A Texas mother is being brutally mocked online after she blasted Southwest Airlines when their staff allegedly laughed at her daughter’s name, “Abcde” – apparently pronounced “Ab-city”.
Interestingly, 328 girls have been named Abcde in the United States, according to the Social Security Administration database.
According to Traci Redford, Abcde’s mother, her five-year-old daughter was saddened when a gate agent representing Southwest Airlines at the John Wayne International Airport laughed at Abcde’s name when the mother and daughter pair approached the gate for priority boarding.
Traci recounted to ABC7: “The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees. So I turned around and said, ‘Hey if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I’d appreciate if you’d just stop.”
According to Traci, Abcde asked her, “Mum, why is she laughing at my name?” Traci told the press:
“I said not everyone is nice and not everyone is going to be nice and it’s unfortunate. While I was sitting there, she took a picture of my boarding pass and chose to post it on social media, mocking my daughter. It was actually brought to my attention by somebody who had seen it on Facebook and reported it to Southwest Airlines.”
Furious, Traci filed a complaint with Southwest Airlines. The organisation eventually took disciplinary action against the employee and apologised to the Redford family. It said in a statement:
“We take great pride in extending our Southwest Hospitality to all of our Customers, which includes living by the Golden Rule and treating every individual with respect, in person or online.”
Netizens, however, have criticised Traci for giving her daughter such a name while others poked fun at the girl’s name with jokes, memes and gifs:
