you wish could be put on you.

Mellow. I'm far too inclined to surrender to the Gimmie Thats when I'm supervising others.

What is one kind of label that you think is universally wrong to use (race, gender, height)?

Brainless.

Labels, used intelligently, can be a convenient rhetorical shorthand for identifying how a given person will fit into (or react to) a given situation. Labels, used incorrectly, can be an excuse for dismissing the differences still inherent in the people to whom the label is applied. Discuss.

Labels are nothing more than social shortcuts that save a bunch of time and expository dialogue, and must be doled out with discretion.

Okay, link is to the left.

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The band actually has another gig later this afternoon, so it will be nice to be done by eight in the evening.

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All right, there. Have a good Saturday.

Wear protective gear if you're going shopping today.

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