A woman was at an airport in Chicago, Illinois, ready to go home with her two non-verbal autistic children. However, a Southwest Airlines employee allegedly refused to let her scan their boarding passes, despite her explanations and her children’s condition. This caused the woman to break down, and the internet is livid with her.
Multiple accounts shared the clip attached above. One of them was Robbie Harvey, who shares stories of the kind often. The clip went viral, garnering 274,200 views, 43,400 likes, and more than 2,100 comments.
Reportedly, the incident occurred at Chicago Midway International Airport in Illinois. The woman, who is not identified, was trying to board Flight 1948 when she encountered issues with one of the Southwest gate agents.
Allegedly, he was refusing to let her scan her children’s boarding passes, something they were unable to do for themselves, as they are nonverbal autistic kids.
Furthermore, Harvey, citing a witness, detailed in the clip’s description that another passenger had scanned her and her husband’s boarding passes without complaints from the same employee.
Woman Breaks Down
The clip attached above doesn’t show the woman’s or her kids’ faces, nor does it show the Southwest employee in question. It does capture, however, how the stressful situation led to her breaking down and screaming, as she didn’t feel heard, despite her explanations.
“All I said was these were the kids, and [to] scan the [expletive] boarding passes,” the woman screamed. “And you won’t scan the [expletive] boarding passes ’cause you want to be a [expletive] idiot. They’re autistic!“
The woman continued screaming at the employee and those around her. She said that she only wanted to go home, all while repeating what had happened, possibly to other employees or even Illinois airport security responding to the scene.
“Sir, you’re 75 years old, you might got grandkids that are autistic. I got four kids,” she said. “I don’t want to give nobody no issue. All I want to do is go home. All I want to do is to be treated like a human being.”
As the clip ended, the woman began to cry, asking why people were looking at her.
Backlash
Many viewers reacted to how the employee allegedly treated the woman. One viewer said, “That has to be a violation of the ADA. I hope she sues and gets paid.” Another one commented, “The pain in that mother’s voice is heartbreaking.”
Others were worried about the woman’s well-being, understanding her frustration. One wrote, “As a mother of an autistic child, I wish I were there to help and hug her.” Another one added, “I don’t understand what the issue was with her scanning. She’s exhausted. This was awful for her.”
It is unclear whether the woman boarded the plane with her children. Southwest has yet to address the incident, and users have begun flooding their clips with backlash.
