Originally Posted by
Commie
To add to this discussion, this happened to me this past Thursday on an AC flight from ATL to YYZ.
I am sitting in the aisle seat, and the plane landed and at the gate. Its one of those narrowbody E75, so there is not much room in the aisle, other passengers in the aisle seat got up, and hence taking the space near my seat. So I didn't bother getting up to stand in the aisle and forced to be within 2 inches of other passengers.
My window seatmate, saw that I wasn't moving to get up, she literally jumped over my seat to get into what little aisle space that was available, forcing the person in front and back to make adjustments to their position to let her in.
Who was in the right here? Should I had tried to jam myself into that little space?
Not sure about everyone else, but I don't like to invade other's person space, and be literally breathing in their neck.
I did get a last laugh with this 'lady' though. While walking to the Canadian customs area, that Thursday night, there was a long line up, and they were holding passengers up in the 2nd floor before even letting them downstairs to the customs area. Downstairs were a zoo. I would say its a good 45-60 minutes wait for customs clearance. She didn't have a Nexus pass and had to wait in line, while I walked right by her and downstairs and out in 2 minutes.
Of course, I did re-iterated my comment to her that maybe now she can learn how to wait in line.
I usually wait, but there have been times I've had tight connections and needed to scoot ahead of the crowd. I find that a request to the flight attendants prior to landing can nudge them to mention tight connections and give all of the afflicted an excuse to move out quickly.
I've flown so much in the past 30 years that I've decided to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It's a good idea and great stress reliever. BTW this works while driving as well.
If someone jumps over me, races to the front, or seems agitated to get off the plane, I just make something up that makes me feel better about them: 1) they need to really really really use the bathroom and did us all a favor by not using the one on the plane; 2) they have a tight connection; 3) they are sick and need to find a place to throw up; 4) they are very infrequent fliers and have an all-consuming fear of flying; 5) they are flying home to tend to a sick child or loved one and nothing else matters to them, including being polite.
Feel free to add your own or use any of mine...
While it's possible they are mindless or clueless or just think we are all beneath them, it doesn't matter. Any excuse keeps me from dwelling on it or stressing out. And really, many of us have - at one time or another - been in some of the above listed situations.