Originally Posted by
StartinSanDiego
Exactly!
@
fairhsa, thanks for your candor with this story and for throwing it out for discussion. Unfortunately, I think you crossed the line when you (as opposed to the flight attendant) removed another persons bag from the overhead bin. I think it crosses the line of acceptable. Yes, they hogged the bin, and yes, you had no where in the immediate area for your bag to go, but getting it out of the bin and handing Pax B his bag was out of line. It was a bold move under any circumstances, and you said you lost your temper. I don't imagine the negative attitude was overlooked by either the FA's, Pax B and wife, or other passengers. In short, I suspect you came off rather poorly. I think you would have had more success with simply flagging down the FA and asking for help. Surely the testy interactions for the rest of the flight were unpleasant for everyone.
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I agree that would have been the better way to deal with it in hindsight. I have a short temper, but it rarely lasts more than a minute or so. However it's triggered in the matter of a milli-second so there is rarely any time to chose an alternative path (I could digress, there is actually a lot of research on why people react "disproportionately" to various events in the current world which basically explains that its hard coded in the DNA for evolutionary reasons, but that would be a digression - this article is fascinating for anyone with an interest:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-a6847426.html). I calmed down very quickly and did not contribute to any of the ongoing "testiness" - which was entirely the partner of the other guy who (as I mentioned) came and told me she was going to try and get me "removed from the flight" and boy did she try hard. It was an oscar worthy performance. (I might have believed it myself if she hadn't come and viciously hissed at me beforehand). They lied and ranted and raved and it went on for any hour. Clearly that was a choice on their part. The minute I got over the initial snap (and it was less than a minute), and was back in control and capable of making a choice, I made the choice to sit down, shut up and refuse to escalate the situation. Then apologised when the staff asked me to (they just chose to yell insults at me when I did that), changed seats when asked to etc. I think that
choosing to cause a disruption to everyone (which they did) is far worse than a brief lapse of judgement which was pretty much out of my control. Obviously I would,
I do think that the environment we live in these days with heightened security and concerns with planes has left anyone in my situation (with a quick temper!) at a huge disadvantage - and basically at the mercy of the people like the other two who just wanted revenge for a perceived slight. I'm glad I was on an Asian airline from the perspective that Asians are far less likely to throw anyone off planes. On the other hand, they are also far less able to "tell" when one side has a motive.
(I would note to the other guy who was so upset that anyone would touch luggage, don't come and fly in Asia. It's extremely common for people to move your bag, touch your bag, even put it in another bin etc etc. The concept of "personal space" is very different there). That's not relevant to this debate as all parties were Australian.