Either fueled by alcohol, the frustrations born of the pandemic, or a growing sense of self-importance unleashed by the political, cultural, racial, and gender discourse that's woven its way in our lives, they appear more frequently. The TSA cites nearly 4,000 reports of unruly passengers, over 2,800 involving a refusal to mask, and almost triple the number of investigations of prior years. But the sins of the self-indulgent don't need to reach the level required for a formal report to put everyone around them at their mercy.
Earlier this week, I traveled on a two-leg trip. No delays, cancellations, or service problems. But in these two flights, I witnessed more unnecessary issues than I have before. This included more passengers crowding the gate, reluctant to let even those called to board to pass by. An increase in people slowing the boarding process because they can’t even lift their carryon to their waist, let alone over their head, and feet and legs spread across aisles and seats, like a pack of teenagers splayed across a family room. A passenger amused himself but annoyed everyone around him by playing TikTok videos without wearing headphones, and another thought their poodle was too sensitive to remain zipped inside its bag.
There were some mask-related issues. Passengers waiting to take their seats were less than thrilled with a person blocking their progress, his masked resting under his nose, while he tried to stand his ground against a polite and more than accommodating crew member. As if this man born and raised among Midwest cornfields was the one, above all the other hundreds of thousands of people who have boarded an airplane since the restriction, who had the convincing argument of why it wasn’t necessary. And then countless others demasked under the guise of eating, then reluctantly remasked after being spotted by a crew member.
I also learned a new term. Passengers were told to take their assigned seats and not "self-seat" because it would slow the boarding process. Self-seat? I've sat in the wrong seat a time or two. But intentionally? Yet I saw not one but three people do this. I also witnessed a couple traveling together but assigned separate rows gesture to a man already seated and comfortable and say, “why don’t you take that seat because we’re together.” No please. Not a smile. And he did without question. The seat was beside me. He wore the uniform of an airline employee. Later I commented how I thought there was an increase in selfish and demanding behavior among travelers. He told me it was the worst he’d seen in twenty years. I thanked him for his service. Quite frankly, he and his peers are frontline soldiers in a war on ignorance, and they all deserve medals.
During the increased fear of terrorism, the government said, "If you see something, say something." This wouldn't work for a growing sense of self-importance. By the time you’re aware someone’s a pain, they’ve already caused it. It also wouldn't help the increasing divisiveness in this country if we could report someone as a potential jerk.
But we can say something. We can offer a smile, a greeting, and a genuine thank you to the men and women at the counters, security checkpoints, gates, and crewing the planes, who face this army of self-serving inconsiderates every day.
And we can also do something. Put your mask over your nose, keep your legs out of the aisle, your elbows out of your neighbor's ribcage, only pack what you can lift over your head, and above all else – don’t self-seat.
