So a big deal is being made about a woman with muscular dystrophy who apparently resorted to crawling through the terminal to make a connecting flight because of the way she was treated by Delta.

From the Consumerist:

Julianna, who has muscular dystrophy, missed the connecting flight because nobody came with a wheelchair until 8:05—the same time the connecting flight took off. To make matters worse, the plane crew told Julianna she might make the flight anyway if she stopped waiting for help and got off the plane right now, so she crawled down the stairs on her own. When the wheelchair came she was “wheeled into a back room and advised” that her plane had taken off.

There’s more to it — Delta people couldn’t be found to get her from one part of the terminal to the other and so forth.

The employees in this room were debating who would get me to the ticket gate to be re-ticketed because it was no one’s job and the appropriate personnel were not responding to their calls. After that was resolved I was given a new boarding pass for a flight expected to leave at 12:55 AM. Then this person advised me she cannot get me from a D Gate to Gate A9. She again called for the appropriate personnel who never showed.

Of course the comments are pretty harsh against Delta for treating her that way.

But why is this Delta’s fault?

First, the Consumerist headline: “Delta Makes Woman With Muscular Dystrophy Crawl Off Plane.” That’s sensational, but not true. They didn’t make her do anything. They were waiting for a wheelchair and gave her the option to crawl. She could have waited.

It’s not as if she suddenly contracted this condition on the plane. She knew she had muscular dystrophy, she knew she required a wheelchair, and yet she didn’t make any provisions for having someone take her to her connecting flight? And, if she knew that it takes time to go from Point A to Point B — whether by wheeling or crawling — why schedule connecting flights so close together? (And it’s not as if crawling is such a big deal, really.)

Further, she’s upset that the Delta people couldn’t help her right away. But she didn’t tell them in advance that she was coming, and it’s not like these folks don’t have jobs to do. Maybe they couldn’t just drop everything to push Julianna around in a wheelchair. Sure, I realize that she needs help, and it would be nice if someone could give it to her, but it’s being a big hard on the Delta folks to complain that they didn’t rush to her aid. Maybe they couldn’t.

Look, folks, if you need assistance you also need to plan ahead for it. Relying on there being nice people at your destination to help you doesn’t really demonstrate great planning. And then complaining that you aren’t being catered to? A bit unfair, doncha think?