United's woes have not yet subsided as it now enters the scorpion plague portion of the proceedings.
CBC.ca reports a man from Calgary suffered a terrifying ordeal while flying United recently. A scorpion fell from an overhead bin onto his head.
Richard Bell explains to the news site about his recent trip from Houston to Calgary: "While I was eating, something fell in my hair from the overhead above me. I picked it up, and it was a scorpion. And I was holding it out by the tail, so it couldn't really sting me then."
Bell explains that another passenger cautioned Bell about this particular insect so he dropped it. But that's not where this encounter ends: "So I dropped it on my plate and then I went to pick it up again, and that's when it stung me. It got my nail, mostly."
By now we should remind you that United has had one heck of a week. It all began with video surfacing of its staff calling for the physical removal of one of its passengers.
The backlash included social media fallout, a widely-derided apology from its CEO and a plummeting of its stock.
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The aviation gods must still have it in for the brand, because it decided to once again smite United or, rather, one of its consumers.
CBC.ca states Bell did what any sane passenger would do in this scenario - aside from devolving into a whimpering mess - he flicked the scorpion to the ground.
There is no mention whether any fellow passenger in the line of fire asked, "Did you just seriously flick a live scorpion at me?"
However, it does state that a quick-thinking attendant was on the spot with cup and trapped the little bugger.
As is apparently customary of United staff, this tiny stowaway was immediately dispatched with: "Then we got out of our seats and stepped on it. And then the flight attendants threw it in the restroom."
Bell was issued Demerol in-flight and was looked at by EMS upon landing. And he seems to be in high spirits, although he is looking for some sort of recompense.
He explains, however, that United may have difficulty tracking him down as he wasn't in his correct seat. He had initially switched to be closer to his wife.
If the airline doesn't get back to him, he has no plans to sue, stating: "It's just one of those things that happens, right?"
No, Mr. Bell. This is something I would file under the extraordinary or, at the very least, occasional circumstances department.
With that said, there have been numerousinstances of snakes being found on a plane -- and not any containing actors named Samuel L. Jackson either.
The good news, for United, is that things couldn't possibly get any worse. That is unless the band Scorpion somehow falls from an overhead bin.
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Cover your heads, just in case.
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