Another hoax? Female pilot's 'sexist note' story sounds awfully familiar

I'm not saying it couldn't be for real. But if nothing else, someone like Carey Steacey should know that if she's going to come forward with a story like this, some skepticism will be natural given the recent cases of Dayna Morales and those lunkheads from K98.3.

---

So with that as background, did some passenger really have a note passed to the 17-year veteran of WestJet declaring that a woman's place is in the home raising kids and not piloting aircraft? Canada's Metro News reports from Calgary:

---

---

Carey Steacy, a pilot of 17 years who currently works for WestJet, said she was “shocked” when alerted to the message left by someone named “David,” who was believed to be seated in 12E aboard Flight No. 463. David wrote that the cockpit of an airplane is “no place for a woman,” and asked that WestJet alert him the next time “a fair lady is at the helm, so I can book another flight!” Steacy didn’t take the comments lying down, posting a heated response to her Facebook page that instantly generated hundreds of re-posts and comments. “I respectfully disagree with your opinion that the ‘cockpit’ (we now call it the flight deck as no cocks are required) is no place for a lady,” she said. “In fact, there are no places that are not for ladies anymore.” Steacy also indicated the same passenger questioned flight attendants about whether she had an adequate number of flight hours. Reached at her home in Surrey Monday, Steacy said she’d never previously encountered such rude remarks from a passenger. “I just couldn’t believe there are still people in this country that think like that,” she told Metro. “It just shocked me.”

Are you buying it? In comparing it to the two situations linked above, you have to recognize some crucial differences. Unlike Dayna Morales, who had a history of career instability and dishonest behavior, Steacy at least appears to have a solid professional record. I checked her Facebook page, and while you can't really see that much information if you're not friends with her, what was visible didn't indicate that she's an activist of any sort. The second example, involving the broadcast team from the radio station, was just an attention-getting stunt and even the purported "victim" was fictional, so that doesn't really compare at all. But here's what sets off my BS alert: The idea that backwards, knuckle-dragging Christians write notes like this condemning women, gays, etc. has proven thus far to be total nonsense, with every high-profile example ultimately exposed as a hoax. And the people I know in Christian circles simply would not do something like this, nor would they think it was cool if another person did. Sending a note castigating someone you don't even know for being out of line with the Word of God is not effective ministry by any definition. That's not to say there is no one misled enough to do it, but so far the notion that people do it has been the product exclusively of left-wing hoaxes. As for the content of the note itself, here's a question: Why would "David" hector Carey for choosing her pilot's career over motherhood when he obviously couldn't have known whether she is a mother or not? (She is.) Finally, Proverbs 31 does not in any way say what the note implies it says. Take a look at verses 10-19:

10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. 15 She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants. 16 She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard. 17 She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night. 19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.

The woman described here is accomplished in business in addition to caring for her family and her household. Would someone actually versed in Scripture have been clueless enough to reference Proverbs 31 as justification for a note like this? It's almost as if whoever wrote it only read Proverbs 31 as far as verse 3, which says "Do not give your strength to women," and stopped there without getting the full meaning of the Proverb. So I don't know. I guess it's unfair in one sense to make Carey Steacy guilty by association. But based on recent history, I smell a rat.

---