So… I don’t know where to start when it comes to airplane etiquette. It’s a difficult subject. Culturally, some folks don’t understand the concept of standing line and waiting their turn. Now, the British are excellent at this… they pride themselves on their ability you ‘queue’… and having seen it firsthand it’s pretty impressive.
For the most part, American’s are also very good at queuing. However, we don’t seem to have mastered the ability to pass the time pleasantly quite yet, like our British counterparts. Although most American’s seem to accept their fate and respect the unwritten ‘law’ of the line… however, we’re never happy about it and often times show our queuing distain openly.
It usually starts with a loud sigh and quickly graduates to craned looks… you know what I’m talking about. When you roll up on your tip toes, lift your chin really high in the air and look around franticly to advertize what you’re thinking: “Good Lord, does no one see us standing in this line? Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this travesty! If I crane my head high enough I KNOW I will see a solution unseen by all these other flat footed mopes.”
You know what I’m talking about… and yes… I am guilty of this as well.
If a line is particularly long or slow…an American’s obsession with appearing put-out by the wait usually gives way to a certain amount of situational humor, especially if there are more than one ‘craners’ stuck in the same line. When two such cramers lock eyes… there’s little the two can do except exchange a shrug and share in their misery together… which often times manifests into some verbal jokes at the expense of the poor folks trying to manage the situation. Again… I have been guilty of this as well… however, the sanctity of waiting my turn is always respected.
And, when it comes to disembarking from an airplane… one of the most loathsome experiences a human being can ever face… quietly waiting your turn to disembark is simply part of the deal. At least it is for me. I believe the unwritten etiquette for disembarking an airplane states that you may not pass the people occupying a row in front of you unless you are invited AND, in turn, no one should pass your row without an invitation as well. We are all in the same boat… and trust me… when you’ve been on a plane for 15 hours all you want to do is get off… but you need to be respectful of your fellow passengers.
So, you’ll understand my shock and complete pissed-off-ittude when landing in Istanbul, from Belgrade (an hour and a half flight that arrived on time) when about 20 people ffrom the back of the plane started pushing their way to the front and whenever they were met with any kind of resistance they claimed to have a tight connecting flight.
Personally, I am very sympathetic to small connection windows… and Lord knows I’ve had to race through Frankfurt airport multiple times with only an hour to make a connection… so I am totally sympathetic… however, in my circumstances, after being dealt multi-hour delays creating VERy small connection windows… I have NEVER pushed anyone aside demanding special treatment from an airline, security, or my fellow passengers.
Although the folks in question uttered words to garner sympathy and understanding… their body language and general attitude didn’t seem to compliment their story. They simply behaved impatiently. They never said ‘excuse me’… they never said ‘thank you’… they might as well said, “F-Off” as they literary pushed people out of their way.
I for one was appalled at this blatant disregard to their fellow passengers.
However, two things happened shortly after this incident: the first was a case of Karma at its finest… and the second was justification that I should not feel sorry for quietly laughing at their bad Karma.
The Karma: When it was finally my turn to exit the plane I discovered we were exiting to the tarmac, not directly into terminal. You don’t really run into this much in the States, but I see it a LOT overseas (especially with international flights). Basically, what happens is this: when you exit the plane, you go down a set of stairs to the tarmac where you board a bus that takes you to a special international arrivals port of the terminal. The buses will normally wait until the entire plane disembarks (especially if it’s a small flight) and then take everyone to the terminal all at once. In the case of my arrival in Istanbul… this is exactly what happened. When I boarded the bus, I found the twenty people who had pushed past me… standing there… looking very foolish indeed. And judging by the sullen looks on their face… they knew it too. They were now forced to share a bus with all the people they jostled in order to be first ones off the plane. Oh sweet Karma.
The Justification: As a general practice, I don’t take pleasure in other people’s short comings… but when a person blatantly wrongs others in their attempt to achieve their personal goals… I do enjoy being around to see Karma smack them down… however… I also regret those feeling of pleasure as well. I don’t know what their story is and it’s pretty crappy to take enjoyment fomr their misfortune. However, in the departure terminal I saw them through the glass of a gate waiting around. The departure gates waiting areas in Istanbul aren’t open to all like in the States. In Istanbul the gates are sectioned off and you have to go through a special security check point (and have a board pass) to enter them… so when you see someone in a gate waiting area there is no questions as to what flight they are on. So, when I saw pushes in their departure gate, out of curiosity, I checked out their flight information. They were headed to Dubai… and based on the departure boards, the flight was scheduled to leave on time (no delays had been noted)… and based on the time of the scheduled departure it was safe to assume their claim of a tight connection was a complete and total fabrication. Their flight was scheduled to leave three hours after we arrived in Istanbul.
At that moment, I was cleansed of any guilt I may have felt due to my enjoyment of seeming them stuck on the tarmac bus.
