"I'm tired of these Mother F'n Scorpions on this Mother F'n plane!"

[heybrad]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070110/...ion_on_a_plane

Scorpion stings Vermont man on airplane By DAVID GRAM, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 10, 9:41 AM ET



MONTPELIER, Vt. - A scorpion stung David Sullivan on the back of his right leg, just below the knee, then continued up that leg and down the other, he believes, before getting him again in the shin.

It wasn't what he was expecting on a flight from Chicago to Vermont.

Sullivan, a 46-year-old builder from Stowe, was aboard the United Airlines flight on the second leg of his trip home from San Francisco, where he and his wife Helena had been visiting their sons. He awoke from a nap shortly before landing and noticed something strange.

"My right leg felt like it was asleep, but that was isolated to one spot, and it felt like it was being jabbed with a sharp piece of plastic or something."

The second sting came after the plane had landed and the Sullivans were waiting for their bags at the luggage carousel. Sullivan rolled up his cuff to investigate, and the scorpion fell out.

"It felt like a shock, a tingly thing. Someone screamed, 'It's a scorpion,'" Sullivan recalled. Another passenger stepped on the two-inch arachnid, and someone suggested Sullivan seek medical help.

He scooped up the scorpion and headed to the hospital in Burlington. His wife stopped at the United counter and was told the plane they were on had flown from Houston to Chicago. The Sullivans surmised the scorpion boarded in Texas.

"The airlines tell you can't bring water or shampoo on a plane," Helena Sullivan said. But the scorpion did make it aboard, she said.

United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the incident "is something that we will investigate and look into. We're very sorry for what happened. Our customer safety and security is our No. 1 priority."

Such incidents are not unheard of. An American Airlines flight was delayed for an hour in Toronto on Sunday after a passenger was stung by a scorpion that had made its way on board. Paramedics treated the man when the flight from Miami landed. The delay came when officials searched the aircraft to ensure no other critters had stowed away.

Scorpion stings are rarely fatal, except to babies or older people with health problems, said Dr. Stephen Leffler, director of emergency services at Burlington's Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital.

"We don't see many scorpion bites in Vermont," Leffler said.

For a healthy adult, a scorpion sting can mean numbness or shooting pain extending out from the sting, or flu-like symptoms, which Sullivan said he had the next day.

He said he hadn't seen the recent movie, "Snakes on a Plane," starring Samuel L. Jackson.

"I'm pretty selective about what I see," Sullivan said. "Maybe I have to see it now."

[Maple Leafs]

Hmmm...

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/168830

I smell a "War on Scorpions"...

[st.cronin]

Already been done:

hxxp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290884/

[rkmsuf]

Scorpions are assholes. Gets a free flight and still has to sting the guy.

[Kodos]

Here I Am! Rock you like a hurricane!

[Desnudo]

Man, my leg feels like someone's sticking a piece of plastic in it!

Oh well, what are you gonna do?

[Kodos]

I wonder if it was Love At First Sting.

[vex]

That scorpion may have just made that guy a very rich man.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Scorpions are assholes. Gets a free flight and still has to sting the guy.

Scorpion: "I can't help it, it's my nature."

[Kodos]

Froggie went a courtin', he did right.

[Poli]

We found 6 scorpions in our tent areas (including one guy who woke up with a scorpion on top of his sleeping bag).

Not a fun day.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Scorpion: "I can't help it, it's my nature."

First thing I thought of. Well played.

[PackerFanatic]

I smell the winds of change with airplane policy on scorpions.

[Poli]

Airlines always react to problems, they're never pro-active.

If there was a no scorpion policy already in place, this would have never happened.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

Airlines always react to problems, they're never pro-active.

If there was a no scorpion policy already in place, this would have never happened.

This is Bush's fault. The positive news to come out of this incident, though, is that he has directed the FAA to require people to place their scorpions in clear plastic baggies to be checked prior to boarding. Problem solved.

[Poli]

Clearly.

[duckman]

hey brad

[Poli]

Maybe that was my scorpion. I did misplace one on a United flight from Norfolk to Chicago.

I just figured it would all work out. I guess it did.

[Maple Leafs]

You watch, when they start an arachnid screening program the damn anti-profiling liberals will make it random and they'll waste all their time pulling harvestmen out of line.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by TroyF

First thing I thought of. Well played.

Ditto as I'm catching up on "older" threads that I skipped over before.