What do you say to the passenger who reclines his/her seat all the way you can’t do anything else but sit stiff in your seat?
Who gets the middle armrests? This can be pretty important if you have special needs or you are nursing a baby or soothing a hyperactive toddler.
What do you say to a seemingly kind stranger, but who is evidently drunk, reeking of alcohol, slurred talks and all, when he/she approaches you in a bar or on a park?
There are many other awkward scenarios you can imagine yourself in (or have happened to you in real life) and wish you are not there. What do you do under the situation? You can act like a damsel in distress to gain everyone’s sympathy (and aid), lose your temper in some big way catching everyone’s attention and ire, or you resort to a diplomatic, courteous solution hopeful that the issue is resolved fast and easy.
The scenarios might be hypothetical, but you better believe it, these happen all the time in a carrier or in some destinations while you are on travel. There are courteous ways to resolve the issue at hand. Read more in Airline Etiquette: What to Do? by the abc News (Genevieve Shaw Brown via GOOD MORNING AMERICA) and find out how travelers react under the circumstances.
“Some travelers are models of good behavior: regulation-size bag tucked easily into the overhead bins. Volume on their device of choice audible only to them on their headphones. No use of the middle armrest. Food brought on the plane is odorless or even has a pleasant scent, like an apple. And never, ever, do they utter more than a polite hello when they take the seat next to you.
And then, of course, there’re the Worst Airline Passengers, Ever. They drink too much, force emergency landings. They hurl racist remarks at small children, that kind of thing.
And then there’s everyone else who falls somewhere in the middle, and that’s where things get a little dicey…”
In the survey conducted by The Travel Leaders Group, the answers that merited most of the passengers’ nods are:
- Say something directly to the person.
- Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.
- Sit quietly and say nothing.
The percentage shifted from a, b and c depending on the question. The percentage of those who said “Not sure” was mostly under 10% except in the 2 questions:
“If you were on a flight with someone who talked so loudly that half the plane could hear them, what would you do?” Not sure – 21.7%
“What would you do if it appeared parents of a screaming child aboard a plane were not making any attempt to comfort/control their child?” Not sure – 14.8%
There is no denying the fact that travellers are mostly courteous people or at least believe in the merit of courtesy as travel wisdom. It is definitely a surefire ticket to get to your destination without any trouble. Rather than let your temper get the better of you, which might even delay your travel, take the cue from these respondents. You’ll see that the best way to get to your destination unscathed is through courtesy.