War Against Rudeness
Here's a scenario- tell me what you'd do.
I'm flying home on Sunday from a VERY long, intense, exhausting business trip. I managed to get a window seat on an overcrowded, oversold flight.
When I arrive at my seat, there's a man already sitting in the middle seat. He gets up to let me in. Then a man approaches to take the aisle seat in my row. The Middle-Seat man, asks Aisle-Seat man if he would mind trading seats with his wife. When A-S man learns that the wife is sitting in the middle a few rows up, he declines.
M-S man is clearly perturbed by this. I can't really say I blame A-S man, because after all, who wants a middle seat?
Here's where it gets tough for me. I attempt to fall asleep leaning against the window. I succeed for a few minutes until I am awakened by the sound of loud, rattling, snoring.
M-S man is spread out in his seat- arms on both armrests, head tilting in my direction. Snoring as loud as can be. In a gross, nasal, "is something gonna come flying out of his mouth" kind of way.
Oh well, what I can do really? It would be rude to wake him, right? I mean, he can't really help it.
But meanwhile I am terribly uncomfortable as he snores in my ear. And his breath is rancid and it's putting me in a foul mood. His wife a few rows up, obviously recognizing the familiar sound, keeps turning around.
I really want to wake him. When it's time to order my drink from the flight attendant, I say my choice as loudly as possible. It does no good.
It occurs to me that this isn't his issue. It's my issue, and I get to choose how I deal with it. But I was stuck, nothing I did made me any more comfortable in this position. The flight seemed to take forever.
At long last, we landed, my seatmate woke up, and we disembarked from the plane.
Ready for the kicker?
I'm walking behind M-S man as he catches up to his wife. I overhear him say "They wouldn't trade seats" (fyi-he never asked me...) "But I treated them to a great snoring session- did you hear me!?" The pair laugh together as they walk to the baggage claim.
posted by Aileen @ 4:18 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
That's actually pretty funny on his part. I wonder if he was conscious the entire time?
He was, however, rude to assume A-S man should move for his wife. If I had been M-S man, I'm not even sure I would have asked unless it had been an international flight.
I guess this is petty of me, but I always get annoyed by people who try to trade seats on a plane. Unless you're being separated from your young children, you're not going to die if you're separated for an hour or two. I definitely would not give up an aisle seat for a middle one under most circumstances.
I admire your restraint in not saying something. If I overheard him saying that to his wife, I doubtlessly would have said something rude. Because I am not a nice person. :)
Wow, that's incredibly rude on both their parts, given the kicker. You were not obligated to give up the seat that you booked and you shouldn't have been punished, if it were intentional snoring on his part, for not inconveniencing yourself for the sake of a stranger. He's a grownup. He should behave like one.
(Of course, I wouldn't have said anything about the snoring. I'm not particularly confrontational.)
There's gotta be an expectation that I'm gonna wake you up (well, not you necessarily) if you're leaning into my seat during the flight.
And the "kicker"? that might be an apt term for it. I'd have to say something to him about it.
Some people are thugs. In general men on airplanes believe they are entitled to the arm rests in all cases always.
I would have awakened the man and told him he was snoring loudly. Every time he snored, I would have woken him up. Maybe then he would have traded seats with his wife who would very likely have been easier to sit next to.
Maybe I'm rude, but I think it's everyone's responsibility to try and be considerate when you're crammed into an airplane. If I drifted off and was snoring, I would WANT someone to wake me up.
Glad you're home, safe and sound. YUCK!
I would have suggested to his wife that she might want to question whether his snoring is ever legitimate. There are some really rude demented people out there. Just be glad you didn't have to go home with him!
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