"Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for flying with us today. We are now approaching your gate at the Miami Airport. We are experiencing a slight delay however and we do ask that you keep your seatbelt fastened and remain seated until the light goes out. We apologize for this delay and will resolve the issue as quickly as we can."
Stephanie Porter unbuckled her seatbelt regardless and began to stood up. Her friend Nicole whom she was traveling with put her hand on her leg.
"Stephanie, what are you doing? Did you not hear that announcement?"
Stephanie chuckled and waved her hand dismissively.
"I'm just getting my bag down," she said as if it was no big deal.
It wasn't the first time Stephanie had failed to adhere to flight regulations during this flight. It wasn't even the second or the third. It was the fourth. Three times during the flight, a flight attendant had caught her drinking her own alcohol she had brought onto the plane with her and had to continually tell her that was against airline and FAA regulations. But Stephanie had refused to listen. She'd always been rich and entitled and didn't feel she needed to abide by those types of rules. So, she stood up and began to open the overhead compartment.
They could hear the aircraft door open at the front of the plane.
"There," said Stephanie to Nicole, "see, they're opening the door. It's fine."
"The light is still on," Nicole said, unsure, pointing to the lit seatbelt light.
Stephanie waved her had dismissively. As she reached to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment, her attention was turned towards the front of the plain where a flight attendant was pointing two police officers her way. The officers began approaching her.
"Ms. Porter," said the male officer as they approached. "We need you to come with us."
"What's going on," she asked, confused.
"We've been informed that there were some problems on this flight and we need you to come with us," the female officer repeated.
Nicole was avoiding looking at her but everyone else's attention was directly on them.
"Look," said Stephanie in an annoyed tone, "I really don't know what the issue is, but I'm just trying to deboard the plane."
"We can discuss that after you come with us, Ms. Porter," the female officer said, reaching for Stephanie's arm.
"Excuse me!" Stephanie said in an entitled voice, pulling her arm away, "but don't touch me!"
"Ma'am this can go one of two ways," the male officer said. "But I can promise you, whichever way it goes, it is not going to end up with you walking away from this."
The female officer reached again to take her arm and Stephanie again pulled away.
"I told you to keep your hands off of me!" Stephanie yelled. "Is everyone watching this!? These people are attacking me unprovoked!"
"Ma'am," said the female officer, "you need to calm down right now."
Stephanie began backing up, trying to get away from them only to find herself backing into the Air Marshall who had stood up and was blocking her path.
"YOU'RE ALL HARASSING ME!" Stephanie screamed finding herself blocked.
She turned and tried to push past the Air Marshall but the female officer reached for her and pulled her down to the ground. Stephanie screamed and tried to throw a fist at her, but the officer evaded the blow and turned Stephanie onto her front on the floor. Stephanie coninued trying to wriggle free, but it was no use as the officer pulled her arms behind her back and applied a pair of hinged handcuffs tightly around her wrists.
"LET ME GO!" Stephanie yelled.
The two officers pulled Stephanie to her feet and practically dragged her from the aircraft as she continued to struggle and scream. As they pulled her through the boarding tunnel and into the airport gate and terminal, she continued to try to wrestle free to no avail as more onlookers continued to turn their attention, and their recording cell phones, towards her. Finally, tired of dragging her, the two officers sat her down in a chair at an adjacent gate.
"Look," the male officer said loudly and commandingly, "I'm sure you've realized at this point that you aren't getting yourself free. You can continue making a spectacle of yourself or you can calm down and walk calmly. I guarantee the second option will be a lot less trouble for you."
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE TREATING ME LIKE THIS!" Stephanie yelled squirming against the handcuffs. "And what the fuck are these handcuffs!? I can't move my hands at all!"
"They're hinged cuffs," the female officer said. "Now, are you going to calm down and walk willingly or are we going to have to continue dragging you."
Stephanie seethed at them but she could tell she wasn't getting anywhere and wasn't going anywhere. She decided to try a different approach and she started to work up some tears.
"You won't even tell me what I did!" she whined. "I don't know why you're picking on me!"
"We can talk about what you did when we get to the security office," the male officer replied.
"This isn't FAIR!" Stephanie cried.
The officers sighed and grabbed her by the arms again and stood her up. Though she wanted to continue to fight, she was beginning to realize it would do no good and slowly began to walk on her own, the two officers holding her firmly by the crux of her elbows. She was led to a security office and she was sat down in a metal chair in front of a bare metal table. The two officers sat down in chairs across the table from her.
"Now," said the male officer, "I'm Officer McDonald, this is Officer Hall. Are you ready to calm down and speak with us?"
"I've been TRYING to speak with you," Stephanie whined. "You won't even tell me what I did!"
"We were informed by the flight crew that on three separate occasions they had to warn you about consuming your own alcohol on the flight," Officer Hall said. "You refused to put it away."
"That's just a scam so people have to buy their overpriced drinks!" Stephanie complained. "I wasn't hurting anyone! It's not like I stole their alcohol!"
"That's really not the point," said Officer McDonald. "It's still against FAA regulations."
"Why?" Stephanie scoffed.
"Why is not important. You broke the law by doing what you did."
"And, to boot," said Officer Hall, "you unbuckled your belt and stood up at the gate despite instructions from the flight crew to remain buckled and seated."
"The plane was stopped and at the gate!" Stephanie continued to complain.
"Do you believe that the rules do not apply to you, Ms. Porter?"
"When did I say that?"
"With your actions," McDonald replied. "By continuing to disobey the rules."
"This is so ridiculous," Stephanie cried. "Why are you picking on me?"
"I'm not sure if you realize how much trouble you are in, Ms. Porter," Officer Hall said. "You're facing federal charges and perhaps a few years in prison."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Stephanie screamed. "Prison over drinking alcohol and unbuckling my seat belt!?"
"Your attitude here is not helping yourself," McDonald said.
Stephanie seethed at them for a moment.
"Then what DO I have to do to help myself," Stephanie moaned, still tugging against the cuffs. Her arms were beginning to grow sore and the cuffs were digging into her wrists.
Hall and McDonald looked at each other. McDonald leaned in and whispered in Hall's ear and then Hall whispered something back. They looked at each other again and then shrugged and nodded.
"We, uh, we can think of a way you might be able to help yourself," Hall said. "How badly do you want this to go away?"
"I just want to fucking go home," Stephanie seethed.
McDonald and Hall looked at each other again.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors," McDonald asked.
Hall nodded and they played a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Hall's scissors beating out McDonald's rock. McDonald stood up and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Hall smiled across the table at Stephanie.
"So," Hall said, "you want to go home, you say?"
