A little balance is required
The average passenger hasn't a clue why an aircraft can fly let alone understand centre of gravity issues. To many people, flight is not too far from magic and is only accepted because "science" says it can happen.
A lot of these folks have just seen recent footage of the results of a big airline disaster and, not surprisingly, are nervous.
As ever, the sensationalist press have a lot to answer for encouraging fear and allowing these kinds of mass hysteria to persist through sloppy and over the top reporting.
The key to quashing this kind of nonsense is for professionals to desmystify the whole thing. Professional friendly patience, openess and clarity of communication is paramount.