Airline Passenger Criticizes Flight Attendant For Wishing Everyone A ‘Blessed’ Night
"How sad and impoverished is your life that you’re offended by someone blessing you?"
MNBB Studio | Shutterstock Airline passengers were offended by a flight attendant’s choice of words before disembarking the aircraft.
While the flight attendant likely had good intentions, simply wanting to wish her passengers a pleasant farewell, some onboard accused her of promoting “Christian Nationalism.”
The flight attendant was criticized for saying, 'Have a blessed night' as passengers disembarked the plane.
In a since-deleted X post, frustrated passenger Clara Jeffery, who was aboard the Alaska Airlines flight, expressed how she truly felt about the flight attendant’s farewell.
“A flight attendant just wished us a ‘blessed’ night as we landed in [San Francisco] to groans,” the journalist wrote. “Other adjectives that would have sufficed: great, awesome, fabulous, amazing, fantastic.”
“As my row mate said, ‘This ain’t Montgomery, sweetie,’” the tweet concluded.
Despite Jeffery's complaints, many online felt the flight attendant was just being polite.
"Respectfully, I’m a pretty left-leaning guy, and I wish folks a blessed day fairly often. It’s just a nice thing to say,” Kamala Harris campaign fundraiser Armand Domalewski responded to Jeffery.
"You have issues greater than a flight attendant’s well wishes,” another X user noted.
“How sad and impoverished is your life that you’re offended by someone blessing you? Get a grip,” another wrote.
While the flight attendant likely did not attempt to promote a Christian agenda and wished her passengers a safe rest of their night, it would not be the first time Alaska Airlines had been accused of such a thing.
Until 2012, the airline handed out 'prayer cards' to passengers during flights.
The cards, which contained a rotating series of Old Testament psalms, were given out on flights for three decades. The cards came with a meal, and the airline saw it as an opportunity to "fancy up the meal service since many folks like to give thanks before a meal," according to Jack Evans, former manager of external communications for Alaska Airlines.
Although the cards have been discontinued — and would likely cause outrage from many if handed out today — it is not uncommon for passengers to utilize the power of prayer during flights.
Andrey_Popov | Shutterstock
For some people, saying a quick prayer to themselves before take-off settles their nerves and provides them with a sense of security, believing that a higher power will keep them safe while in the air.
Many people rely on their faith to get them through situations they find scary — not because they are attempting to push a religious agenda. The same applies to the flight attendant who wished her passengers a “blessed” night.
But the word “blessed” is also used by people who do not even consider themselves Christians. Although the word undoubtedly has Christian connotations and roots, in this context, it was simply used to wish the passengers a safe and happy rest of their evening.
So when someone tells you to “have a blessed day,” remember they're likely not Bible-thumping Christians with a nationalist agenda. They’re kind people who are wishing you a fabulous day! And even if they do happen to be Christian, they are not exactly force-reading you the Scriptures.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.