Travel Etiquette (and a short Friday “rant”)
I'm sitting on a plane the other day in Washington DC, returning home from a conference…like normal, the plane was delayed.
…and I had that same thought going through my head that clearly you have had too.
"C'mon, I HOPE the seat next to me is empty so I have a little elbow room in here."
But my luck ran short.
But not only did it run short, a guy comes in behind me with a bag of Popeye's. The entire plane smells like fried food (well, at least the section around us did). I had the window seat, so I put my bag down and sit down.
This guy sits down too, takes out his fried chicken strips, and starts eating himself. Next thing I knew, he puts the little cardboard tray of chicken down on the seat next to me, gets up, and goes to the front of the plane like he was going to walk off.
In a way, this wasn't bad — the seat next to me was technically empty. But now there was a little cardboard "tray" of fried chicken sitting next to me.
You know how fried chicken has that very distinct smell.
Uggggg.
This guy clearly didn't read our recent blog post smart travel foods.
So today's short blog post is a reminder (and gentle rant) — Top 5 Travel Tips — Rules for Eating Clean in the Air and General Travel Etiquette.
- Pack your own food. Don't rely on what they serve in the airport.
- Plan for the worst, like a delayed flight. When you're in First Class, they may have a banana for you, if you're lucky (on shorter flights) or peanuts in Coach. Have some fruit, pack some raw nuts and dried fruit, whatever it takes to fuel your body.
- (THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE) PLEASE don't eat smelly food on the plane. That means McDonald's, Burger King, or any other fried options that rival that of smoking in a confined environment.
- Don't talk REALLY LOUDLY on your cell phone — I'm convinced that's why they don't allow phones to be used on planes, not because it actually "interferes" with navigation and such. Maybe I'm wrong, but I hope they keep up the rule that people can't talk on phones. I don't care about your meetings at work, plans for the night, or why your son didn't score a goal in his soccer game…just like you shouldn't care about mine.
- Enjoy quiet time — nutrition and weight loss are the absolute worst careers you ever can mention to someone — because you either get bombarded with questions or each person shares their dieting history for the last 20 years or share their "expertise" about nutrition and weight loss.
Thank you for letting me get THAT off my chest. 
A kind of mindless Friday "rant" … enjoy the day!
Have you had any experiences like this? Please share in the comment section … I clearly can't be the only one!
March 19th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I had to travel to NY for a seminar and was seated next to the window. The guy in the seat next to me (only two seats on our side of the plane) must have drank all nite long. I had to smell the alcohol sweating thru his pores while he slept during the flight with his body leaning on me and snoring.
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March 19th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Amen to that! I recently flew, and when I saw a McDonald's in the terminal, I immediately thought of you and your history of having fellow passengers sit near as they ate their fast food:)
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March 19th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
II agree with everything you ranted! And please add…If you are sick, please don't get on the plane. The last time I flew, someone behind me coughed the entire trip from Chicago to Tampa and you guessed it, even though I live healthy, I ended up sick for a week!
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March 20th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Even worse, I've been flying aorund the country doing the RNR series. Just two months ago I got a guy sitting next to me that was so large that he basically came into my seat. A 2.5 hour flight was so uncomfortable. I just question the fact that they are not only making their lives miserable, but to others around them. I guess they don't understand that they are being selfish.
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