Plane Ettiquitte

[gallahadesquire]

Iwas recently on a Jetblue flight from Buffalo to Boston. I am mobility impaired, and took the opportunity to board the flight as soon as possible. I got on board adn plopped my carry on into my seat. I eyed the flight attendant: "May I use the lavatory?", and was directed tot he one at the rear of the plane.

 

About a minute later, urinated and laved, I went back to my seat. Someone had taken my carry on, and there was a woman-of-a-certain-age sitting in the seat next to mine.

 

"Oh, it was unattended, so I took it up front," she said, looking ever so Holier than me with her Church lady smile.

 

The original flight attendant, who was in the back of the plane, came forward, and offered to get the bag for me.

 

I said nothing to the woman, and piled my face into my book so as not to give her the daggers taht would have come out. She gave no word of apology, I noted an attitude of "Well, I know the rules, and you didn't follow them."

 

I did pass glances with the flight attendant, who shared my eye rolling with me.

 

I can appreciate her motivation, although she was like the fifth passenger on board. And I do think even a condescending apology for having inconvenienced me would have been appropriate.

 

Opinions? Should she have apologized?

 

Someday, I shall have to tell the brick joke, but that belonds in Friday's Funnies.

[Kenny]

Should she? Perhaps. Would she? Never.

[+ azdr0710]

Did she think it was a bomb? Or left from a previous leg by a departed passenger?

[Rudynate]

Seriously, let it go. Life is too short to spend it dithering about stuff like this.

[+ poolboy48220]

Did she think it was a bomb? Or left from a previous leg by a departed passenger?

bending backwards to give her the benefit of a doubt, she may indeed have thought it was a bomb, given today's climate. But in that case I think she'd be better off notifying the attendant, not trotting it up someplace herself.

[+ dutchmuch]

Darling darlings, this is why I fly Private Jets!

[+ nycman]

Darling darlings, this is why I fly Private Jets!

 

You ride the "greyhound of the skies"...you get fleas.

 

Private FTW!

[EZEtoGRU]

meh. Nothing to get excited about IMHO. I travel nearly weekly and see very poor passenger etiquette all the time. However, this would not be an example of that...at least for me. Would I have moved an unattended bag sitting on the seat next to mine? Probably not....but I would have found it to be strange and maybe alerted a flight attendant. Nothing to see here really.

 

PS. Why wouldn't one store their carry on bag before using the facilities?

[Epigonos]

The woman's behavior was absurd. I fly a great deal and most often with only carry on. By the time one boards a plane the hand luggage has been checked enough that there is no chance that it might contain a bomb. Now prior to going through security that is a totally different matter. The woman was being a self righteous pain in the ass. Although she probably owed you an apology she was obviously to stupid to realize it.

[+ azdr0710]

PS. Why wouldn't one store their carry on bag before using the facilities?

 

perhaps to claim the seat while gone in the bathroom....

[EZEtoGRU]

perhaps to claim the seat while gone in the bathroom....

Perhaps but on JetBlue I assume the OP had an assigned seat so no chance of losing it once on board with boarding pass in hand. The OP's scenario does not make sense to me. If he was unable to put the carryon bag into the overhead due to mobility impairment, he could have asked for help from the flight attendant who seemingly was close by. Why leave the bag on the seat to begin with? Sorry but I don't get it.

 

As I said above, I see poor passenger behavior on planes all the time. The woman's action does not strike me as being an example of bad etiquette. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

[+ azdr0710]

Perhaps but on JetBlue I assume the OP had an assigned seat so no chance of losing it once on board with boarding pass in hand.

 

 

yes, yes, you're correct.....assigned seats.....Southwest is the primary carrier in my burg, so was thinking open seating......

 

but I do think the woman deliberately taking somebody else's luggage from a seat and handing it to a F/A is unusual

[Guest]

Unless you needed to have the carry-on on your seat to claim the seat, which it doesn't appear to be the case since there was assigned seating, you should have either put it under your seat, or in the overhead compartment if it wouldn't fit. Also, using the facilities while people are trying to board, instead of right before boarding, strikes me as the greater breach of etiquette. You boarded first, apparently because of a mobility impairment, yet you think it's OK to have to wade your way counter-traffic when others are trying to board, mobility impairment and all? You barge in before everyone, plop your carry-on with the expectation that others will work around in, then make a bee-line to the aft restroom with the expectation that people are again going to have to move out of their way to accommodate you on your way back? Yes, perhaps that woman could have handled this differently (maybe you expected her to put the carry-on in the overhead for you?), but I don't see her as the biggest offender. Just my 2 cents.

[+ FreshFluff]

The boarding period is pretty long, and the time between the end of boarding and turn-on of the seatbelt sign is very short. IMO, it's better to go to the little boy's room during boarding than to delay pushback.

 

Edit: Corrected.

[Guest]

The boarding period is pretty long, and the time between the end of boarding and turn-on of the seatbelt sign is very short. IMO, it's better to go to the lavoratory during boarding than to delay pushback.

Well, IMO, it's better to go to the lavatory BEFORE boarding the plane (I always do). From the OP's original statement, he was one of the first on the plane, so he could have easily emptied his bladder either (1) right before boarding, or (2) if he had just gotten to the gate, gone to pee while other people were boarding, and boarded later. The whole reason that the airline invites the mobility impaired to board earlier is so that the crew can assist these passengers, and so that these passengers don't end up slowing the boarding process because of their disability. If these passengers get on the plane during the pre-boarding period, but then go to the back of the plane and have to head back to the front, then the opposite of the desired result is achieved. The result thus ends up in maximizing the inconvenience for everyone else. Of course, we don't know what the OP's disability is, so it's not clear why he felt he needed to board first, but no crew felt they needed to help him with stowing his luggage.

FF's last statement reminds me of my freshman organic chemistry class, in which the professor had a Freudian slip. He said "Urea was the first organic compound synthesized in the lavoratory."

Friedrich Wöhler's discovery in 1828 that urea can be produced from inorganic starting materials was an important conceptual milestone in chemistry. It showed for the first time that a substance previously known only as a byproduct of life could be synthesized in the laboratory without biological starting materials, contradicting the widely held doctrine of vitalism.

[+ FreshFluff]

Efficiency is one reason that mobility impaired people board first. Another is that as a society, we try to make things easier on this group, as we do with parking spaces and reserved spots on buses.

 

I don't know what mobility impairment Gallahad is referring to, but he posted about having joint replacement surgery last week.

[Guest]

Another is that as a society, we try to make things easier on this group, as we do with parking spaces and reserved spots on buses.

 

Well, there's something about being gracious about a courtesy being offered. If I open a door for a woman, I don't expect her to slam it in my face. The airline (and other passengers) gave the OP the courtesy of boarding first, and he turned around and ended up being a bit of a nuisance. Not a huge deal, perhaps, but I don't feel one should be pointing fingers at others' lack of courtesy after one has just been discourteous oneself.

http://everydaygyaan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/me_175_fingerpoint22.png

[RM]

I always go to the men's room before boarding. It's been over 30 years since I've seen the inside of an airplane lavatory.

[+ poolboy48220]

I'd always make an excuse to go on the plane because Northwest had Aveda soap in the airplane lavatories. They stopped a while ago.

[gallahadesquire]

If I might: I was in a wheelchair to get to the plane, and even then found getting to my seat extremely difficult. I added the Flught Attendant if it was OK And he indicated that it was. There were about eight people onboard the p,and by the time I got back to my seat.

 

Is would have inconvenienced many more people if I had waited any longer, and it was difficult for me to get my stuff into the overhead. And I really didn't want to take my carry one (a leather briefcase) to the John with me. O hope this clarifies that part.

 

I wobdefwhatwould have happened if I had put my bag underneath the seat in front of me? I dare say, to some it would like an abandoned bag at that time.

 

I just think an expression her concern of the safety of the general good vs the convenience of the one would have been nice,although never expected.

meh. Nothing to get excited about IMHO. I travel nearly weekly and see very poor passenger etiquette all the time. However, this would not be an example of that...at least for me. Would I have moved an unattended bag sitting on the seat next to mine? Probably not....but I would have found it to be strange and maybe alerted a flight attendant. Nothing to see here really.

 

PS. Why wouldn't one store their carry on bag before using the facilities?

 

perhaps to claim the seat while gone in the bathroom....

 

Perhaps but on JetBlue I assume the OP had an assigned seat so no chance of losing it once on board with boarding pass in hand. The OP's scenario does not make sense to me. If he was unable to put the carryon bag into the overhead due to mobility impairment, he could have asked for help from the flight attendant who seemingly was close by. Why leave the bag on the seat to begin with? Sorry but I don't get it.

 

As I said above, I see poor passenger behavior on planes all the time. The woman's action does not strike me as being an example of bad etiquette. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

 

Well, IMO, it's better to go to the lavatory BEFORE boarding the plane (I always do). From the OP's original statement, he was one of the first on the plane, so he could have easily emptied his bladder either (1) right before boarding, or (2) if he had just gotten to the gate, gone to pee while other people were boarding, and boarded later. The whole reason that the airline invites the mobility impaired to board earlier is so that the crew can assist these passengers, and so that these passengers don't end up slowing the boarding process because of their disability. If these passengers get on the plane during the pre-boarding period, but then go to the back of the plane and have to head back to the front, then the opposite of the desired result is achieved. The result thus ends up in maximizing the inconvenience for everyone else. Of course, we don't know what the OP's disability is, so it's not clear why he felt he needed to board first, but no crew felt they needed to help him with stowing his luggage.

FF's last statement reminds me of my freshman organic chemistry class, in which the professor had a Freudian slip. He said "Urea was the first organic compound synthesized in the lavoratory."

Friedrich Wöhler's discovery in 1828 that urea can be produced from inorganic starting materials was an important conceptual milestone in chemistry. It showed for the first time that a substance previously known only as a byproduct of life could be synthesized in the laboratory without biological starting materials, contradicting the widely held doctrine of vitalism.

[gallahadesquire]

Well, there's something about being gracious about a courtesy being offered. If I open a door for a woman, I don't expect her to slam it in my face. The airline (and other passengers) gave the OP the courtesy of boarding first, and he turned around and ended up being a bit of a nuisance. Not a huge deal, perhaps, but I don't feel one should be pointing fingers at others' lack of courtesy after one has just been discourteous oneself.

http://everydaygyaan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/me_175_fingerpoint22.png

 

Depends on the cartoonist.

[body2body]

About 10 years ago I boarded a Jet Blue flight in Burbank bound for JFK. I was seated in the second row on the aisle. In the aisle seat in the first row was a young man who was utterly blind. The flight attendant was explaining to him that she would gladly assist him in getting to the restroom during the flight. Shortly after, two young men sat down in the remaining seats in the first row and a middle aged woman followed, she was the Mother of the two young guys seated by the blind man. She was seated in the window seat in the row behind me. She imediately began haranguing the flight attendant demanding that the flight attendant move the blind man so she could sit with her sons. The flight attendant explained he was seated there due to his need for assistance. The woman became very agitated and loud, saying that a mother traveling with her Children should be given preference so they could " travel as a family". She actually got up and went to the blind man and said " Honey, you wouldn't mind changing seats so I can sit with my boys". The " boys" looked to be in their 20s. At this point the FA lost it, she firmly told the woman to return to her seat, that she was delaying the departure, and if she kept it up she would be removed from the plane. Everyone around her was tempted to cheer. She grumbled all the way to New York.

[gallahadesquire]

And I thought throwing people off planes was a relatively new idea!

 

Also, perhaps it wastesonswho seated her inher original seat, to get AWAY from her for a few hours?

 

At this point in my life, I probably would cheer.

 

About 10 years ago I boarded a Jet Blue flight in Burbank bound for JFK. I was seated in the second row on the aisle. In the aisle seat in the first row was a young man who was utterly blind. The flight attendant was explaining to him that she would gladly assist him in getting to the restroom during the flight. Shortly after, two young men sat down in the remaining seats in the first row and a middle aged woman followed, she was the Mother of the two young guys seated by the blind man. She was seated in the window seat in the row behind me. She imediately began haranguing the flight attendant demanding that the flight attendant move the blind man so she could sit with her sons. The flight attendant explained he was seated there due to his need for assistance. The woman became very agitated and loud, saying that a mother traveling with her Children should be given preference so they could " travel as a family". She actually got up and went to the blind man and said " Honey, you wouldn't mind changing seats so I can sit with my boys". The " boys" looked to be in their 20s. At this point the FA lost it, she firmly told the woman to return to her seat, that she was delaying the departure, and if she kept it up she would be removed from the plane. Everyone around her was tempted to cheer. She grumbled all the way to New York.

[body2body]

It can pay to be nice. Many years ago I was flying from Paris to LAX. I had checked in and made my way to the gate. When I got there, an elderly man was screaming at the young man at the podium, using very foul language. He wanted to be seated next to his wife. Business class was full and the young man said there was nothing he could do. The young man looked very shaken after being subjected to the tirade. I approached him, told him I was traveling alone, and would be glad to exchange my seat if it would help ameliorate the situation. He thanked me for my offer, but said it would probably not help. About 10 minutes later he called my name on the microphone. I went up to the podium, and he asked if was still willing to change seats. I said yes. His fingers tapped at the keyboard and he reached down and produced a new boarding pass for a seat in first class. I flew home in the lap of luxury.

[+ azdr0710]

It can pay to be nice.

 

so goddam true.....way back in college, working at a hotel, we certainly went out of our way to give nice people special favors.....it's so easy to be a decent person....not that we all have to be rainbows-and-unicorns pollyannas, but it's just the good thing to do......if you do need to voice a concern (complaint), there is a mature/professional way to do it......I've always thought that whining/too loud/angry people complain this way because they have some insecurity they're trying to compensate for