How to deal with annoying airline passengers – crying babies have nothing on these antisocial neighbours
- From a woman opening her tray table and changing her baby’s diaper to a man clipping his toenails during dinner, some passengers have zero thought for others
- Here are some top tips to help you handle those seat mates from hell
Airline passengers can be so annoying. How annoying? Just ask Retha Charette, a tour guide from Arlington, in the US state of Vermont.
On a recent flight from Newark in New Jersey to Amsterdam, her seatmate opened her tray table, placed her infant on it and began to change the baby’s diaper.
“It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen on a plane,” Charette says. “I didn’t know what to do.” It’s hard to find someone who does not have a story like hers to tell. Charette, who writes a blog called Roaming Nanny, says she tries to keep her cool when a neighbour does something irritating.
“I think the number one thing to remember when something weird starts happening is not to lose your temper,” she says. “I firmly believe that when most people travel, they don’t think about those around them. We’re all worried about our comfort.”
Jacquelyn Youst, a frequent traveller and president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Protocol, agrees that maintaining your composure is the golden rule when it comes to passengers seated behind you, in front of you, or next to you.