Loren Pechtel

What is it with people who don't understand that others might be in a hurry?

We arrived late in SFO (weather delay), the FA came on and asked us to wait in our seats until those with tight connections had gotten off (tight as in 32 passengers for Beijing with 10 minutes to make their plane that takes off from another terminal!) I would say at least 3 times as many people got off in the initial rush, including the old woman sitting beside me that I know had all the time in the world--she didn't have anywhere she needed to be until the next morning.

ajalan

Without having been there, its hard to say, but I never understand why people feel the need to escalate a situation. I probably would have waited for him to put on his jacket, but I know I am passive aggressive, and would have been hoping that a moving walkway ate his jacket at some point

I think it would have been fair to ask him if you could get by, but he seemed rude, so who knows what he would have done anyway. BTW, IIRC legally, if you didn't touch him, him pushing you would technically qualify as assault.

AJ

Snoopy

Ok, unless the OP is a midget, please tell me how you are going to "sneak" past someone in the aisle of an aircraft? And, given that this just is not physically possible, what is the difference between shoving someone to get past and him shoving back? I just hate it when people try to "sneak" by behind me when I am getting my stuff out of the overhead and the airplane door is not even open yet. I am generally pretty vocal in expressing myself too.....

Snoopy

The OP makes a point of saying that the guy was old, in fact he mentions it at least 4 times in his post. Older people are slower. Haven't any of us here got grandparents or parents who we could imagine to be painstakingly slow when other people behind are in a hurry? I get the impression that the OP was leading a stampede or something... come on. The guy was an old boy, he hadn't figured out that people were in a hurry behind to make connections and he got in the way. When people started to shove past him, rather than ask politely, he got mad. Who can blame him?

Lindisfarne

I agree with your trying to get by him and the reply above. I wouldn't try to shove him off his feet as I passed by but in most airlines, there is room for someone to move out of the way, or alternatively, he could have waited until getting off the airline to put his jacket on. When it's obvious there are people who need to make connections, a passenger should sit down or move out of the way quickly. Obviously, in a restaurant, for example, pushing past him would not be acceptable.

People are just as inconsiderate when boarding: they screw around, blocking the aisle, when there's a huge line of people behind them. I always immediately get out of the aisle into my block of seats and usually am able to get anything that needs to go into the overhead bin into them without blocking the aisle. Very few people put any thought into the fact that when they're standing in the aisle, screwing around with their luggage, taking off their coat, and so on, they're blocking other passengers. (I sometimes think it is an unconscious attempt to establish territory. These same people would think it rude if you tried moving past them, but they don't consider their own blocking of the aisle unnecessarily to be at all rude).

ajalan

I can understand getting mad, but age is no excuse for poor behavior. If he was mad he should have said something, instead of shoving. The only reasin I can think of for his actions are if he felt he was in danger of physical harm. Depending on what old means to the OP, that's possible, but its not the impression I get from the OP. If this was an 80 year old man who about got knocked over, I can see he pushing back. If its a guy in his 50s's who got brushed, its rude.

Anyway situations like this are hard to tell without haveing been there, so it could go either way.

Fredd

We were recently right behind an elderly couple who were the very first to board F in a UA 319. We waited as they took at least two minutes (of course it felt like much longer) to stow their belongings and to get out of the aisle. The FA was standing right there at the entry and said nothing, or did we.

When it was time to deplane, the same occurred in reverse.

I tend to think in instances likes this it's more a state of being oblivious than being actively rude. These folks just couldn't picture that a planeload of pax was backed up on the jetway waiting for them to fold their sweaters just the way they wanted them folded.

cargoship

I wasn't on the plane with you, so I can't really say who was right and who was wrong.

However, it reminds me of people driving 65mph in the left lane on freeways. They don't seem to care that there
are a dozen cars trying to pass.

95 Z/28 LT1

First off, old is relative.

Secondly, I'm really surprised that people aren't making a bigger deal of the guy shoving the OP in the chest. If that was me in that situation (and assuming I wasn't being physical when I attempted to "sneek" by the guy) he would have either been carried off the plane or he would have been escorted out of the airport by a LEO for assault.

Lindisfarne

deleted - posted twice somehow

Lindisfarne

In my book, failing to think of the effects of your actions on others (even if due to oblivion) is rude.

FWAAA

Whenever I don't rudely push my way to the front of the boarding line when First Class boarding is called, I'm behind the couple you described. Probably shows up on every third or fourth flight I take. Me? I quickly toss my personal item on my seat, and promptly stow my larger item in the overhead, and then sit down. 10-15 seconds, tops.

When I board ahead of this couple, I then sit and watch the other pax board. Sometimes the oblivious pax flies solo, and sometimes they are young. But all too often, they're there.

deac83

Ok, not trying to win a debate on this as my intention was to get the opinions of other, but I will clarify a few items (obviously from my view point, so take them for what they are).

- the old pax was standing somewhat sideways in the aisle of F. Couldn't try to 'sneak' by in the back of the plane.

- old as in 55-65. Did not appear feeble as he walked off the plane in front of me.

- the telling comment in the exchange from him went something like this after I mentioned people were in a hurry to get off to catch their flights: "I'm late for my flight and so is everyone else so they can wait". It's been 5 days so don't hold me to the exact quote.

The last item disturbed me more because as most here know 1-5 minutes can mean the difference between making a flight and sitting in the airport for another 3 hours. You never know when they decide they can't wait any longer for a late pax.

MECU

I'm going to add to my Unwritten Rules of Flying Campaign:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...8&postcount=63

10) Do not crowd the aisle when the plane arrives at the gate. Do not block the aisle for too long for unnecessary reasons (putting on your coat, getting a bag out of the overhead bin would be acceptable). You may block the aisle for as long as you need, for a good reason, as long as the line to exit is visible in the aisle. Passengers in higher letter seats (A, B, etc) have priority and passengers in lower numbers have priority. (Thus, 1A-F have priority over 2A-F, etc).

11) Do not touch anyone in flight, unless you know them before you boarded the plane; or for attention getting purposes. IE waking a passenger because you need them to get up so you may get out of your seat; tapping on the shoulder of others. All contacts, regardless of relationship status, must remain at the platonic level. All contact with strangers shall be friendly, gentle and for no more than needed.

12) If you see someone violating these rules, you must politely hand them a brochure with these rules and say something similar to: "Please read rule XX" (where XX is the rule they are breaking.

13) All passengers have the right to safety. If you attempt to do anything that violates the safety of other passengers, you are eligible for mob rule and attempts for restriction of your activity in any required force level deemed necessary by others, except death unless imminent death is apparent and lower levels of force have failed or are inappropriate for time or other reasons. [This rule might not be needed]

viajero7889

People that rush the aisle as soon as the fasten seat belt sign is turned off really annoy me. They think that if they can get as far forward as possible before the cabin door is opened they will save tons of time getting off the plane and on their way. People should not move forward of their assigned row until everyone in front of them has calmly disembarked. Obviously this will never happen.
It especially bothers me when I see the anxious person waiting at the bag claim with the rest of us that which means that they saved absolutely no time by elbowing themselves off of the plane.