In the United States, there is still a federal mask mandate in place requiring citizens to wear masks for COVID-19 protection in places such as train stations and airports.
There is also still the debate on what items qualify as following the federal mask mandate, at airports. For one Florida man, this caused a very puzzling situation.
Man Thrown Off Flight Due To Wearing Thong As Mask
According to NBC 2, Adam Jeene was scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. from Ft. Lauderdale, on Wednesday morning. An odd issue surfaced right before the flight was about to take off, though. This has since been identified as flight 1750, on United Airlines.
View this post on Instagram
A viral video displays a flight attendant asking Jeene to leave, due to him not following the correct guideline for the mask mandate. This was due to him being spotted wearing a women’s bright red thong, as a face mask. Of course, because of the underwear, he was being asked to leave the aircraft.
Passenger Decided To Press His Luck On The Mandate
The person spoke with local news, revealing why exactly he decided to wear the women’s underwear as his COVID-19 mask. He revealed that he isn’t a fan of the mask mandate on planes, and he wanted to see what he could get away with, in trying to comply with the mandate. United Airlines went on to confirm that Jeene was in fact, not complying with the mask mandate. They also added it was best that this situation was fixed right before takeoff, as opposed to dealing with it in the middle of the flight.
“I think the best way to illustrate absurdity is with absurdity,” said Jenne. Every single flight has been met with different reactions from the flight crew,” said Jenne. “Some with a wild appreciation, others confrontational. I ended up staying at the gate for about 45 minutes.”
Other Passengers Stood Up For The Thong Wearing Man
This incident definitely caused a lot of commotion on this United Airlines flight. It even reached a point that several other passengers decided to leave, in support of Jeene. One man was also captured in a video asked why was Jeene kicked off, for wearing a “mask.”
The federal mask mandate in the US has been put into place since spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first started. Many have since grown tired of having to wear these masks, at locations such as airports. This stems from the belief that the masks don’t work, while others believe that they don’t need to wear them if they are fully vaccinated. This includes having a COVID booster shot.
For Jeene, he also has the belief that passengers are simply over the mask mandate, and the requirement needs to end.
“I think it’s a testament to passengers having had enough, citizens having had enough. This is just nonsense. My intention was not to ruin anybody else’s day. It’s all nonsense. COVID doesn’t know that we’re at cruising altitude. It’s stupid. The whole thing is theater.”
Jeene ended up being refunded for his flight, though. He was even rebooked on a flight for the next day.
He concluded, “Hopefully, Spirit Airlines has a better sense of humor tomorrow.”
