Listening to my favorite morning show, The Bob and Sherri Show, Sherri was talking about airplane behavior. She’d been on a flight trying to get some work done on her laptop. The guy in front of her—a gamer with a headset—was deeply into whatever he was playing.
Sherri said that despite the stereotype of gamers being quiet, sedentary creatures, this one was basically conducting a full-body workout. At one point he launched himself backward with such force that her cell phone flew off the tray table and landed squarely above her eyebrow.
She tried, very politely, to ask if he could maybe dial it down a little and he did just a smidge. But she didn’t push these days, you never know which stranger on a plane is one seat recline from going nuts.
About a year ago, my daughter and I had our own run‑in with questionable airplane behavior on a flight from Boston. I hadn’t flown in quite a while, so I was already a little out of practice. The plane landed, everyone started the usual shuffle of gathering their belongings, and my daughter and I were quietly standing in the aisle with our carry‑ons, waiting for our turn to de‑plane.
The woman in the row ahead of us suddenly turned around and began lecturing me—full volume—about the “proper etiquette” for getting off an airplane. Before I could even process that, she climbed onto her seat to reach the overhead bin, and in the process swung her bag down directly onto my head. Under my breath I muttered something about manners and not hitting people in the head, and my daughter quietly added that this woman needed to get over herself.
That was all it took. She absolutely lost it. She shoved ahead of us, marched straight to the exit, and complained about me to the captain and the flight attendant as if she were reporting a federal crime. My daughter and I just kept walking, choosing not to engage because we had no interest in escalating whatever… performance she was giving.
But she wasn’t done. Oh no. She then cornered the ramp attendant and started spewing a fresh round of wild accusations. I caught his eye, gave a small, weary shake of my head, and kept moving. Honestly, I could not believe what had just unfolded.
In the end, my daughter and I just looked at each other, shook our heads, and kept moving. Some people bring carry‑ons, some bring snacks, and some apparently bring full‑blown chaos — and that day, we wanted no part of it.
Honestly, I still shake my head when I think about it. It made me wonder how many other people have had their own run‑ins with airborne theatrics. Have any of you experienced something like this on a flight? I'd like to hear about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment