wemr

I think that Jor made an important point about people and travel and I think his last sentance says it all. Have a heart people! nobody is perfect.

ira

Dear Mr Maitaitom,

On behalf of my client, I wish you to know that because of the intense embarrasment that you caused this poor man he has reverted to the state he was in before years of professional counseling enabled him to travel on an airplane.

Up until now we have had no legal recourse, but because you have slandered him, we shall be pleased to file the appropriate papers.

H L Dewey
Dewey, Cheatham & Howe, LLC

lillehavfrue

Kir: yikes! I would have kicked him until he got back into his seat.

maitaitom

"Dewey, Cheatham & Howe, LLC"

Umm. Wiseguy, eh? Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

lillehavfrue

I wonder if that Cheatham is realted to the Cheatham in the law firm of Robb, Cheatham, and Steele...

KidsToLondon

For me, sitting next to a "nervous flyer" can be a challenge (I exclude certain members of my own family from this comment!).

Ever had to constantly reassure your seatmate during a flight?:

"What's that noise?" they ask. It is wickedly tempting to reply: "Just the wheels falling off, but that's no problem until we land."

Encountering a bit of turbulence is even more fun.

OK, I understand that flying requires a loss of control...opps! sorry, poor phrasing. What I mean is that, unlike driving, where you are behind the wheel, while flying you must trust others with your safety. But, if you are really that afraid to fly...don't.

Random postscript: Has John Madden ever been to Europe?

Jennie

I'm with maitaitom on this one. Unless you have been in a situation where you're actually being partially sat on because the person next to you is so large, you don't know how really uncomfortable it can be.

I had this happen to me once (complete with the armrest between us having to be moved) and it was quite uncomfortable. I couldn't even turn the pages of my book, not could I put down my tray to hold my soda! I didn't want to move at first because I didn't want to make the person "feel bad." However, after sitting for an hour or so in the same position (I also couldn't move around much.) it dawned on me that the person next to me obviously had no concern for ME (for one thing she--in my case it was a woman--did not ASK if I minded if she lifted the arm rest. After we were cruising, she just said, "Excuse me," kind of gave my arm a little nudge and lifted it on up!) so why was I killing myself with concern for her?

At that point, I very nicely excused myself, took my purse and book and simply moved back to an unoccupied seat in the back of the plane. I wasn't rude at all. I just got up as if to use the ladies room and didn't come back. Now, if she felt bad, I'm sorry, there's nothing I could do about that. I refuse to put myself in an uncomfortable position for three hours because some people consider it not "PC" or whatever to get up and move.

Nowhere in Tom's post did I see him mention that he'd laughed to this person's face or otherwise been rude to him or intentionally tried to make the guy feel bad. He simply did not sit in his seat because it was uncomfortable for him to do so. I don't see anything wrong with that! It probably ended up being more comfortable for the other person without Tom there anyway!

cguest88

I flew from JFK to Dallas on Thanksgiving morning and the family infront of me with thier 1 year old decided to change the baby's diaper mid-flight right in front of me on the seat. I gagged most of the way to DFW.

To top it off, they had the audacity to give the flight attendant the dirty diaper which she declined saying she was prevent from touching the item b/c served food but would give them a bag to place it in and she would throw it out.

maitaitom

" But I wish you would have resonded to me when I said Hello. I'm not a bad person. "

Gosh, I think I did say hello. Hmm, I don't remember laughing at you, but those flight attendants did keep pouring those cocktails for me. I'm trying to remember when I humiliated you, but, come to think of it, I don't think I did.

What I do remember is you taking up about 1/4 of my seat. I guess I could have said, "Would you mind putting some of that flab on your side of the seat?"

However, since I'm a pretty nice guy, I decided to say nothing about you being weight challenged (2003 term for grossly overweight). Anyway, I hope you had a comfortable flight while I stood for much of it.

syrinx

On an American West flight to Las Vegas, an old man sat infront of me with his seat leaned all the way back. He practically had the back of his head right in my face about 5 inches apart. He looked like he had hair plugs for his entire head. It also looked like he didn't wash his hair for a week. Needless to say, I had to skip my meal for the flight.

venexiano

1. The guy behind me who can't stop kicking my seatback. Also kids who do that. My usual solution is a deadly, quick recline into the offending person's kneecaps. Works particularly well on aircraft with tight coach seating (31'' or less)

2. People who speak loudly throughout the flight.

3. Crying babies - I know they can't do anything about it, but I just can't stand it

4. Little kids who kick my seat, run around the plane, and generally just make lots of noise. Actually, it is the fact that the parents make absolutely no effort to calm the kid down that really gets me mad. Argh!!

5. I also hate it, when flying coach, when the passenger in front of me feels the need to fully recline his seat a couple of minutes after takeoff. He is usually forgiven if he/she puts his seatback up for the meal service, but that rarely happens...

6. On longhaul flights especially, I dislike it when passengers next to me remain barefoot, not even bothering to put on the socks the airline provides...

Federico
Venice

Surfrider

I suppose, but want to forget, it was that guy, that GD guy in 46C whose head kept me company in 47C for almost 18 hours - J'Burg to Capetown to Illa da Sol to Atlanta last fall. And then he cheerfully acknowledged SAA keeps its seats and ailes inhumanly close. But please don't say my itinerary was not the best. I know, I know.

kismetchimera

The only irritating thing that has happened to me during a flight, was not because of the passenger next to me, actually so far i have been pretty lucky , but my irritation was caused by the flight attendant, on my way to Taiwan.
This woman spilled a huge glass of ice tea in my lap.. My mom will be proud of me if she was there There I was , with my little summer dress completly wet, and

Statia

The diaper incident happened on a flight my husband was on, too. He said the mother kept insisting the flight attendant take the dirty diaper, even after she'd said "No." DH said she kept shoving it in the poor attendants face saying, "TAKE IT...HERE...TAKE IT!" UGH.

kismetchimera

and the attendant did not seems to worry about it..I must thanks my mother that she gave me a nice education, and I never learned to cuss..otherwise..watch out.
We stopped in Alaska for refuel and I was very cold and did not have anything to change..Even today I remenber this woman, because she was so indifferent about it.

JandaO

venexiano ,
I emailed you to your personal email. Did you receive it?

jenny

I see that there are many, many ways to have an awful flight, but I'll add mine,too. One month ago on the overseas flight from Helsinki to JFK (officially 8 1/2 hrs., but it felt like forever!) a couple with a toddler sat directly behind us. That kid SCREECHED for about 8 hrs. The parents did not show any concern and took the kid only for an occasional "outing" in the aisle - giving us a little respite . Let me just say it was nearly unbearable and I'll take a talker and fingernail painter any time (I realize that's not how their seatmates felt), but enduring a hours-long temper tantrum is pure hell ! I am a grandma and know something of children and the problems, but I did place the responsibility on these parents who need to take a few LONG lessons in common sense.

MizzEve

Interesting to read how different things irritate different people.

Fingernail painting wouldn't bother me, but nail clipping drives me up the wall.

People who fully recline their seats in coach are RUDE. Talking doesn't bother me a bit. But, crying babies and unruly children should be banned from flying or at least made to take pre-flight tranqualizers.

As far as overweight passengers, well that's a delicate subject. I once had to fly on a business trip with a former boss who was a very large woman. She made someone trade seats with me so that I could sit next to her on the plane. Silly me, I thought that she wanted me next to her so that she could tell me what a good job I was doing, how she couldn't wait to promote me, her plans for giving me an office with a window. But no, she just wanted me next to her so that she could raise the armrest, my only protection from the fat onslought. She took up a fair amount of my seat with her flab. She knew that I was in no position to defend my turf and she took advantage of the power that she had over me.

This is the same fat hag that I got into 1st class for free on another trip. My consolation is that I now have a much better job, a nicer office, and I'm thinner, younger, and make more $ than she does. Alas, I still don't have the ability to take up as much seat room as her. LOL.

RLA

Austin ~ YOU are the angel for choosing to overide your irritation with compassion. My otherwise normal teenage son once developed a distracting tic (headjerking) that started out mild and progressively got worse. At first he could compensate for it until it worsened.

It looked like the kind of thing he could easily help or stop, but in reality he could not. It appears as annoying habit and you are tempted to shout "Stop!" (and we are family!) when you would feel the couch twitch while sitting on the other end from him or in the car when you looked back to talk to him and he was going at it. Then about once a week someone at school would ask him about it. He became so self-conscious about what the other kids sitting behind him in class were noticing and thinking about him when he did it that he couldn't focus. I even found out (a year later) that a teacher had mocked him to another class resulting in one of that class's students mocking him in the hall. That turned into a locker room fight the next year. I noticed him glancing around the living room to see if any of his friends were noticing him while watching a movie. He developed a habit of sweeping his bangs over (a common gesture) frequently just in an effort to look like he was doing something he "meant" to do in hope that the observer might not notice his problem.

(It was really taking a toll on the self-esteem of my otherwise healthy, athletic, good looking, popular son with an outstanding sense of humor. This went on for a year and a half before I finally found a doctor that helped him.

We were told that what he had and has always had was Tourette's Syndrome which is just a technical term for a combination of ADHD, OCD, and tics. We knew about and had successfully managed the ADHD and the OCD was never big enough to bother his quality of life, and the tics were emerging for the first time. (In hindsight, it was preceded by a mild,quiet,verbal tic.) Tics have a life of thier own and seem to really dissipate in the early 20's for most. Meanwhile, he gave him a medication that should shave the peaks off of the peak's and vally's of them. Within about a month or two they gradually went away. He stayed on the medicine for several more months before stopping. We thought it may resume, but so far has not. It has been 5 months.

So, thank you Austin for being so understanding because no one is suffering more than the person themselves.

gualalalisa

I wasn't going to get into this but . . .

People who have afflictions such as Tourette's or cerebral palsy and the like of course deserve our compassion and empathy. However, most people who are truly obese are that way because of their lifestyle and diet. If you choose to be really fat then you should have to pay for an extra seat and not crowd out the rest of us who take time to exercise regularly and eat a sensible diet.

I know this sounds cold but I really feel for the person who has saved all year (or more) for a vacation and then has to be made uncomfortable by someone else's bad habits.