MLB Pitcher Anthony Bass Throws A Hissy Fit On Twitter After United Airlines Made His Wife Clean Up After Their Kids

Kate4/17/2023 7:30 PM

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the latest controversy sweeping the internet: United Popcorngate.

It all began when Sydney Rae Bass, the pregnant wife of Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass, was on a flight with her two young daughters. Apparently a flight attendant gave the girls popcorn and, as little kids do, they made a mess of it. The flight attendant then approached Sydney with a trash bag and wet wipes and instructed her to pick up after her children (allegedly "every last drop"), as the popcorn was a safety hazard.

How do we know this? Though neither were on the plane, both Sydney's husband & her sister took to their social media accounts to pop kernels of shame all over the airline. A united front against United, husband Anthony posted his outrage to Twitter as her sister, singer Jessie James Decker (who has 4.2M followers on Insta), went off on her Insta story.

Anthony then sent out several follow up Tweets and he ended it by informing the supporters that United was dealing with that flight attendant.

Nearly 6.6K people quote Tweeted Bass, 11.8K replied, and nearly all of them are on Team United. Many followed the sentiment of resident parenting expert, Jeff Nadu.

And there were plenty of solo-traveling parents who chimed in to say cleaning up after your kids is simply the rule (which was refreshing to see because there were also a ton of waiters/service industry folks in the replies saying how often parents leave them with huge, over-the-top messes).

The takes I felt were most spot on were, "It is definitely tough going anywhere with toddlers and they're absolutely messy little people, but also we're aware of that and don't expect others to be left with our messes." A dash of empathy for how tough it can be to travel (or do damn near anything) with little kids, mixed with a healthy dose basic, common-sense decency.

It resonates because I've taken eight solo flights just myself and my toddler now, and two of those flights were absolute nightmares. By the end of each I'd pulled out every toy, stuffed animal, little book, iPad, snack, applesauce pouch, whatever I could think of to distract him from his spiral…

Nothing worked. Flight attendants & the people sitting around me were ANGELS who went above & beyond to help & show me kindness, but to no avail. Over Thanksgiving at 30,000 feet my 1.5 year old was screaming, "ALL DONE, ALL DONE!" in a panic, not understanding why we couldn't move from our 2x2ft square of space in a big, loud, metal tube. That's on me.

By the end my hoodie was smeared in Biscoff residue (looks like poop, neat), there were a zillion wet wipes, rogue crayons rolling at my feet… and yet despite being drenched in sweat with a bowling-ball sized anxiety knot in my stomach, I was able to make sure our space was as clean as possible before we left the plane. Not trying to sound like a holier-than-thou asshole, but it wasn't even a thought to me for a single second that I'd just leave our mess behind or let it melt into another passenger's space. No, it's not easy to move around a small space with a writhing toddler to pick shit up, but I can't imagine leaving a largely visible trash pile as someone else's problem. I'm pregnant now and I get how sick and tired you can feel, but even still I'd feel too much shame to do that. #ShoutoutShame

Devil's advocate - I can also see having cranky toddlers & my hormones raging and just completely overwhelmed to the point where fucks given fly out the window about some popcorn under a seat. I wouldn't have taken to the internet, but I can understand a parent at the point of being very annoyed like, "Ahh Goddamnit, I paid a lot for these seats & you guys gave my kids the popcorn and now I gotta get down and pick it up? I'm exhausted & clearly pretty prego & they're gonna sweep anyways." It's not that I'd expect the flight attendant to clean up for me, but I can see an outnumbered parent hoping that the staff could assess the situation and maybe help me out a little if they had time, as a treat. (But I still would have picked it up. #GoodGuyKate).

Anyways, I just hope the flight attendant doesn't face any consequences and I hope the kids have a good trip wherever they're going, and whenever I fly with my son again I know to avoid popcorn at all costs. Oh, and if I run into any real trouble I won't go to my boyfriend or siblings. I'll go to the expert.