Seat Pouch Surprises

Re: “Should You Really Look Into That Seat-Back Pouch?” (Travel Insider, March 1):

I am a frequent traveler, and on one occasion I did find a rather distasteful gift. I went to reach into the pouch to retrieve a magazine, and to my surprise I pulled out a soiled diaper! Needless to say, I was pretty disgusted and called the flight attendant immediately. She removed it (using another bag) and apologized. No lawsuit, no commotion.

I realize that [flight] turnaround times are often tight, and I would rather depart on time than wait for cleaners to check every pouch. In fact, I found fault with the previous flier for leaving it there.

It was unfortunate what happened to Mrs. Millan, but it is also an example of how people continue to threaten litigation for unrealistic reasons.

LISA MONDEAU

Brea

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I’ve got a better story. We were traveling on a plane from LAX to Washington, D.C., in 1997 and found a syringe in the back seat pocket. It freaked me and my wife out, as we had our under-age-2 daughter with us. She was playing with it. Fortunately the needle was capped.

The stewardess freaked out also and put on special gloves before she would handle it!

I wrote the airline a letter saying what we found. They sent me back a letter giving us two $25 coupons off flights in the future. Needless to say, I just laughed.

CARL LEON

El Segundo