Everyone’s aghast. How could it happen? How could 150 high school boys and girls get drunk and behave badly on an airplane high above the American landscape, out of range of parents and absent chaperones? How could they?
Tittering got the best of me as I read about parents’ dismay when they found out what really happened June 11 on a certain Falcon Air flight. No doubt they had put their little darlings on the flight for a weeklong trip to Mazatlan, Mexico–unaccompanied by a certified adult–with the completely realistic expectation that their beloveds were off to polish their Spanish skills, as in “Mas cerveza, por favor.”
Instead, as it turns out, no sooner were the babies airborne than–can you believe it–they got knee-walking, wet T-shirt drunk. There was so much fun aboard the Boeing 727, there was enough to share with the pilots and flight crew.
According to some of the young revelers, not all of whom were delighted by the shenanigans, the pilots helped judge the wet T-shirt contest when a flight attendant, self-appointed master of ceremonies, shepherded the girls into the cockpit.
“We’re not going to land this plane until you girls get wet!” he reportedly said.
In the wake of the “Animal House” flight, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the pilots and crew. If found to have violated federal regulations, the airline could lose its license.
A group of 40 parents, meanwhile, is demanding an investigation of the travel company–Cerkvenik-Anderson Travel Inc. of Phoenix–that organized the trip under the name Student Tours.
“Definitely, I think we’re a victim of fraud,” harrumphed one indignant mother.
She was talking about the travel brochures for Student Tours, which promised “perfect weather, sandy beaches and warm ocean waves.” What? And not a word about the fake orgasm contests, booze cruises and coed swimsuit-switching races that actually transpired? Such deception.
I, for one, would like to suggest an investigation of the parents. What were they thinking?
It does not take a Will Hunting to solve this equation: 150 high school graduation celebrants are set loose on the high skies with money, booze and permission from their parents to have a good time. They (a) discuss Carlos Fuentes’ latest book; (b) act like sailors on shore leave.
Graduating high school seniors, despite their dubious legal status as “adults,” usually demonstrate the maturity and self-control of Labrador puppies on Viagra feed. If they were a ride at the fair, they’d be called Bumper Hormones.
More Top Picks Jbl Endurance Run 2
From my perch as a stepmother who has passed this way twice before, I’m surprised only that parents would send their kids off like that. The argument, “But, Mom, everybody’s doing it,” quit working on me when the urgent demand was Chuck E. Cheese Showbiz Pizza. When the request evolves into an unchaperoned trip to Mexico with 149 other kids, the response rolls fluidly off the tongue: Not “no,” but, “What, do I look stupid?”
As for victims, I can’t find any–except perhaps for the kids who got more than they bargained for on the trip and less than they deserved from parents who should have known better.