Say what again & again?

Okay, this week is getting to be too much! I know I should be writing about AA & Kayak hating on each other (and I probably will before the week is out as it appears they are nowhere near settling), but I can't help but write about something far more important first - that being the crazy lawsuit between wealthy Houston preacher Joel Osteen and a flight attendant for Continental Airlines. Okay, it may not be far more important, but it is far more wacky - and that's saying something in this business!

Lawsuit stems from a flight Joel and family took from Houston to Vail in December 2005. Joel's wife Victoria (a classic Texas blonde with what I like to call the "Texas Claw" hairdo) is accused of assaulting a flight attendant. The story is (allegedly) this:

Victoria Osteen [is accused of becoming] irate after ordering a flight attendant to clean up liquid that was spilled on the armrest of her first-class seat.

"One thing led to another and that's when Mrs. Osteen assaulted Continental flight attendant Sharon Brown," McKamie said. "She threw her against the lavatory door and she elbowed her in her breast."

I believe this all took place before the flight took off because the Osteens ended up deplaning and taking another jet to Vail. The part that really gets me is this:

Brown wants an apology and wants to punish Victoria Osteen with punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of her net worth.

McKamie says about his client that, "She was traumatized by it, the whole event - She was seriously injured by Victoria Osteen's conduct."

In the deposition taken for the case, Brown has also said the episode damaged her faith. Because of the status Victoria Osteen has as a spiritual leader, Brown now questions the legitimacy of other spiritual leaders including those at her own church.

According to court documents, Brown claims that she suffers from anxiety and hemorrhoids because of the incident. She is also suing Osteen for medical expenses for counseling.

Okay, the apology she deserves. Yes, she should get that if she hasn't already. But I could go off all day about "damaged faith." If that argument holds water then what about the followers of Jim Baker? Jimmy Swaggert? Those "drink the Kool-Aid" people from the 1970s? Now folks who followed those crazy chaps could certainly argue damaged faith...

But the part that really gets me is "anxiety and hemorrhoids?" Let me be more specific here...HEMORRHOIDS? I don't want to share too much of my personal history, but I've been in a bar fight or two in the past and I've never suffered HEMORRHOIDS. In fact, I just learned how to spell it properly thanks to this story! (and thank God for that!)

That's too much! I'm pretty shocked this lawsuit went to trial and count me down as Team Osteen. If the story went down any way as described then Victoria Osteen was in the wrong. I think she admits this as the Osteens freely paid a penalty to the FAA for flight interference. Also, I read somewhere before that Joel Osteen said that because of this incident - well, and because of the paychecks he earns - he won't fly commercial again.

But that does not make it a payday for the whacked out flight attendant. Sorry, but it doesn't. I've met many a whacked out flight attendant in my day, but this is surreal!

(And, back to Kayak/AA? Kayak is still my favorite place to start an airfare search and remember the old adage - there's no such thing as bad PR. I bet you 20 Euros their site traffic is higher than it's ever been since this brouhaha began. And good on them!)

Osteens in court from airline incident [Christian Web News]
Joel Osteen Ministries [Official Site]