A Boy Was Booted Off a Plane for Having an Allergy Attack, and the Other Passengers Decided to Applaud

seats in economy class section of airplaneEvery once in a while someone waxes poetic about how classy air travel used to be. “People used to get dressed up!” they say. “You used to get a fancy, hot meal and warm  nuts!” they say. But the days of suited-up travelers sitting politely and sipping fresh coffee are long gone, and now we are a population of people willing to fight to the death for space in the compartment, who would do something as tacky and obnoxious as holding an ovation because a child and his family were kicked off the flight because of an allergy attack.

Seven-year-old Giovanni Alvarado really has more than enough problems in his life right now. The boy’s father, George, has terminal throat cancer and does not have long left to live. The family was taking a trip from Phoenix to Bellinghham to spend time with family and try to make some final good, positive memories while they still can, but on the flight back to Phoenix Giovanni started to break out in hives. Giovanni is extremely allergic to dogs, and he started to break out in an itchy, red rash. According to his mother, it was the first time anything like that had ever happened.

Giovanni’s mother said that the flight attendant just shrugged, smirked at them, and said that there were dogs on all flights and there was nothing to be done about it. An allergic reaction strong enough to provoke hives can be dangerous, though, and according to CBS airplane medical personnel said that it was unsafe for Giovanni to fly and the family would have to leave.

The family said they understood and were getting their bags to get off the plane, when the other passengers apparently decided that instead of sitting quietly and browsing SkyMall, they were going to all be gigantic jerks and they started applauding gleefully, and not in a nice way.

”What crushed us was that our 7-year-old boy looked at us with tear-filled eyes and said, ”I’m sorry that I put you through this. This is all my fault,'” his mother said.

That poor kid.

Because it always comes up when these stories come out, Giovanni’s mother says she’s not looking for compensation from the airline. She just wishes people would think a little bit about what other people might be going through and maybe think twice about doing things like cheering when a little kid and his family get kicked off a plane for an allergy attack.

”I can’t believe that people clapped. They shouldn’t do that because they never know who already has sadness in their hearts,” Giovanni said.

We all know flight delays suck, but acting like tools won’t get the plane to Phoenix any faster. Air travel can be awful, but it’d be a lot less awful if we’d all just be a bit more patient with each other.

(Photo: VvoeVale/iStockPhoto/Getty Images)

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