Reading 3: bad travel etiquette

1. Think of the people who you meet while traveling. Can you describe anyone pleasant or awful to travel with? Do you consider yourself to be a nice traveler? Why?

2. Read the article below. Have you ever experienced anything of the following?

The Worst Fellow Travelers

Just like the smell of pine and an abundance of red and gold – travel is abundant during the holidays.

People who never travel are traveling. People who always travel are traveling even more. During a time of the year that is supposed to be defined by giving, kindness, and peace amongst men – I can’t help but wonder if these Christmas traits simply don’t apply to airports.

In the spirit of travel debates, I decided to write a different kind of ‘Best of’ list… the Worst Fellow Travelers:

1. Parent Who Pretends Not to Hear Screaming Child: There is nothing worse than almost drifting into sleep on a long flight when a child screaming immediately jolts you back to your middle-seat reality. Sometimes I wonder if parents have become so accustomed to their child screaming, that they no longer hear it. Regardless, I do. This is what pacifiers were invited for. Or take my mother’s advice, and always carry a ziplock bag of cheerios to keep the kid chewing, and quiet.

2. The Smelly Neighbor: Nothing can ruin a transatlantic flight quite as quickly as a smelly neighbor. Watching the ‘estimated time until arrival’ on the screen in front of you can immediately become hell if you have to keep your blanket over your face for the entire flight. On the opposite end of this spectrum – are the people that think it’s ok to spray perfume or cologne on a flight. I know you just got a great deal at duty free, but please, spray BEFORE boarding.

3. The Kicker: The sad thing about this worst fellow passenger is that it isn’t always children. Somehow, grown adults never learned that you shouldn’t kick, jab, jolt, nudge, or even touch the seat in front of you. Just leave it alone. When you need to stand up, lean on your own hand rests, don’t pull on my chair.

4. Mr. ‘I’ve Only Got a 50’: There’s always one guy that holds up drink service because he wants a glass of wine, and only has a 50 dollar bill. The rest of the plane is parched (having thrown their water bottles away before the security checkpoint) and we’re all left waiting 20 minutes while the flight attendant ‘attends’ to trying to find change for a 50, which they eventually find, but never quickly.

5. The Guy who Sits in the Wrong Seat: Inevitably, there’s always one guy that thinks he booked the bulkhead, and didn’t. Somehow, he got onto the plane first, is comfortably seated at the window reading a book, when everyone behind has to wait while the ‘assigned seats fiasco’ is figured out. Boarding passes will be presented as evidence, flight attendants will get involved, and finally, the correct owner of the bulkhead seat will snuggle in with a smug look on his face.

And perhaps the most mystifying, are people who STILL insist on plugging up the aisles when boarding the plane, no matter how many times the flight attendants ask them to let people pass.

3. Do you have any stories about bad travel etiquette? Who is the worst fellow traveler you’ve ever come across? Share your ideas with your group mates.