WestJet Airlines

Responses from WestJet Airlines representatives while attempting to access the complimentary seat selection supposed to be provided to special needs guests with particular seating requirements…

“Seating for the special needs guests is only available at the back of the plane”

Rosa Parks anyone?

“We also have to take into account guests who have purchased the Plus ticketing at a premium charge.  While we do not have first class, this is our version of business class and their needs to need to met at well”. (the grammatical mistakes are theirs, not mine).

I’m not sure how having a special needs person near the front of the plane impedes upon the needs of those who have paid money for the Plus seating, unless….. 

 

 Just as a note, the seats that I initially put forth were not within Plus seating, they were just not at the other end of the plane.  But I guess close, but not within, is still too close?

The final outcome….  I eventually got a phone call, lots of excuses, attempts to say I had created an environment for disconnect with no acknowledgement of the information I had provided, and certainly no apologies, but was offered seats towards the front of the plane.  What a fascinating experience, and a most entertaining way to spend my Saturday afternoon.  I mean, I surely don’t have anything better to do, right?

Shame on us

This is very, very sad.  To go through so much, to have so many hopes and dreams, not just for Abdoul, but for his mother, who didn’t make it, his aunt, who struggled so much, and his sister, dashed by the very place and people that were supposed to open the doors to allow you the space to proceed on those dreams….  Shame on us. 

As Abdul Abdi's parent, Canada is guilty of child neglect

Balkissoon, D. (2018, February 16).  As Abdoul Abdi’s parent, Canada is guilty of child neglect.  The Globe and Mail, p. A15.

The lesser 50%

The lesser 50%

A couple of articles on gender equality and the status of women to provide some food for thought…

Article 1

Hayes, M. (2018, January 26,).  Probing domestic violence, with an eye on prevention.  The Globe and Mail, p A8.  https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-globe-and-mail-alberta-edition/20180126/281625305731859

“[intimate relationship] which we now recognize is the most dangerous environment for a woman” …. what a sad, sad comment to be made. 

In Canada a woman is killed at the hands of her partner or ex-partner once every five days.  In Hamilton, Ontario, population approximately 500,000, officers respond to approximately 18 domestic violence calls per day.  This means a person, typically a woman, within a household, which should be the safest environment for her, is attacked viciously enough to actually report the incident 18 times per day in this small city of approximately 500,000 people.

We aren’t even touching on the issue of violence against Aboriginal women.

The killings and attacks aren’t typically “crimes of passion”, they are simply everyday life for women in our country.

And people try to say there’s no need for explicit action on gender equality, and equal regard for all?

And there is no public outcry.  Why not?  Are women so invaluable it doesn’t matter if we’re being killed and attacked as part of our daily lives?  Your mother, your sisters, your daughters, do you not care that the most dangerous place for them to be is within an intimate relationship, and that being there means that their or their friend’s repeated abuse and possibly eventual death as a result will become an accepted part of their lives?

Article 2

Fife, R. (2018, January 26).  Canada to double money for girls’ education fund.  The Globe and Mail, p  A5.  https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-globe-and-mail-bc-edition/20180126/281573766124502

Yes, please, let’s keep trying to do something to demonstrate that women are of value….