Originally Posted by Blumie

I’m sure some of you are going to argue that this belongs in the “least substantive things you can complain about” thread. I vehemently disagree. To me this is very substantive. And although incredibly annoying, I don’t think I should or ever would complain about it to either the FA or to AA.

I flew BOS-LAX in J this morning. As I boarded the flight, the J FA was standing in the row behind my seat engaging in enthusiastic conversations with passengers as they boarded, some of whom she apparently recognized from prior flights. I get that the fact I found this bothersome is my issue, not hers; she was doing nothing wrong, even if I would have preferred less chatting.

But then throughout the flight, her long and enthusiastic conversations continued. I slept for the first two hours of the flight (listening to music through noise canceling ear buds must have blocked her out), but when I woke up she very enthusiastically came to me to tell me she has saved my breakfast for me. That was unbelievably kind of her, but when I declined the breakfast, telling her that I had had breakfast in the AC before boarding, she launched into a long story about her recent big birthday, and her friends having bought her an F ticket on DL, and how that allowed her access to the DL lounge, whereas almost all of her personal travel is standby on AA, which doesn’t permit her access to the lounge, and how delightful she found the DL lounge.

Again, she was doing absolutely nothing wrong, and I hope I came across as polite and interested in what she was telling me, but I just wanted to put my ear buds back in and close my eyes again. When she was done with me, she moved on to the couple across the aisle and engaged in an even longer and equally enthusiastic conversation with them, but at least at this point I had my ear buds back in.

I’m not sure what point I’m trying to make in posting this. I suspect I’ll enjoy some responses I illicit and will be annoyed by others. As I said, I don’t think she did anything wrong, and she really performed her job responsibilities very well. I just want more quiet on flights! Amtrak has a “quiet car” on many of its trains. Maybe we need that on airplanes too!