Landing Planes

It is interesting to observe how people behave in planes, especially when you land. I hate totally dislike when people stand when the seatbelt light is still on. We might think some things are absurd, but if we chose to travel by air we should stick to their rules. And yes, I know, I´m no etiquette authority to point this out, but…

The funniest scene I’ve seen is actually an guy that stood up right after landing while the plane was still moving towards the platform and they were calling him from the cabin on the speakers asking him to go back to his seat.

While he was the only one standing getting his luggage from the storage compartments, he didn´t realized they were talking to him. My best guess is that he thought he was travelling on a bus… back to Bangalore from Thailand. After a couple of attempts, a flight attendant had to stand up to personally ask him to go back to his seat and buckle up.

Yesterday I landed in Mumbai and even when the plane had already stopped, the seatbelt light was still on. Yet, people stood up and picked their stuff while the attendant again had to ask a bunch of guys in suits to seat back. Anyway, I guess right now I’m a little susceptible to Indian behavior, but I’m sure it happens at all levels and in every country.

I find observing this behavior very interesting because I see no difference in saving a couple of minutes, standing on a queue, being pushed by the other passengers while the doors have not even been opened for exiting. All this happening while I´m still comfortably seated sipping the last drops of my bottle of water.

Same thing happens with the cell phones. I mean, you have already survived with your device off for a couple of hours. What is the rush of checking your emails/missed calls/sms´s before the Capitan confirms that you can turn your cel back on? I could understand that businessmen consider that time is money, but hey, remaining seated a couple of minutes with your phone off, as security measures advice, haven´t kill anyone.

But the most nonsense behavior is rushing in the queue for boarding the plane in the first place. People, if you already checked-in at the counter and made it through the security checks, trust me, the airline people are well aware that you are around, so even if you are busy taking a leak, you will hear your name called out in the boarding gates a few times before they decide to leave without you.

Moreover, your seat is numbered (unless you are flying Ryan Air where I could understand the rush), so there is no way that someone will arbitrarily take your seat. If you are worried about not finding place for your luggage, then it means you are carrying too much.

In any case, the airline is well aware of how many people and luggage’s checked in, so in the worse case they will find space for your stuff. And even if it is not exactly above your head as you would like to, trust me, no one will steal it.

Yes yes, I know, we are very busy and important people, but just remember from time to time to follow basic courtesy and safety rules. For God´s sake, let´s behave like if we have really came a long way since we were chimpanzees… even if, perhaps, we haven´t actually made that much progress…