Robert Sayegh may sue.

I may not be the most objective person in the world when it comes to cursing.

Because I love it.

I curse all the time. Of course, I try not to do it loudly in public or in front of children, and that may be one New Yorker’s mistake.

Robert Sayegh had a layover Sunday afternoon on his way home from attending a cousin’s wedding in Kansas City.  The 37-year-old TV producer and children’s book author said he and other passengers on Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 5136 (operated by Delta) to Newark, N.J had boarded the plane and were waiting at the gate for nearly an hour.

In an interview with Dadwagon.com, Sayegh explains what went down.

“We had been sitting on the runway for 45 minutes waiting for them to fix an overhead compartment that wasn’t staying closed. So I kind of just said out loud more to myself and the guy sitting next to me, “What the f#@# is taking so long?”

I’ve done that on several occasions while flying. Like, probably said that exact sentence. Who hasn’t? I mean, isn’t “What the f#@* is taking so long” some kind of flying mantra these days? And honestly? I don’t see the big fu@#ing deal. But American Airlines apparently thinks it’s a very big deal. According to Yahoo, the plane, operated by Delta, eventually taxied to the runway, but soon returned, where airport police boarded the plane and Sayegh was escorted off.

What? It’s not like Sayegh stood up and started ranting and raving. In fact, the children’s author contends barely anyone heard him. As he tells Dadwagon.com, “Just one flight attendant right behind me. So when I was being escorted off, I saw people looking like “what happened, what’s going on?” My actions did not warrant being escorted off the plane by police. And when I asked the police and the representative from Delta to please go ask everyone around me if I was a disturbance, she came back and said, ‘Well, he might have over-reacted.’”

Ya think?

You’re telling me one flight attendant’s sensibilities were offended over the F bomb? C’mon! Considering how horrible flying is these days, what with baggage fees, endless delays and the fact that seats are jammed together like sardines, he’s got to hear worse than that every other flight.

Delta seems to agree. Sayegh said he was told only after he left the plane that he was removed for being “disruptive,” but airport police never filed a report and he was given a ticket for a later flight.  However, technically speaking, the airline can do whatever it wants.  As Yahoo reports:

Atlantic Southeast Airlines adheres to Delta’s contract of carriage for passengers, which says the airline may refuse to transport or may remove people “when the passenger’s conduct is disorderly, abusive or violent.” A passenger also can be removed if he or she “appears to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs” or “attempts to interfere with any member of the flight crew in pursuit of his or her duties.”

Still, Sayegh is understandably outraged and may sue. “I’m really still thinking about it. I don’t think I am going to, but I’ve been surprised by how many people who aren’t like that are telling me to. I’m leaning towards not just because I don’t want to be known for that. Try to take the higher road.”

My two cents: take the higher road. Ride this wave of publicity for your children’s book and let it go.  Americans are way to damned litigious.

Here’s your plug, my good man. “The Secret Origin Of Mirrors,” is an educational book about how mirrors were created. Words within the book are highlighted and then defined so that the parents can teach their children. It should hit store shelves in August.

And no, there is no cursing in “The Secret Origin of Mirrors”. Even if “Go The F*@k To Sleep” is a bestseller, which, as Carolyn Castiglia learned in her exclusive interview with author Adam Mansbach, is now even being made into a live action film version.

What do y’all think. Did Sayegh deserve to escorted off the plane? Should he sue? Or was the airline right to yank him? What if your kid was sitting next to Sayegh and heard the F bomb? Does that change your tune?

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