Forgotten Subway Sandwich Ends Up Costing Young Mom $1,844

Unexpected Expenses

Emily was shocked and exhausted, and now she had to deal with this. The cashier looked irritated and said, “don’t you know the rules, madam? And on top of that, you’re also traveling with a baby. Do you know how much this is going to cost you? ” 

Emily just stared at her, speechless. How could she afford this right now? Her whole flight trip was a nightmare.

Where would she get the money from?

Last Minute Trip

Emily had to fly to Greece for urgent work and had to take her 12-month-old baby. The flight back to Australia was long, and she knew she had it in for her with her plus-size baby.

She loved her baby and knew that he was extra chubby. It was just the way he was. He had a lot of baby fat. Emily walked up to the flight check-in counter, feeling apprehensive about the upcoming flight.

She had heard horror stories about traveling with babies, and she didn’t want to cause any trouble. 

Daily Deals

The flight attendant looked at her and her baby, then glanced at her computer screen. “Ma’am, I see that you have a lap infant with you. Did you know that you can purchase a seat for him at a discounted rate?”

Emily was taken aback. She had read online that lap infants were allowed on flights and didn’t require their own seats. Was this just a ploy to get more money out of her?

She hesitated for a moment, then asked how much it would cost. The flight attendant quoted a price that was far beyond what Emily could afford. She politely declined and made her way to the gate.

Not Necessary

Cory didn’t need his own seat; he could sit on her lap the whole way. The first flight was horrid because there was no space. She had to sit squashed between two other fat people because the flight was full. There wasn’t a single spare seat available. They complained about her baby Cory, even though he was a good boy throughout.  

On the connecting flight to Singapore, she decided to get a footlong sandwich. The line was really long, after waiting over 30 minutes to get to the cashier. When she reached the front, a very attractive young girl with blonde hair asked to take her order.

The cashier said, “I can see why you need such a ‘big sandwich’ with a baby like that,” and smiled sweetly. Emily didn’t know what to think about the cashier’s comment. Was that an insult?

Rude Service

Did she think because she was thin and pretty, she could just say anything and insult a little baby? Or was it a remark at me? Her attitude wasn’t very friendly for a food restaurant employee at all, Emily thought. 

The uptight cashier kept giving Emily strange glances and making her feel awkward. She hoped she didn’t sabotage her sandwich.

Emily didn’t even feel like taking the sandwich anymore, but she was starving. 

Drained Out

Emily paid and left as quickly as she could. “Have a good day, ma’am,” the girl said with the same fake smile. Emily found her to be a bit strange and walked towards her boarding gate. 

She started eating her sandwich as she walked.

She didn’t think anything serious of it at that moment, but there was something in the sandwich that would cost her in the end. 

On The Move Again

She gave Cory a small piece of cheese to nibble on. The toddler was happily munching away. They sat down outside their boarding gate and waited. Emily was enjoying her sandwich and didn’t realize the time. 

People started to wake up and move. She felt a bit uncomfortable. The line was so long that she had completely lost track of time. It was already time to board.

She quickly stuffed the sandwich in her bag. And asked the flight check-in if it was okay, and she said it was.

Calling All Passengers

It was time for the connecting flight. As she settled into her seat, Emily felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had made it onto the plane without incident, and now all she had to do was survive the long flight. 

She pulled out her footlong sandwich from Subway and started eating, grateful for the sustenance.

She was enjoying a mouthful of flavor and didn’t notice the devouring eyes around her.

Dead Stares

As the flight wore on, Emily couldn’t help but notice the stares from her fellow passengers.

They seemed annoyed by her baby’s presence, even though he was quiet and well-behaved. 

Emily tried to ignore them and focus on keeping her baby happy and entertained. What were these passengers staring at?

Touch Down Aussie

When the flight finally landed in Australia, Emily made her way to the customs line. As she approached the officer, she realized with a sinking feeling that she had forgotten her sandwich in the bag. 

She hoped it wouldn’t be a problem, and she tried to look as normal as possible. But the officer was not sympathetic.

He took his job very seriously and pulled aside anybody that didn’t follow the rules. “Is that your baby, madam?” he said sternly.

Hey You There

Emily’s heart sank as she heard the officer call her out. She couldn’t believe that she had to waste more time for no reason.

The airport was too tight and caused her a lot of stress.

The airport border control continued to question her. “What do you have in the bag, madam?” “Nothing at all,” Emily said, “just a tired baby who needs to get home urgently.” The border control looked at her and said, “open your bag, ma’am.”

What Do We Have Here

When he looked inside Emily’s bag, he got a surprise. He opened his eyes wide and said, “what the heck is this?” Emily got a fright and tried to calm Cory down. He was starting to cry.

What was inside Emily’s bag that was so bad? Why was the border control giving her such a hard time?

The exhausted woman just wanted to go home.

Requesting Back-Up

Just then, a flight check-in agent walked over to her and said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry to inform you that you’ll have to pay extra for your baby. He’s taking up one of the seats.” Emily was taken aback. 

She had never heard of such a thing before.

She tried to argue with the agent, but the agent was insistent.

New Rules

Emily was confused. She didn’t understand how her baby could be the reason for such an exorbitant fine.

She asked the cashier to explain, but the cashier simply repeated herself. Emily felt frustrated and helpless.

As she walked towards the counter to pay the fine, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sort of conspiracy going on.

Doesn’t Make Sense

As she reached the counter, the cashier looked at her with a smirk on her face. Emily could feel her blood boiling.

She decided to ask the cashier what the problem was, but the cashier just replied with a shrug. 

Emily knew that there was something more to this, and she decided to investigate it herself.

I See You

She walked over to the flight check-in desk and asked the attendant if there was any issue with her baby during the flight. The attendant looked at her with confusion. 

Emily explained that the people next to her had been complaining about her and the baby throughout the flight.

They made her journey unbearable as a single mother with an infant.

Misunderstanding

The attendant looked at her with sympathy and explained that they had no such policy for charging passengers for overweight babies. 

Emily was relieved to hear this, but she still couldn’t understand why she was being charged such a ridiculous amount.

What were these airlines up to?

Just A Minute

As she turned to leave, the attendant suddenly called out to her. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Let me check something.” She went through some files on her computer and then turned back to Emily.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It looks like there was a misunderstanding. We do have a policy for charging extra for infants who use a separate seat on the plane.

But your baby was on your lap the whole time, so you don’t have to pay anything extra.”

What’s Going On

Emily was confused. She had never even considered the possibility of having to pay extra for her baby during the flight. Just then, a tall man with many shiny badges on his lapel came out.

He seemed to be part of the airport security team.

He looked at Emily and said, “You have violated the Biosecurity Act by bringing foreign germs and parasites into the country,” the officer said sternly. “You will need to pay a fine.”

Pricey Baby

Emily’s heart sank as the officer quoted the price: $1,844. She couldn’t believe it. How could a baby cost so much money? And why was her baby being blamed for it?

Plus, nobody explained what germs had to do with any of this.

Emily was so confused, but she still managed to ask the man what kind of germs he was talking about.

An Explanation

The security officer continued to explain Emily’s faults. He stated that babies tended to pick up parasites and germs.

And as that was the case, she was bringing foreign germs and parasites into the country. 

Emily couldn’t believe what she had heard. Were they really saying that her baby was contaminated with some disease that could harm the country? 

No Turning Back

Emily was bewildered. The border control personnel were scary and intimidating. They singled her out like a criminal while she had a baby, and now she had to pay a fine. 

It was by far the worst day of her entire life. But she knew she couldn’t go against these people.

If she did, they would consider her a security threat and detain her.

The Point Of No Return

Emily had no choice but to pay her fine. The security officer led the way, and Emily followed him to the cashier so she could get it over with. 

The cashier took one look at her with her large baby, who was hanging on her side, and smirked to herself.

That was when Emily finally understood what was happening.

Illegal Baby

Emily felt betrayed and angry. She didn’t want to pay the extra fee for her baby and the fine for violating the Biosecurity Act. 

The border control stood in front of her and asked, “did your baby eat the chicken and lettuce as well?”

His question just confused Emily even more. What on earth was he going on about?

Hurt

Emily was not only stunned, but she was also incredibly hurt. She felt like she had been taken advantage of and was deeply upset. 

How could she get out of this situation? She couldn’t ask anyone around for help. She was alone.

For the first time in her life, she was in trouble, and there was no way out.

Pay Your Way

The single mother couldn’t believe it was so much money. She looked at her baby, Cory, who was still hanging on her side, and wondered how she was going to pay for it all. 

This business trip would end up costing her far more than she could ever pay.

And if she put all the money down now, they would have to struggle to make it to the end of the month.

Why?

Emily’s voice was low as she asked the cashier why the fine was so high. But the woman had no remorse.

She simply looked at her baby and said, “Because it is. $1844, madam, please hurry up.”

There had to be some kind of mistake, Emily thought to herself. Her fine couldn’t possibly be that high.

Cough It Up

Emily tried to plead with the officer. She explained that she was a single mom and that this had been a business trip. She didn’t mean to violate any acts. 

But her pleas fell on deaf ears. She was forced to pay the fine of $1844.

And when she left, she could help but feel angry and humiliated. 

What An Embarrassment

As Emily made her way through the airport, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been taken advantage of. 

This all seemed like a bad dream, she thought. But she was glad that she and Cory were on their final route home.

She’d just have to find a way to get back what she lost.

Options

Emily tried to evaluate her situation. Her boss was a nice guy who always understood when she was in a predicament.

But even if he chose to reimburse her for the fine, she’d still have to wait until the end of the month to get the money.

The only option she had was to ask for a salary advance.

Something Wasn’t Right

But even as Emily thought about how she would survive until the end of the month, her mind was still on the encounter. Something didn’t add up.

There was something strange about the entire day, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something she might’ve missed.

Was there more to this story than met the eye?

Finally Out

As they were on their way home, Emily realized what had really happened. At the time, things happened so fast, and she was so tired that she missed a lot.

But the more she replayed the incident in her mind, the clearer things seemed to get.

She retraced every single step and kept coming back to one thing.

The Sandwich

She remembered her encounter at Subway. Then she opened her bag and saw the remnants of the sandwich.

That was when Emily realized that neither she nor her son was the problem.

The sandwich had caused all of her troubles. It was the cause of the nightmare of a day she had.  But why would a sandwich cause such a fuss?

An Island Nation

If you’ve ever watched Border Security, you would know why it was such a big deal.

Australia is an Island Nation, and they only let certain things into the country.

Since the island is so isolated from the rest of the world, an invading species could cause a national crisis. So things like food are never allowed to enter.

Was That It?

That would explain the Biohazard violation. But it didn’t explain everything else that Emily was forced to face that day.

She would’ve been fined for the sandwich either way. But that had nothing to do with the extra charge for the baby.

So was there actually more to this? Was she being singled out for another reason?

Making Sense

The flight attendant had tried to charge her extra for her baby, knowing that she was already stressed and vulnerable. 

They were just trying to manipulate her. They could’ve let the stupid sandwich thing slide.

But they were out for her from the moment she got off that plane. They would’ve used any excuse to bully her.

Mixed Emotions

Emily felt a mix of anger and frustration. She couldn’t believe that a simple sandwich had led to all of this trouble. But there was more to it than that.

She knew that now and since the harassment was clear, she knew she had to do something about it.

There was no way she was going to let another person fall victim to such games.

Now That I Think About It

Emily was outraged. How could people be so cruel? She decided to take action.

Her first steps were to file complaints against both the airline and the restaurant. 

Emily also made a public statement about her experience, hoping to raise awareness about the mistreatment of parents and babies while traveling. And she had all the proof she needed.

Going Nowhere Slowly

Emily felt like she had hit a dead end. She didn’t know what to do next. She knew that she couldn’t let this go, but she didn’t know where to turn.

Her public statement caused quite a fuss. But it did nothing to help her situation.

She still hadn’t heard back from the airline or the restaurant regarding her complaints, and she was still missing the money she had paid for the fine.

Fighting Back

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Emily had almost given up hope of ever getting justice. But then, something unexpected happened. 

She received a call from a lawyer who had heard about her story. The lawyer offered to help her and take on her case.

Emily was skeptical at first. There was no way she could pay a lawyer.

A Helping Hand

But when the lawyer offered to do it free of charge, Emily was overjoyed. She knew that she finally had a chance to make things right. 

With the lawyer’s help, she filed a lawsuit against Subway and the airline.

She was determined to hold them accountable for what they had done and to get her money back. 

Airport Tax Laws

The case went to court, and Emily felt like she was finally getting the justice she deserved.

She testified about what had happened, and the airport legal team tried to defend themselves. 

But in the end, the judge ruled in Emily’s favor. $1844 was too high a fine to pay for bringing a sandwich into the country. 

Spreading The Word

Emily also posted her story online, and it went viral. Thousands of people felt for the single mom and offered their support.

And some other parents even started sharing their own experiences of discrimination and mistreatment while traveling with infants.

Everyone knew that this kind of discrimination existed, but not many of them knew how deeply rooted the problem really was.

Legal Issues Resolved

Emily contacted Subway and explained what had happened. She hoped that they would take responsibility for their mistake and help her in some way. 

But Subway was unhelpful and refused to take any responsibility for what had happened.

However, both the airline and Subway issued apologies and promised to do a better job when dealing with parents in the future.

Better Than Nothing

Emily was also reimbursed for the fine she had to pay that day. It wasn’t a major victory but there was some satisfaction to it.

She could make it through the month without worrying about what needed to be cut short. And she managed to make people aware of just how bad the problem with airports truly was.

To protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.