L.A. food stylist pulled from flight for 'Atom Bomb' tattoo

[n2doc]

It was the Tweet heard 'round the L.A. food world.

Noted Los Angeles food stylist Adam C. Pearson was settling into his seat aboard a Delta flight Saturday morning when the flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to come to the front of the plane. His first thought? "I'm getting an upgrade!"

Not exactly.

Pearson was temporarily asked to step off the plane and learned that another passenger had reported him for suspicious behavior, and noted that he had the words "Atom Bomb" tattooed across his fingers. Questioned by the captain and the flight attendant, Pearson explained that the tattoos referred to a childhood nickname. After answering a few more questions, Pearson -- who is a frequent Delta passenger and has flown over 142,000 miles with the airline this year alone -- was allowed to return to his seat.

"I was just shocked," Pearson said. "All eyes were on me, I felt everyone staring at me and I was like, 'I didn't do anything.' " Before the plane took off, he twittered: "Just pulled off delta flight, passenger said I was suspicious looking due to my tattoos @DeltaAssist not happy at all #goldmedallion fail"

When he landed in Memphis, he had over 150 e-mails asking him what happened, and learned that his Tweet had exploded on the social media venue. It was "reTweeted" by many in L.A.'s close-knit food world, where Pearson is well-known for his stylish presentation of food so that it can be photographed for glossy magazines, advertisements and cookbooks. (It was laughable to many that the colorful Pearson could be considered a safety threat.)

more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/11/la-food-stylist-pulled-from-flight-for-atom-bomb-tattoo.html

[marmar]

1. Good grief......

nt

[mediaman007]

2. Just like Fascist Germany, where many children were encouraged to turn on their parents.

[Rebubula]

12. No...

..no, it is not.


Comparing the current state as Fascist Germany shows the lack of historical understanding.

[proteus_lives]

17. Ignorant.

[kickysnana]

20. That is my Mom's redneck cousins favorite code word for "n_____".

[proteus_lives]

21. How is that connected to what we were talking about?

[kickysnana]

18. Hubbard Ch 5 News is asking people to report "welfare cheats" to them.

It started because they were able to get EBT card data on where the cards were used 5400 times outside of Minnesota in September. They have a problem but that is a whole other thing than turning in your neighbor for buying soda for their kids.

[eShirl]

27. "turning in your neighbor for buying soda"

Turning in someone for doing something that is allowed... how does that work exactly?

[kickysnana]

30. The station is calling it welfare waste, not fraud

http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1830297.shtml

The anchor said "if you know of welfare waste let us know"

Do you know of welfare fraud? Let us know:
E-mail: [e-mail]
Or Call: (651) 5-TV-NEWS

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Amazing ... that being a 'food stylist' can make you 'noted'

Pretty amazing that you'd be temporarily taken off a flight for hand tattoos as well.

[Ilsa]

4. At least the flight crew used their brains in determining he wasn't a threat.

I suspect TSA personnel would have not cleared him, as if a tattoo could pose a flight risk.

Screeners need to be more like this flight crew, using observation and interview techniques, not virtual strip searches.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. You give the TSA way too much credit

The Delta crew did the right thing

[enlightenment]

5. Depressingly common behavior these days.

Shoot first, ask questions later.

The headline is a bit leading, though. He wasn't pulled from the flight - just badgered because another passenger had his/her panties in a wad. I suppose we should be thrilled said person can read . . .

[a la izquierda]

7. Oh, this country has lost its fucking mind.

A tattoo. That says Atom Bomb. Do you really think a fucking terrorist would be that obvious.
Gah! I can't take it any more!! This is why Republicans win-because Americans are dumber than boxes of rocks.

[Lex]

19. pretty much . . . . (nt)

[Ozymanithrax]

8. If he body tattooed himself orange, it would not have been a problem. n/t

[MineralMan]

9. Pulled off? Not really. He was questioned briefly, then

returned to his seat and flow to his destination. Common sense at work on the part of the airline personnel, if not on his own part for having a dumb-ass tattoo on his fingers. Non-event, it seems to me. He's a moron, but he flew because there's no rule against being a moron. Unrecced for misleading title.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. A non-event would have been letting him sit in his seat without question.

Having a "dumb-ass" tattoo on his fingers doesn't make him a moron either. The moron was the passenger who thought a terrorist would tattoo that on a visible body part.

[MineralMan]

14. Yeah, the complaining passenger was a moron, too.

But getting "Atom Bomb" tattooed on your fingers is moronic, too. Morons abound.

Sorta like someone getting pissed because their nipple rings set off the metal detector. Uh...there are metal detectors at the airport, what were you thinking? Can't remove them? Then you're gonna get wanded or felt up. Comes with the piercing.

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Maybe it's a generational thing. Tattoos are very common with the youngsters, ya know.

From your stated age in other threads I can see why you'd think a tattoo like that is moronic but the fact of the matter is there's a lot of ink on visible body parts these days and some of it contains images or words that others find offensive. That doesn't make it worthy of the terrorist questioning. It's not like he tattooed "TSA SUCKS" on his fingers just for the occasion.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. Clearly, bombers announce their intentions by getting their fingers tattooed

Especially when they have small atom bombs strapped to them.

[Mimosa]

13. Something's in the air...and it won't be good for us.

Lots of people -not I- have tattoos!

Here's Adam:

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRe20A-zpXRctekaLO7F0cfXowKx1jaG4P1QQEmjp14T_PTk0jk

Really scary or just a fashion victim?

[Quantess]

24. Oh, please. He looks harmless.

He looks like a mythbusters guy with tattoos.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Frightened Idiots Squeling to their Mommies!

Scary tattoo mommy! Stooges on parade.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

23. What the hell is a food stylist?

[Mimosa]

25. It's a real job demanding experience and skills

You've seen all the commercials on TV and the photographs in online oublications and old fashioned magazines where the Cog au Vin, 20 ou sizzling porterhouse steak right off the grill (perfectly gridmarked and sizzling in hot butter), Reuben sandwich with the chef prepared home fries and the tall creamy foam topped mug of lager in which you can detect the tiny ice flakes appear so mouthwatering and you want to grab those delicious foods and gobble them up.

Regular food, no matter how perfectly prepared, requires prepping to make an appealing presentation for TV commercials, magazine features, cookbook photography and advertisments, not to mention menu photography. There are many tricks to the trade accomplished by food stylists.

[Ilsa]

28. I agree, and the photographer has to be ready on the mark.

The appearance of food can change so quickly, especially under bright lights for video or photography.

It's a marketing job, requiring an understanding of human behavior, preferences, knowing the market, etc. These people know how to sell food.

[eShirl]

29. Maybe their trade will come to be known by a less-frivolous-sounding name.

Honestly, it sounds like a hyped-up job description for placing the garnish on a plate.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

31. True.

I initially thought it was like Subway's "sandwich artists."

[eShirl]

26. I think it's someone who works at Subway?

No wait... THIS: