Emmit
A music producer named Emmit was treated poorly at the airport, and he wanted to tell his story. He took to Facebook to tell his story, and after the post went viral, he couldn’t believe what happened next.
Emmit’s Trip
Emmit was at the airport heading to the Dominican Republic to celebrate his birthday. He was flying from Washington DC from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. His birthday was the next day, and he was happy to be getting away for a while. He was really excited about his trip, and unfortunately, another traveler said something to ruin his trip before it even started.
The Incident
Emmit was standing in line at airport security, minding his own business. While standing there, a woman rudely interrupted him. He realized right sway that he was treating him this way because of his skin color. Emmit is African-American. He posted a photo of himself and the rude woman, along with what happened during their encounter.
According to his post, he was standing in line when the woman came over and told Emmit that he must have been in the wrong place because the line he was in was for priority boarding. He clarified with the woman that priority boarding meant first class. The woman responded by saying, “Yes…now excuse me. They will call y’all after we board.” In the photo, he added the caption, “This lady is funny, lmao,” and he drew an arrow pointing to her. He posted it on Facebook because he had a few friends who would be entertained by his experience. By the time the plane landed, his post had gone viral.
Airports
Waiting around at the airport is not a fun experience. Even being on the plane isn’t always a good time. Many people want to make their flights as comfortable and easy as possible, so they fly first-class. This is what Emmit did. He tried to make his trip as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. When he bought his first-class ticket, he knew that he could avoid waiting in a long security line by getting priority seating. He was also looking forward to larger seats, which would allow him to sit in a bigger seat.
Emmit’s Feeling
Emmit believed that the woman told him that he was in the wrong line because of his skin color. How could a black man afford a first-class ticket? He believes that this is why she tried to push past him, saying that he would be called later.
He Could Afford It
Because of Emmit’s larger build, he wanted to sit in first-class where he would have more room. Because he was a successful music executive, he had the money to fly first class. He made more than enough money to fly comfortably. He thought that maybe the woman looked at his clothes, believing that he wasn’t dressed nicely enough to fly first class. Also, he says that when he looked at the way she was dressed, he didn’t think that she fit in there either.
Proving Himself
Emmit was upset with the woman’s comment, and to keep the peace, he showed her his ticket. This wasn’t something he had to do. She wasn’t security and had no business getting into his, but he did it anyway. To make matters worse, the woman looked at her friend and said, “He must be military or something, but we paid for our seats, so he still should have to wait.” When she made that comment, Emmit was even more sure that she was judging him by the color of his skin. He corrected the woman by saying, “I’m not in the military. I’m a nig*a with money.
Viral
Just two days after the post, it had been shared over 250,000 times, and then the number grew to 300,000. The post also received hundreds of comments and over 868,00 reactions. Most of the comments were in support of Emmit. Despite the positive comments, Emmit wasn’t happy.
No Joy
Emmit created a second post where he wrote that racism needs to be addressed, but not in the way that he did it. He wrote that he didn’t find any joy in making another person’s life hell. He felt terrible that his post drew negative attention to the woman, and soon, he was getting death threats to both him and his family. While Emmit did get some negative feedback, but the woman got it worse.
A Bad Situation
Emmit says that the whole experience was terrible from the time the woman approached him, all the way to the comments on the viral Facebook post. This man hilariously gets revenge on rude woman at airport and it goes viral. A day later, he is the one who apologizes.