[Flâneur]

What is it about flying that seems to trigger a disregard of social etiquette and civility, not to mention self-regard and manners. Today, I sat in BA Club Europe, front row, where the passenger across the aisle kicked of his shoes and alternatively; put his bare feet up onto the bulkhead or displayed them out in the aisle. His fellow passenger, rather companionably, also propped his shod feet up on the same bulkhead. As my mother would say ‘they wouldn’t do that in their own house’ or would they ?

[Swissdiver]

I am afraid they would…

[iflypremium]

Disgraceful isn’t the word.
What makes an adult man/woman behave this way ?
If anyone did that to myself they would be told in no uncertain terms to stop.
I have in the past had to tell off a young man who kept pushing back on his seat.
Also had to tell a guy to stop squirming in his seat as my tv screen was shaking from his absurd movements.
People need to remember that others share space in an aircraft.
The day anyone puts their feet on my armrest or near my seat….well you will read about it in the papers !
Imran

[HongKongLady]

I find whipping out a bottle of cologne and spritzing the air liberally with a quiet, oh my goodness, what’s that, does the trick. 😀
Manners seemed to have been lost, along with enjoying an experience with your own eyes rather than through a camera/phone, or God forbid an iPad. I recently witnessed a gentleman viewing the whole of the orchid display at Kew, through his iPhone camera,total madness.

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AFlyingDutchman

[Ahmad]

What OP describes is arcadian behaviour compared to this. It seems boorishness no longer knows any bounds.

[capetonianm]

I saw someone blowing his nose on the hot towel and then handing it back to the stewardess.

I’ve had a foot on my armrest too. Apparently the guy thought ‘he had a right to be comfortable too’. I told him yes, but in his space, not mine. This sparked an argument about how it was unfair that I had more room than he did.

He was in the first row of economy, I was in the last for of premium.

[Slayeronwings]

If you want to see this sort of behaviour at work then head off to BA’s Lounge at Gatwick.. anything from taking all the soft drinks and crips to eating at the unlimited all you can eat buffet, bet they don’t eat this much at home, to filling bottles of water because it’s their right and the best one I’ve seeing.. putting champagne in a coffee cup to take away. Groups of people talking as loud as they can so that other travelers can hear them and the odd group that take ownership of all the spirits and champagne as if they were on a night out. Sometimes it’s better just to get a Costa and sit anywhere in the main terminal to get get away from all these classy ill mannered bunch of people. And I’ve seen gents blowing their noses and leaving the dirty tissue on the plate..but that’s just normal for any Brit…

Can write a book about the topic.

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Tasclean, Montysaurus, openfly

[SenatorGold]

[quote quote=924420]What is it about flying that seems to trigger a disregard of social etiquette and civility, not to mention self-regard and manners. Today, I sat in BA Club Europe, front row, where the passenger across the aisle kicked of his shoes and alternatively; put his bare feet up onto the bulkhead or displayed them out in the aisle. His fellow passenger, rather companionably, also propped his shod feet up on the same bulkhead. As my mother would say ‘they wouldn’t do that in their own house’ or would they ?[/quote]

Some years ago I was on a Swiss flight from Geneva to LHR where a lady passenger did something similar – put her bare feet up against the bulkhead for all to see. The purser had a word with her and gave her a blanket to cover her feet. Her husband took exception to this and remonstrated with the purser. I can’t quite remember how it ended but these two passengers didn’t cover themselves in glory.

In the lounge, it’s depressing how many people consider it in order to put their feet up on the table or to place their wheeled luggage on tables from which other passengers might be eating.

[RedBaron]

After spending a week in Bali recently my new pet hate is people having loud conversations on their mobile phones on speakerphone in restaurants and cafes.

No headphone use, no going to a quiet corner to make or take a call, rather sitting in a quiet breakfast room and barking to some equally obnoxious significant other via speakerphone, seemingly oblivious to the other guests at adjacent tables. I was forced to use my rarely used ‘teaching American tourists some manners approach’.

Later that day sitting in a tranquil restaurant surrounded by lily ponds while a woman ate at a nearby table while having a speakerphone conversation right throughout her meal. Is this annoyance verging on outrage just my reaction?

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AllOverTheGaff, Montysaurus, SenatorGold, Inthesandpit, capetonianm, GivingupBA

[GivingupBA]

[quote quote=924804] Is this annoyance verging on outrage just my reaction?[/quote]

No, I think it’s quite justified. Loud endless mobile phone conversations really bug me too. That’s why I’m so thankful for the quiet coach on UK trains: I’m in there when possible. But there’s no escape in restaurants. And I dread the day there’s unfettered mobile use on planes.

6 users thanked author for this post.

Inquisitive, Montysaurus, Inthesandpit, capetonianm, RedBaron, Johnnyg

[RedBaron]

Praise be to the small mercies of the UK rail quiet carriages. Not that it always prevents the conduct challenged from inane or expletive filled conversations at high volume, sadly.

[openfly]

I suppose we now have to put up with this Ill-mannered behaviour. The world is changing. Since low-life, and lottery winners, could afford to travel in premium cabins, we must expect to experience this type of behaviour as they know no better.

With regard to the BA LGW Lounge, a low-life acquaintance scrapes his points to Silver, and buys the cheapest handbag fares.
He boasts that he takes his wife and is also allowed to take his teenage kids into the lounge, then they raid the bar and buffet and arrives at the aircraft with masses of hand baggage. But, this isn’t their fault…it’s all BAs! BA fails to control lounge entry to card holder plus one, plus a young child. Frequently the LGW lounge resembles a youth club! BA fails to control hand baggage at the gate….yes, the world is changing.

[canucklad]

For me the continuing deterioration of manners is down to a coming together of 3 primary factors….

1) Social Media : We have a generation of young people and keen older advocates of this form of communication who seem to have morphed into this insular “it’s all about me,” selfish outlook on life. An abdication of Face to Face responsibility, replaced by empowered anonymity.
2) This behaviour is compounded by the re-enforcing messages found in the mainstream media . The popularity of Reality based programmes seems to normalize outrageous behaviour. And I’m not necessarily talking about Love island here. The conduct of the contestants on so called high brow programmes such as “ The Apprentice” are so outlandish to make any self-respecting normal person wince.
3) The final factor are the businesses offering these services themselves. Their deliberate and sustained dilution of expected customer service levels is at complete odds of the “Entitlement attitude/DYKWIA” of the above.

Is it any wonder that we have loud mouth boors, bare footed plebs or topically almost bare chested women who at the click of a button can cause a storm because they’re right to act as they want , without respect to others have been impinged !!

And sadly, those of us who conduct ourselves with a degree of dignity as we show respect to others, had better just get used to it. As I said at the beginning , this continuation of the deterioration of manners is just going to get worse as these influences increase.

5 users thanked author for this post.

AllOverTheGaff, travelworld2, Inquisitive, Poshgirl58, openfly

[Ahmad]

@openfly,

I don’t mean to pry, but just out of curiosity, who do categorise as “low-life”?

3 users thanked author for this post.

penfold69, SenatorGold, DNAdams

[AircraftLover]

I agree with you.

In my opinion, the Internet, and TV have a big influence on today’s society

[Author]

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