A man trying to fly from Australia to the United States is now finding himself in a Tahiti jail cell, with a permanent ban on Australia’s flag carrier…
Continue reading: Dallas-Bound Qantas 787 Diverts To Tahiti After Belligerent Man Bites Crew
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Yeah, yeah… don’t bite people… *yawn*
Tahiti or Dallas… hmm… I’mm’a stay in Tahiti.
Yep, a somewhat common Australian saying, especially amongst the older generations.
I wondered the same thing about the man in the white button down shirt, if he was in business he'd likely have been in PJs by that point of the flight but in economy it seems odd to be so dressed up. I have never heard any mention of air marshals on Qantas flights before but he did seem very comfortable trying to restrain him so maybe he was? Looong trip for everyone but they handled it really well.
In the article Ben, reports: “You’re carrying on like a bloody two-bob watch” and goes on to say “OMG, that is a really good line — is this widely used Australian slang?”
Well Ben, having served in support of Australian SF, back in the day, the wording was a little different. Before the WOKE brigade took over humour, the saying was: “You are acting like a cheap Japanese watch”.
No offence to any Japanese personnel intended. Is that good enough for a ‘get out of jail’ card these days? …. 🙂
The simple solution to mitigate these incidents is to ban the offenders for at least a decade from flying ANY airline. Period.
So sorry JB, the previous post was supposed to be standalone and not in response to your own …. apologies.
The two-bob watch comment sent me! It's only something I've heard from old people living out in the country, so to hear a city-based younger FA use it was hilarious - QF's commitment to all things 'Australiana' knows no bounds 😉
Airline ought never go to Dallas , which is tense with country music and pick-up trucks . Better to go to Tahiti in the first place where one can relax . The only good thing Dallas ever had was Braniff .
I have lived in Australia for 50 years and never once heard someone use the “cheap Japanese watch” phrase.
We are "serious" about terrorism in the skies but this kind of behavior the criminal justice system in Western Culture (maybe for the exception of Singapore) just shrugs and doesn't consider it dangerous. (Ditto BTW drunk driving).
Should be ten years in prison and a permanent No Fly List. The word would get around the lowlife crowd that you FA in the skies you FO.
Pedro, spend some time with those ‘funny chaps’ who have an HQ outside Perth. Crack a few Frosties, Albion or four-X, pin back your ears and learn all sorts of strange sayings.
You’re entirely incorrect. It’s is considered a danger. Several European carriers have taken legal action to recoup diversion costs. In case of the crew being physically assaulted they have the right to take further action. I’m aware of two cases already where crew members were sexually assaulted and punched. They are suing the passengers.
They cannot be banned from all airlines as it involves sharing private data contrary to GDPR as well as a myriad of international laws. In general the individual can only be prohibited from flying the carrier on which the incident took place.
Good, you can stay there, then the rest of us won't have to listen to your BS.
Well, that's what Google is for: "A "two-bob watch" is a classic Australian and British slang phrase used to describe something that is cheap, common, unreliable, or erratic. In older British and Australian currency, a "bob" was a shilling. A watch bought for "two bob" was notoriously cheap and prone to acting up. The phrase is most famously used in the idiom "carrying on like a two-bob watch." If someone is acting frantically, erratically, or nervously, they are compared to the shaky, unpredictable ticking of a cheap, low-quality timepiece."
Do they ban people for that kind of behavior in the US? If they did, Spirit Airlines would have to go out of business.
Oh, wait….
Gemini may think it's known in Britain as well as Australia, but I suggest it's hallucinating on that.
I believe the man in the white shirt is a flight attendant. Perhaps he had removed his tie because he was on a break at the time.
I agree with the definition of Dallas. It's just full of Southern Hicks, and lacks culture.
Judging from the way that gentleman in the white short looks, he's probably a gay porn actor, with that large bushy mustache. He's probably flying to Dallas to join that burgeoning gay porn scene that relocated there from LA due to business un-friendly policies of left-wing California government.
“As good as a two bob watch”. Dunno about Australia but it was once a common saying in NZ. When watches were expensive.
Waking up with a filthy hangover and realizing you've been dumped in Papeete? Priceless...
I doubt the French Polynesians are going to want him hanging around. He'll probably be taken from custody to the airport and have his morbidly obese ass deported.
I have quite a few issues with Qantas, and am far from being a fanboy, but one thing I will give them credit for is the handling of intoxicated passangers.
It is very very very unlikely that he was served any meaningful amount of alcohol on the plane. Qantas has always been very strict about that.
If I had to guess, the guy consumed what referred to as "something else", either before the flight or onboard.
Either way, good on Qanats for letting him off the plane. Having to deal with him for 9 hours, biting or not, would have been hell for other passangers.
Would be a very long (and expensive) flight back home for him, and glad I won't bump into him on a QF flight anytime soon.
"Carry on like a two bob watch" - I am not sure if it's strictly Australian or something that was imported from the UK... It's something you'd hear your grandma say, this gentleman is definitely the youngest person I have ever heard using it... It is cure I admit - I am now looking for an opportunity to say it myself.
It’s definitely a very old Australian zinger from way back, Ben. Generally only used by Boomers or above. Two bob meaning two pounds or dollars, so a very cheap watch, meaning you’re carrying on like someone with no class, or childishly.
Don’t worry, Icarus. George is just doing performative outrage. He likes to pretend that no one does anything about incidents like these, but obviously they do pursue claims, press charges, etc. George also usually promotes some excessive punishments and vigilantism, even though neither of those are effective deterrence either. He’s a rage-baiter.
Brian, they have the internet in Tahiti… though, perhaps, I’d be too busy enjoying myself at the beach or hiking or fishing or… French Polynesia is lovely, after all.
Oh, the perpetrator? Yeah, that guy’s probably not welcome; but, if other affected passengers don’t want to proceed after the stop, maybe they’d wanna stay behind, soak up the sun, etc. who knows. Just having a little fun here.
Thank you, Icarus. Sure, lavanderialarry’s sentiment is cathartic, but as you remind us, not valid. That said, I doubt Qantas will want the perpetrator on-board anytime soon. Probably a temporary ban, charges, and claims; all appealable. Would be fascinating if Ben were ever to follow-up on incidents like this months or years after to update us on what ended up happening.
I totally get wanting to "feel good" or escape reality, but if somebody doesn't know to not get high before flying one of the longer flights in the world, or doesn't know how to get high in a controlled fashion, well... their needing to take a boat back from Tahiti is the outcome they deserved.
Also kudos to the airline for barely being late after all that!
Offender has an Aussie accent but is wearing a Virginia t-shirt. Wonder if he lives in the US? Could be tricky returning back here after all this.
Also, love how the Aussie FAs keep calling him mate even though he’s clearly no one’s favorite friend. Classic!
Yep, a "bob" is slang for the old shilling coin (one twentieth of a UK pound).
An old slang term for someone being gay is that "he is as bent as a nine bob note". Point being that there never was a nine shilling note. There was a ten shilling note - half a quid!
Carrying on like a two-bob watch is indeed Aussie slang, old school, you don't hear it much these days. My dad used to say it. I suspect that staff member deployed that phrase as a non-sweary way of telling the guy to calm down, you can't exactly tell him to stop acting like a f-ing c-t in front of passengers (although that would be very Australian).
Tahiti is such a good place to divert to in such situation, French gendarmerie usually doesn't f*ck aroud with people like this.