Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Airplane travel etiquette

No matter how much I travel, I never find myself sitting next to, behind and/or in front of a perfectly decent person on any flight (obviously, this does not apply to those times I have travelled with friends or family). By "decent", I mean observing proper airplane travel etiquette. Is it really so difficult to be polite and considerate, especially if you're forced to share each other's personal space for 10+ hours? Warning: if you absolutely cannot stand rants, turn away. Now.

  • Reclining your seat. The second the seatbelt sign switches off, I find my face only several centimeters away from the back of the seat of the passenger sitting right in front of me. So close that my eyes hurt when I'm watching the TV show or movie on my personal screen, and so close that my head hits the screen when I eat my meal. Bottom line is, if you know it'd piss you off if the person sitting in front of you did the same to you, then don't do it to me. I saw you sleeping during takeoff when your seat was in the upright position, so please just be considerate for a few hours, please keep sleeping without the recline, please let me eat my food without getting bumps on my forehead.
  • Self-righteous passengers who think they're more important because they got bulkhead seats. Sir, it's obvious that you and your girlfriend/fiancée only dressed well so you could try to get upgraded (and subsequently failed), but please don't bring your self-important attitude to the bulkhead seat and scold some other passenger for trying to shove their bag in the overhead bin, exclaiming, "Hey, man, don't do that, there's a laptop in that bag." If you really were as fancy-schmancy as you claim to be, you'd have thought of buying some LV laptop case or protective cover. Also, you chose the bulkhead, therefore you chose not to be able to stick your precious laptop under a seat in front of you or in the literature pocket, where no one would even DARE to lay a finger on it. Deal with it.
  • Invaders of what little of your personal space remains. No, I don't like the feeling of your knee poking my thigh in my sleep. Kindly keep your legs spread shut, I can't imagine that having them spread wide open is very comfortable, let alone demure and, well, non-suggestive. Also, keep your elbow to yourself. I am insanely ticklish, and will, without hesitation, elbow your elbow back to where it belongs: off of my half of the armrest.
  • Fussy eaters. You have your Halal meal, but you're just "not used to" eating spinach omelette. Therefore, you insist on taking more bread rolls than you are originally allowed, without thinking of the passengers behind you who might actually want just one bread roll. Also, you must ask for your Coke and chocolate biscuits at least 4 times during the flight, waking me up every time the hostess has to lean over me and wake me up with her neck scarf dangling down. Nobody actually likes the food served in Economy Class on airplanes. If everyone had their way, we'd be served meals consisting solely of bread rolls. So, if you don't like it, just leave it, and please stock up on your chocolate biscuits BEFORE the flight. You do know that you're allowed to take those on board, right?
  • Downright rude people. Just because I very accidentally pressed my elbow on your foot that was on my armrest anyway (and, er, shouldn't have been), it does not mean that you need to violently kick the back of my seat. Oh and you old French businessmen sitting behind me? There's no need to call the elderly man sitting on your row's aisle seat and who was wheeled onto the aircraft in a Sedan chair "handicapped". The man can clearly walk on his own, and him looking Asian does not mean that he can't own a Spanish passport. You're not the only ones who can speak French on this flight either. Please take my very strong hint of picking up a copy of Le Monde on my way into the aircraft in front of you. Alors, fermez-la, s'il-vous-plaît!

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