# Leona Helmsley



## oldman (Sep 5, 2020)

We were taking a flight from New York down to Miami. The flight was scheduled to depart at 6:40 a.m. Due to low air in one of the nose tires, we were going to be delayed until I could have maintenance bring out the nitrogen and put the needed air in the tire. I had the First Officer (F/O) announce to the passengers the reason for the delay.

After the announcement was made, the Purser called the cockpit and the F/O took the call. After he hung up, he told me that one of the passengers was irate because of our lateness in leaving. I decided to go back and speak with the passenger. As I left the cockpit, the Purser told me that she was warning me that the passenger was Leona Helmsley, which was known as the “Queen of Mean.”

I spoke very nice with her, but she was very loud and insulting calling me a hack for a pilot. I warned her that if she didn’t stop immediately that I would have her put off the plane. Much to my surprise, she complied.


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 5, 2020)

Sad how wealth changes some people.

I admire your patience with the woman's haughtiness.

Had I been in your shoes she wouldn't have got a warning. Her flight would have been over with right then and there.


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## Pepper (Sep 5, 2020)

A childhood friend worked for this woman for decades.  Yes, quite a character I've been told.


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 5, 2020)

_"Say what you will about Leona Helmsley, when it comes to standing trial, she's twice the man Jim Bakker is."_ - David Letterman


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## win231 (Sep 5, 2020)

She didn't serve nearly enough time in prison.


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## applecruncher (Sep 5, 2020)

I read the book Queen of Mean, and also saw a really good TV movie. Suzanne Pleshette and Lloyd Bridges played the Helmsleys.


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## applecruncher (Sep 5, 2020)

win231 said:


> She didn't serve nearly enough time in prison.


As I recall for community service she had to help care for babies in Harlem who had AIDS.


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## win231 (Sep 5, 2020)

applecruncher said:


> As I recall for community service she had to help care for babies in Harlem who had AIDS.


One look at her face would make any baby cry.  It caused temporary blindness in me.
One farmer hung her photograph in his cornfield instead of a scarecrow.
After the crows saw it, they brought back the corn they stole the year before.


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## win231 (Sep 5, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Sad how wealth changes some people.
> 
> I admire your patience with the woman's haughtiness.
> 
> Had I been in your shoes she wouldn't have got a warning. Her flight would have been over with right then and there.


Wealth doesn't change people into something they're not already.


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## jujube (Sep 6, 2020)

She and her husband owned a hotel here in Orlando for a while.  Apparently, when she came to town, grown men wept, birds fell dead out of the sky and hurricanes were seen to bypass Florida in fear of her.  The tales of her visits to the hotel were epic and dreadful.


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## Leann (Sep 6, 2020)

I had ZERO respect for her.


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## win231 (Sep 6, 2020)

Some people are given a face that tells everyone everything they need to know & serves as a warning to others:


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## applecruncher (Sep 6, 2020)

Here's the movie - watch it free! (If you get error msg be patient...click again)


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## Giantsfan1954 (Sep 6, 2020)

Knew a young man who was at Helmsley, NY as a doorman, she was quite a piece of work, apparently everyone had a Helmsley horror story!


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## fmdog44 (Sep 6, 2020)

If I had a face like hers I'd be pissed too.


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