One lawsuit we're glad to see

On the whole, The Vindicator doesn't much favor lawsuits that some might see as frivolous. But as far as we're concerned, the AirTran Airlines lawsuit against the traveling idiot who shut down Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport by irrationally breaching the airport's security deserves to be made an example of.
The flying public -- and the travel industry -- has enough to be concerned about with legitimate security issues, without morons like Michael Shane Lasseter running past security guards and down an up escalator. AirTran said Lasseter's antics cost it more than $1,000,000. We can't begin to calculate the costs to the passengers at the nation's busiest airport in terms of trouble and terror.
But Lasseter, whose security breach prompted airport officials to shut down the airport until he was apprehended some three hours later, is hoping to win his case by taking it to the public media. Despite the fact that his stupidity disrupted aviation throughout the eastern United States and forced 10,000 travelers to leave the airport, Lasseter is trying to remake himself as the victim.
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution put it, "There he sat Thursday morning on ABC's 'Good Morning America,' sharing his story to a national audience, introduced by host Diane Sawyer as a 'man under so much pressure.'"
Poor baby.
He's so sorry for the "inconvenience" he caused to others.
Inconvenience is when you've forgotten your umbrella and it rains. Inconvenience is when somebody beats you to that close-in parking space. Inconvenience is waiting in a long line for the rest room at the ball park.
Fear: Inconvenience does not describe inducing fear in thousands of people, severely disrupting their travel plans, running up a small fortune on other people's tabs while forcing authorities to call out the National Guard and the bomb squad.
In a statement, AirTran said that it was forced to divert 17 flights, cancel 24 flights and delay 202 flights an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
But, golly gee, shucks, folks. It was all a misunderstanding.
Unless Lasseter has been dwelling in a cave somewhere, he should have understood the consequences of his actions. If nothing else, at least others should be getting the message now.