A baby that cries all night on an overnight flight from JFK to Cairo.

 

Whenever I am at the gate waiting to board an aircraft, and there is a mother and baby waiting to board as well. I know that their are 200+ seats on that plane, and I also know of all those seats she will be sitting either right behind me or right beside me.

 

Murphy's Law.....It always happens. I gave up trying to understand why.

Just wait until they decide to allow cell phone use on planes. All of these petty annoyances so far will pale in comparison to the person next to you who has trouble hearing their friend at the other end, so figures that shouting into the phone will help.

 

Take my wife. Please. She shouts into her cell phone all the time, thinking somehow that talking louder will overcome her own poor hearing.

 

"Mildred! Do you know where I am? I'm on an airplane. Yes, an airplane........Oh, I'm so glad I can use my phone now.....Yes, I'm going to visit my cousin in Akron.....Oh, she's fine, but she has an infected foot and I think she needs some one to cheer her up.....Oh, I hope not. I mean, not like rotting flesh or anything.......Really? Do you think so?........"

 

"Eleanor! Do you know where I am.........."

Whenever I am at the gate waiting to board an aircraft, and there is a mother and baby waiting to board as well. I know that their are 200+ seats on that plane, and I also know of all those seats she will be sitting either right behind me or right beside me.

 

Murphy's Law.....It always happens. I gave up trying to understand why.

I know how you feel! -_-

Let me tell you about my experience (i.e. if you are interested)

 

I was in the isle seat in a three seat arrangement. It was a very early Monday morning flight and I suffer from chronic back pain playing too much golf.. and I need a reclining seat. The flight was not crowded and there was this woman sitting behind me and her middle seat was not occupied...and neither was the middle seat next to me was occupied But she felt she had to do her work early morning between 6 and 6:30 on her laptop, and felt entitled that the person sitting in the row front of her (that was me) should not recline their seat so she can work comfortably.

 

Just after take off, I slowly reclined me seat, she taps me on my shoulders and tells me that she needs to work and that I not recline my seat. I was hmmm.. Then I told her that she could move to the middle seat and not worry about any one reclining since no one was in my middle row either. She immediately called me a "Ba$stard"

 

Yes...she didn't want to move to the middle seat instead she wanted me to sit upright and endure it ... What an effing @##$$% eh? I was so furious but I refused...and reclined my seat..and she kept Bit#ing the whole time sitting at the back but would not move to the middle seat where she could have done her work.

 

I am a chivalrous person, but not a patsy!

 

 

LOL :lol:

The tattooed twenty-something with more metal hardware sticking out of her face than an ASR-11 radar dish, wilding gyrating in her seat while loudly reproducing an off-key facsimile of the already off-key track she's got cranked on her iPod/Pad/Phone.

 

Or how about the double-wide fanny in the next seat over overflowing into your space, which wasn't much to begin with?

 

Or the large-jowled guy who slobbers like a Basset Hound when he's not snoring loud enough to ruin your enjoyment of the B-reel box-office flop that's playing on a flickering, fuzzy CRT monitor with a weird green color balance problem...

 

I'll drive, thanks.

though I'll never try Tiger Airways.

 

Probably a good idea, a lot more trouble than their cheapish tickets are worth! The most annoying thing is when people fully recline their seat when the meals are being served and they will not put their seat up, even when the FA's tell them to. Then you are forced to recline your seat so you can eat your dinner, much to the annoyance of the person behind you.

Okay, regarding the reclining seat issue some have, first let me say that slamming it back is rude in any situation. I totally get that and try to ease it back whenever I do it. But I WILL be reclining my seat. I pay full fare or darned near it for my seats. I don't fly enough to rack up FF miles, so it's cash for the 2 cross country, 10 hour round trip flights I make a year. It's nothing personal, but someone else's long legs are frankly not my problem. Pick an exit row seat.

A few challenging flights come to mind:

 

I was flying home from Tokyo (to San Francisco). I was in the window seat, and there were two women who seemed to speak no English. Within an hour of takeoff, both were fast asleep. For the entirety of the flight they slept, legs outstretched. Tokyo to SFO is a looong flight, and for reasons of nature and the growing lack of circulation in my body, I needed to get up. But there was no climbing over both pairs of legs. From time to time they stirred and I tried to tell them I had to get up but they would stare blankly and fall back asleep. I don't know how, but I survived the flight. Ughhhh

 

On another flight, I was seated next to a man who by all defintions should have been required to buy two seats. He was big--he had to move the armrest up to be seated. I was squeezed between him and the cabin wall, and to add to the crush, his arms infringed on my seat space by a fair amount. Nothing I could do--the flight was full. I felt bad in a way--I talked with him a bit and he was a nice man--he and his wife were on their way home from a religious conference. But I was there for the entirety of a cross country flight.

 

Last flight was a flight where I saw the ultimate of selfishness and rudeness. We landed, and we were deplaning. Ahead of me was an old woman who was obviously slow getting off the plane. A passenger behind me said "Would you HURRY UP and get off this plane?" Before I could even react, another passenger threatened to knock the guy to the ground. I think we all would have beat on the guy for satisfaction (and I have rarely come to blows with anyone).

 

Fortunately my next flight, in a little over three weeks, will be heaven. Seated next to me will be two of the best passengers in the world: my lovely wife and lovely daughter. It will be a four hour flight of sheer bliss....

 

John

Okay, regarding the reclining seat issue some have, first let me say that slamming it back is rude in any situation. I totally get that and try to ease it back whenever I do it. But I WILL be reclining my seat.

 

I have no problem with people reclining their seat, I do it to, however during meal times, I put my seat up to be courteous to the person behind me. Most people extend this courtesy to me, however some do not. This is what annoys me.

I have no problem with people reclining their seat, I do it to, however during meal times, I put my seat up to be courteous to the person behind me. Most people extend this courtesy to me, however some do not. This is what annoys me.

 

I think all reclining seats should have a "recline override" button that can be pressed in the cockpit or by the cabin crew for meal times, landing and just for the general amusement of the pilots and crew. :smile2:

and just for the general amusement of the pilots and crew. :smile2:

 

hahahaha-made my day :lol:

I have no problem with people reclining their seat, I do it to, however during meal times, I put my seat up to be courteous to the person behind me. Most people extend this courtesy to me, however some do not. This is what annoys me.

 

Certainly during meal service it's reasonable to expect folks to keep their seats up. That's just common courtesy. What bothers me are the militant "HOW DARE YOU ...USE YOUR SEAT THE WAY IN WHICH IT WAS DESIGNED!?!?!" types that expect the person in front of them to be rigid upright the entire flight, lest the very lip of the seat back pocket intrude on their personal space.

I travel a lot. One of the most common annoyances is that people try to take my seat. For personal reasons, I prefer the window seat. It's not the end of the world if I don't get it, but it is where I want to sit. That's why I choose this seat when I reserve my flight. If someone asks politely to switch for some reason, I'll certainly consider it.

 

I've had people claim my seat because they were there "first".

 

I've had people claim my seat by writing my seat number on their boarding pass.

 

I've had people claim my seat by pretending not to understand the diagram above the seat explaining that seat "A" is next to the window.

 

I've had people claim my seat when I've gotten up to use the washroom.

 

I've never let this devolve into a shouting match or anything, but in most cases, I've had to get the FA to intervene. I would say it is fairly rare, but it happens about once every ten flights or so.

 

One of the strangest things that I saw was a man who was adamant that the people on the left side of the plane could not put their stuff in the overhead bins on the right side of the plane. He didn't offer a reason other than he "disagreed with it. This turned into a physical dispute between him and a couple other passengers (mostly just pushing, grabbing an arm, etc.) which the FA had to interrupt. The passenger was warned in very specific terms what would happen if he continued (kicked off plane, arrested, etc.) and he stopped.

I travel a lot. One of the most common annoyances is that people try to take my seat. For personal reasons, I prefer the window seat. It's not the end of the world if I don't get it, but it is where I want to sit. That's why I choose this seat when I reserve my flight. If someone asks politely to switch for some reason, I'll certainly consider it.

 

I've had people claim my seat because they were there "first".

Yeah, that's one that can get really annoying. I've had it happen a couple times. In most cases, it isn't really so much of a problem provided the seat I'm switching to is a window seat, and I always make that clear when the person who's already in my seat asks to switch seats. So far, I haven't run into issues with that. There was only one instance where it really annoyed me, and it was on a flight from Des Moines to Chicago. I had selected seat 2A on the CRJ-200 along with 24F on the 757 that would take me onward to Newark. Well, I ended up being moved to 11A because somebody was already in 2A when I boarded, that person having been in boarding group one and me being in group two. Had I been in my original seat, I could have gotten off the plane within probably the first two or three minutes. Instead, from the back of the plane, I had to wait about ten minutes or so before I was finally off the plane.

 

The problem was that the first flight was already over two hours later (which is why I didn't try to fight it, as I didn't want to make the flight any later than it already was), and I was in danger of missing my connection. We'd been informed that we'd arrive at gate F14 and the flight to Newark would depart out of B7. At Chicago O'Hare, you do not go from F14 to B7 in less than ten minutes. By the time I got to the door, we didn't have a jetway, so I ended up making the six-foot jump (I think, anyway, didn't actually measure) from the plane to the ground, then started charging down the ramp into the terminal to try to get to B7. At that point, I only had eight minutes. I was running so fast I was going faster than even other people that were running to other connections. Somewhere down the line, I was out of breath and thought might wind up passing out just trying to get to that flight. My friend then decided to call me up, and upon answering the call, I'd told him this is not a good time. He hung up without saying anything. By the time I got to B7 at scheduled departure time, they were already looking for me. At Chicago O'Hare, you go not go from F14 to B7 in less than ten minutes. However the hell I managed to do it in eight minutes, I have no idea. Suffice it to say by the time I'd got on board and sat down, the pushback started less than a minute later.

 

End result was that I didn't have time to even get lunch. I ended up calling my parents up telling them they had better bring lunch when they get to the airport. Actually, it was more like yelling over the phone, and they probably heard me up in first class. It was bad enough to the point where this old lady tried to give me an apple pie from McDonald's. Unfortunately, I had to refuse it, as any attempt to eat it could very well have led to either a gate return or a diversion owing to the fact that I am allergic. I ended up having my lunch at 5:00 PM. Dinner followed an hour later.