Last night I exited the plane from New York to find Sky Harbor’s Terminal 4 crowded to full capacity. Never before have I seen this many people at one time in our “small town” airport. Not so small town actually – we had 43,383,528 people pass through in 2016, which equates to almost 12,000 people daily. It certainly felt like they were all there at one time.
So why am I writing about this? When this many people get together there has to be some rules of etiquette which would make my life easier. I’ll start with the people who deplane. As soon as they step on the terminal floor they stop and look around with no regard for the people behind them who are rushing to make a connection or just want to get to the restroom. These turkey brains don’t have a clue what’s going on nor do they care about anyone else. They are the ones who make a turn into a driveway and stop. You know who these people are.
There are a few other fun items I’ve encountered, especially on long flights-
Walk on the right, not against foot traffic. This is a no-brainer but lots of people walk the wrong way.
If you are tired, don’t sprawl on the floor making it difficult for me to get around you. The world is not your bedroom.
Don’t cross traffic while on your phone pulling your rolling luggage. This is an accident waiting to happen.
If you are pull
ing luggage on rollers don’t run into me or over my feet.
If you are backpack people who need all your worldly possessions with you, don’t swing around without looking. Your backpack can knock me over very easily and you wouldn’t know it, and probably wouldn’t care either.
Read your boarding pass. You were given a boarding group, so don’t cut in my line or block me from getting to my group.
Don’t bring smelly food on board. The whole plane then has the odors of a deli for the whole flight. AND, as a side note, don’t get on my plane if you didn’t shower. The last 3 rows of my JFK to PHX flight smelled like a locker room. Very gross!
If you are traveling with a small baby, please, please bring a pacifier or a bottle of water which will help the ear pain your baby will experience. Another no-brainer.
If you are on a long flight and/or sitting by the window, think before you drink lots of liquids or switch with someone for an aisle seat. You get the point, I hope.
If you are sitting behind me, do not grab my seat when you stand up. This is very annoying even if I weren’t sleeping, reading or drinking a beverage.
Don’t let your kids kick the back of my seat, or on that same subject, don’t you press your knees in the back of my seat either. These seats are not as sturdy as you think so my lower back can feel everything.
If you are waiting for a ride to pick you up, can you not smoke for 5 minutes? The polluted air in that congested area is bad enough.
. . . and have a nice flight!
great one
Amen to ALL of those suggestions! The one about having a piece of rolling luggage lagging way behind someone who’s distracted and oblivious to their footprint was the very reason I tripped over a rolling briefcase crossing behind a line of people to check out of a hotel on a business trip. It took out my left shoulder in the early 2000s and it’s never been the same. While I was sprawled on the stone floor, the guy just picked up his brief case (THAT would have been a thoughtful thing to do in the line to begin with) and stared at me, like, “You drunk or what?”
This is why I prefer to drive. And if I had the time, yes even to NYC. Lol.