Westlake high schooler Mac Breedlove learned a humbling lesson through good old fashioned public humiliation on a Southwest flight. After rudely cutting the early boarding line on a flight to a summer lacrosse tournament, Breedlove was made to apologize over the aircraft’s PA system to the entire group of passengers.
Adding insult to already-embarrassing injury, the entire incident was caught on tape and posted online.
Breedlove’s coaches Evan Welchel and Kenny Pailes coordinated with the plane’s flight staff to organize the apology, complete with a groveling written statement. Though the teenager initially tried to get away with an insincere “I apologize,” his coaches pushed a longer, more heartfelt apology into his hands and a flight attendant urged him on.
“During the boarding process I took advantage of this airline’s kindness,” Breedlove read aloud over giggles from other passengers. “This is not how my coaches, teammates or parents expect me to behave.”
Then came the kicker: “I hope you will all find it in your hearts to forgive me. For I am just a young man that thinks I am smarter than I am,” he said.
The plane erupted in laughter and applause as Breedlove plugged the accomodating airline before sheepishly returning to his seat: “Remember to fly Southwest, because they let my coach do this for me.”
Breedlove’s coaches emphasized to CBS News that the rising junior at Westlake High School is really “a good kid,” despite his line-jumping ways. “He just had a bad moment, and we called him out on it,” Pailes said in an interview with ABC News.
Fortunately, the ultra-public lesson seems to have sunk in. “My coaches taught me a valuable lesson in life in a very creative way,” Breedlove told ABC. “Just be patient.”
WATCH Breedlove’s apology:
