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Courtesy on Airplanes Should Be a Law |
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Courtesy really matters in confined areas where many people, mostly strangers, are sitting side-by-side.
While sitting in coach class seating on a recent trip I was reminded that personal space becomes even more important when we can’t pick our seat mates.
As the middle passenger, there were two people on either side of me - one was my spouse, which was not the problem. On the other side was another man. Seeing him in the terminal check-in area should have given me my first clue, as he was the only person dressed in lederhosen shorts (no I am not joking). While that may not seem unusual in itself, since we were leaving a southern California airport in late October and were headed to New Jersey, he did stand out in our departing passenger crowd.
Not until we began finding our way to our assigned seating did I realize that Mr. Lederhosen (Mr. L) would be seated next to me. Still no issue.
When the plane was finally in the air, Mr. L pulled out a bundle of newspapers. He had about a week’s worth of New York Times. He then began to open the first of about eight total newspapers, fully expanded with both sides, and proceeded to read.
Naturally since we were sitting in a three-wide section, with me in the middle, to say that his newspaper and hands invaded my space is an understatement!
Actually at first, I assumed that he would simply get arranged and move over into his own space. But alas, he did not. In fact, for the next three hours I was subjected to his very loud paper crunching noises caused when he turned pages and folded them back, page by page, section by section, and paper by paper.
To save my sanity, I leaned over onto my spouse, who understood and sympathized with my plight.
Finally I asked Mr. L to please stop making so much newspaper noise. My words seemed to confuse him. He couldn’t believe that I was telling him that he was disturbing me and had been since we left the terminal. He sorta grunted something, seemed rather taken aback and continued right along with his reading.
Upon landing, I was very anxious to get out of the plane and away from Mr. L. Several days later, I found my ears still sensitive to the sound of newspaper rattling even from across the room.
Maybe he had a hearing problem and just didn’t realize how noisy he was. However, when the people in the row in front of us turned around to him with stern looks as his activity grew to an unbearable level, he didn’t bat an eye.
So I figured either he was a rude jerk who didn’t really care about anyone around him (how sad) or he truly didn’t understand the commotion he caused and its effects on those around him.
The moral here is to remind people who fly in airplanes to remember that the space the airlines allot them is really quite small and the distinction between the separation of that space is not only invisible, it’s subject to interpretation by each passenger.
Keeping this in mind, we all should respect those in the seats on all sides of us. Making noise or sounds such as prolonged rattling newspapers or repeatedly “invading” another’s space is not acceptable.
Everyone who flies in coach class seating should understand this and remember that the next time they fly, they just might find themselves sitting next to Mr. L.
Pat Dwight
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