The good, the bad, and the disgusting (IAH -> SFO)
 

What a wonderful turn of luck to enjoy biz-first seating (757-200) plus the new AVOD on my trip from IAH to SFO. FA service was equally wonderful, though I suffered the consequences of being in the last row and hence without a dinner choice :-(. The cup of soup and shrimp salad barely quelled my hunger, but thankfully the sundae arrived to leave me sated. Unfortunately, the overall experience was terribly marred by the passenger sitting next to me, albeit, thankfully separated by an aisle. It is time I pen a letter to Continental and plead an update to their flight rules. In one of the very nastiest experiences I've ever endured on a plane -- and a long flight no less -- the man next to me (again, in business first!!!) held a cup in which he was spitting Skoal(tm) (aka 'dip' or 'spit tobacco') for the duration! Airlines, in my opinion, need to raise the bar from "no smoking" to "no tobacco products" period!!! It was incredibly gross. And, yes, the flight attendant was also aware of it and shared my disgust, but said she couldn't do anything about it.

Honestly, I find watching someone gorging themselves by cleaning their entire plate, eating their entire soup, and then eating an entire ice cream sundae absolutely revolting to watch. But it's your right, and I have no say in that matter. You have no say in his dipping, unless he was spitting on you.

Do I think it's classy? No. Do I think airlines need to play Miss Porter? No.

True, but other airlines (DL, to name one) do ban smokeless tobacco. I doubt too many people refuse to fly DL because they have a ban on "chaw." I don't think CO stands to lose much if it bans smokeless tobacco. Additionally, I don't think it gains much by allowing it.

I would not be too pleased if I was riding on a CO flight (either in F or Y) next to Joe Spit-cup, doing his darndest to work through a pack of Skoal during my flight, and filling a cup with foul, glutinous tobacco-phlegm. I can only imagine the joyous result in the cabin if the aircraft were to hit severe turbulence, thus dousing nearby passengers with greenish-brown fluid reeking to high-heaven and having a consistency not entirely unlike snot.

However, I'm certain that if such an unfortunate event were to occur to BJ, he would take it in stride, as it's not the airline's place to regulate customer behavior to such an egregious extent.

you are certainly free to bring your own victuals on board (especially when you know you are in the last row and, therefore, have an increased probability of being disappointed). isn't it worth $10 to pick your own food instead of being left with whatever is left? :confused:

i flew to the DO at 1 PM out of JFK and there wasn't a morsel to be had in coach (except for pretzels). 3+ hour flight at 1 PM. so much for meals at mealtime. :rolleyes: but, i was well prepared as i brought my own grub on board.

If the OP is referring to an open top cup (which seems likely) then I see your turbulence point. However if Joe SpitCup(JSC) is responsible in his behavior he will have a screw-top bottle which kind of makes it moot.

If someone feels that they need the nicotine that badly I would likely suggest the patch but in all honesty it would not bother me if JSC was at least respectful enough to not cause the turbulence possibility.

No, I'd ask them to stop.

So, if you would be willing to ask a passenger to cease engaging in such behavior, why would you also be opposed to an airline policy banning the same behavior?

Besides the insanely gross prospect of sitting beside someone constantly spitting goo into a cup for 3+ hours, I'm equally sure the airline is none to happy about the number of spittoon cups dumped into the seat pockets or thrown on the floor.

My vote: ban it.

The screw-top bottle solves the turbulence problem, but in a way, it's even worse. With a cup, at least you can't see the contents unless you look straight down into the cup. With a clear plastic bottle, the contents are always visible. And nothing is quite as disgusting as what people spit out when using that stuff.

I say ban the crap on the planes.

My Flight on Friday had a gentleman doing the same thing but was very discrete. ...as long as the "spit" isn't in a clear cup and sitting on the tray table I can accept it.

EWWWW...I sat across from MR12B (I was in 12A on the ERJ exit) who pulled out a bag of ye olde chew in a BAG! It was redman long cut or something like that! Talk about disgusting! and he spit it in a CLEAR plastic cup!!

YUCK...ban it!

Big whoop. Let the dippers dip. They typically don't do it for hours on end, either. At least I didn't, back in my dippin' days. And an accomplished dipper won't drool or ooze, it'll be pretty surgical placement on target. I always used a screw top tucked into the seat back when not in immediate use.

If you asked the guy (and it's pretty much always a guy) politely to be a little discreet with his spittoon, yeah it might be a little bit awkward; but he'd probably be obliging.

Yeah, okay, chew and clear cup might be pushing it.... there's a lot more expectoration involved...

A few years ago, back during my senior year of high school on a school trip to Italy, a guy on the trip had his spit cup on every single bus trip during the 2 weeks. On one particularly hilly area near Sorrento, the cup went flying into the aisle. Possibly one of the most disgusting things I've ever experienced (as well as everyone else on the bus).

I can see this easily happening on a bumpy flight which would ruin my flight like it did the bus trip (the driver didn't clean the bus till the next day). I've luckily never encountered someone dipping on a flight with me, but DL has the right plan -- no tobacco -- period. CO should consider the rule.

Whoa! I guess we both come from different worlds. Such is the beauty of dealing with someone holding different values.

As for me, I used to manage my parent's restaurant. Every time I saw someone empty their plates, you can be sure that I was pleased because that meant that the customer enjoyed our food. But everytime someone did not finish it, then I would be worrying about it as I take it as a sign of problem with the food. So, naturally, I support the "Clean Your Plate" coalition of adults. ;)

I personally don't care what others do to their bodies; but if my friends Luke O'Plakia and his wife Spittoonia were to ask me for help in nixing the tobacco habit, I would help them in a heartbeat (I once worked as a webmaster for a site run by my alma mater used to help people in quitting smoking, so I do know how to help).

Don't think it's the airline's place. Gets too complicated. I think watching people eat a lot is gross, but I don't think the airline should prevent that too. Smoking is different because it directly effects others.