Marilyn Hartman loves traveling and in 19 years she has been to half the world, including Copenhagen, Seattle, London and Barcelona, without paying a cent for her tickets. She blended in with other passengers and got on board for free.
This story has only recently become known to the public when Hartman was finally apprehended at the airport. It turned out that she had already been detained in 2014, and the court had banned her from repeating her stunts, but that got past the press.
This time she was stopped at the O'Hare airport and opened up about her method. Hartman doesn't believe she cheated the airlines or passed security checks illegally. She was simply using a tactic to fly for free.
"I didn't cheat anybody. Often I didn't even have to start a conversation. If there was a conspicuous person walking in front of me, I just tried to go through security right behind him," Hartman said.
Hartman used different ways to make herself look like a passenger who'd already been through security. She sometimes took other people's tickets, but most of the time she just tried to look like a passenger who had just gone through security and was on her way to the boarding terminal.
When reporters asked Hartman why she flew for free, the woman said she loved travelling and just couldn't afford to buy tickets for every trip.
"Traveling was my way of dealing with depression when I was having a hard time. On my salary, I couldn't afford to travel. So I started using different ways to save money on travel. But most of the time I took the bus or train, and only rarely flew by plane," Marilyn said.
Although Hartman was detained at the airport and her behavior is considered illegal, many people express their respect and even admiration for her ability to fly for free. However, there are also critics who consider her behavior dishonest and illegal.
Anyway, this is the story of an ordinary woman who could not afford expensive travel, but came up with a way to make her dream come true in spite of all the difficulties.
Hartman has managed to get on more than 30 flights illegally, and has been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison.
Do you think Hartman's sentence is too severe?
Source: trendymen
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