Usually, a protest is designed to produce a favorable or positive goal. But for the passengers of American Airlines Flight 893 to Nassau, Bahamas it’s hard to see anything positive that resulted from the refusal of 30 students to wear masks aboard the plane.

According to a local news station, all the passengers were required to change planes because of mechanical issues. But once aboard the second plane, the students decided not to follow the crew’s instructions to wear masks. Passenger Malik Banks was seated next to the group. “It was bad. First, they were yelling. They were cursing. They were being very obnoxious.” He was quick to clarify that not all the students were behaving this way. “I would say 75% to 80% of them were being terrible kids, saying smart stuff.”

As a result of the students’ behavior, American Airlines canceled the flight. Passenger Christina Randolph was incensed. “Well, I’m a nurse, and it’s really, really hard to get time off work,” said Randolph. “So when you finally get time off, you really want to be somewhere you want to be.” The canceled flight meant everyone traveling to the Bahamas lost at least a day of vacation time, and another passenger noted that the delay was costly. “Some people’s vacations are ruined. They were only going for a couple of nights. Now, they have to get rebooked.”

A representative for American Airlines acknowledged the incident, and said that adult passengers were given hotel vouchers to spend the night. Due to age restrictions in booking hotels, however, the students had to spend the night at the airport. Randolph lamented, “All they had to do was follow the rules, put the mask on, sit there. No smart-mouth comments. And they couldn’t do it.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

God puts a premium on obedience because rebellion is not just costly for us, but for those around us. We have the power to bless others through our obedience or hurt them through our disobedience.