“Stop Listening to the Internet” — Woman Records Man Kicked Off Flight for Using "Pillow Hack"
"Who argues at an airport?"
Published June 17 2024, 6:26 p.m. ET
One irate flier learned the hard way that TikTok hacks aren't always foolproof.
Natasha (@natashaorganic) posted a viral clip that shows a man angrily attempting to board a flight after he was barred from heading into a door leading to the Passenger Boarding Bridge.
She said that this instance is a good example of why listening to social media trends can be a bad idea. But after hearing her story behind what landed the guy in trouble, you might think that it sounds like he still could've boarded his flight if he'd just responded to being caught better.
Natasha begins her TikTok video recording what appears to be the entryway to an airplane. A line of folks stand in line waiting their turn to get inside of the aircraft. She narrates in her video, "Stop letting these sites, social media give you tips and tricks because sometimes it's not gonna work, OK?"
As she speaks and the video progresses it becomes apparent that she's focusing on one person in particular in the video: a bearded man wearing a white beanie and a black T-shirt who is conversing with an airport worker. She explains what the source of their argument is: "This dude was trying to take in a pillowcase full of clothing and other items," she says as the man continues to talk with the employee.
"Which he is stating was simply just a pillowcase."
The "social media tips and tricks" she's referring to in this particular instance is a hack posted by a user on TikTok who shared that people can sneak in additional clothing without having to fork over money for a baggage fee if they aren't afraid to get a little creative with how they use a carry-on pillow.
It involves buying a travel pillow and then taking out the comforter portion inside of it, only to go and pack it with clothing and other items. Natasha is saying, however, that folks need to understand that not all of the suggestions they see on the internet will pan out for them in real life if they put them to the test.
"The dude was like bro everybody can see it's not a freaking pillow, like, come on. They gave him the chance to pay for it, he went all the way up until they closed the doors to be like OK I'll pay for it now."
However, it appears that that ship sailed for the flier in question who wasn't being allowed on the airplane because he waited too long to pay for the pillowcase stuffed with items.
Natasha's video then transitions to the man in the beanie standing outside of his gate. The door is shut and he can be heard screaming at one of the employees who is speaking back to him. It doesn't look like he's getting on the airplane.
Natasha continues to narrate: "And then he tried to like Bogart his way into the freaking, I don't know what that's called, before you get into the plane." At this point in the clip, the man ends up looking off in the opposite direction of the airport workers, when a couple of other men in bright orange vests emerge from the closed door.
One of them begins pointing in a direction for the man to go in, basically forcing him to leave the area. "You said I could pay for it," the man says, his arms stretched out to his side.
"And they were like bro walk away, we gave you your chance and you didn't pay for it."
The man in the beanie can be seen walking away as he shakes his head, clearly unhappy with the way things turned out. Her video then cuts to footage of police at the counter speaking to gate attendants with the pillow smuggler standing beside them.
"And they ended up calling the cops on him and he ended up getting escorted out so, stop listening to the internet," Natasha says at the end of the video.
Honestly, it sounds like things would've just ended up better for the guy had he just owned up to being caught and paid for the additional luggage he was trying to sneak on board via his pillow.
Several folks who responded to Natasha's video stated that they couldn't believe the man was may lose his ability to fly (which could happen due to the behavior he exhibited at the airport) just because he wanted to avoid a bag charge: "No fly list for a bag charge smh smh," one person wrote.
Another replied: "I’ll fight anyone anywhere anytime but never the airport. Getting out in the 'no fly list' is worse than a bad credit score."
What did you think of the way the man handled the situation? Is it whack that the airline was just mad someone beat them at their own game? Or was the passenger dumb for knowing he got himself into a bad situation by arguing with airport staff to begin with?