Well er...I did TELL you so sit down

[AirHostess]

My pet peeve is one of many.

Passengers standing up before the captain has turned the seatbelt sign off as we are coming into stand. We can be taxi-ing still and some idiot will decide to stand up.

Man stands up and starts to rummage in the overhead. I yell at him to SIT DOWN as we are moving still. Ignores me. Now you would think that a pax travelling in business class with laptop, blackberry etc would be intelligent. Obviously not. He continues to rummage through his bag, still standing up. All the other pax are staring at him.

As if my magic, the captain slams the brakes on as a tug had entered our path.

Man suddenly slams again the forward bulkhead! He had banged his had and had a bleeding cut. And his nose was bleeding, I suspected it was broken. Despite wanting to say 'I told you so' I remained professional, asked him if he was ok, asked him to sit down and I would call the paramedics.

Inside, I was fuming. It was completely his own fault, I wanted to go home rather than fill in paperwork and wait for the paramedics to tend this idiot.

Instead, he said that if it wasn't for the unprofessional pilots stopping so suddenly he would be fine, that he wasn't flying our airline again etc

"Well sir, that is why I asked you to sit down and why you are told to remain seated with your seatbelt fastened. Now if you'd like to sit down I can ask the ground staff to get the paramedics over to see to you."

Once again, he ignored me, pushed past me and the ground staff and stormed off.

I spoke to the other crew, none of whom had any sympathy. Myself and the flight attendant sat with me at the front filled in an incident form with his name and seat number (I had the passenger list) to save any comeback on us.

WHAT AN IDIOT! He might have been concussed. Meh. You can't fix stupid.

[NateTheChops]

You have to love the passengers who are afraid of flying.

My first flight I was glued to my seat and staring forward for the first forty-five minutes of the trip. I didn't even look out the window until I had worked up the courage to use the bathroom.

Stupidity overrides fear, evidently.

[Mr Hero]

Karma pwns another SC. I wish I could have been on that flight to see it in action.

[lordlundar]

Heh, I didn't have much opportunity on my flight to Ontario to look out once we got airborne. I had a test to write for Social Studies and if I didn't write it, I would have failed. There were two things really wrong with that:

1. I couldn't cheat. I was parked next to a teacher (it was a multi-school trip deal), so any ideas of that kinda went down the tubes.

2. I found out when I got back it was an open book test, so there was no way I could have cheated anyway. AAARGGH!!!

I wonder if that guy thinks he can sue the airline for it. Should be fun to see him fail.

[Red_Dazes]

You can't fix stupid.

Well... you can... I mean... The Darwin Awards are there for a reason...fixing stupid all over the world...

[Imogene]

fixing stupid all over the world...

Permanently, one time only.

[Yfandes]

A friend of mine was a US air traffic controller, and he flew with a group of us once for a dive trip to the Carribbean about 10 years ago. I remember him going OFF on the crew when a bunch of people stood up before the "fasten seat belts" sign came off. He told us that the airlines could get in a lot of trouble for letting people stand up while taxiing.

This was pre 9-11, and I was wondering how on earth you can MAKE people take their seats? Short of brute force, you cant. He said that the captain should have stopped the plane and refused to move until people had sat back down... It was all very strange to me.

[AirHostess]

A friend of mine was a US air traffic controller, and he flew with a group of us once for a dive trip to the Carribbean about 10 years ago. I remember him going OFF on the crew when a bunch of people stood up before the "fasten seat belts" sign came off. He told us that the airlines could get in a lot of trouble for letting people stand up while taxiing.

This was pre 9-11, and I was wondering how on earth you can MAKE people take their seats? Short of brute force, you cant. He said that the captain should have stopped the plane and refused to move until people had sat back down... It was all very strange to me.

Passengers have to follow lawful commands from crew. I have taxi-ed back to the gate before when they have refused to sit down. The police have met the plane.

During turbulance I have yelled at pax to sit down and they have done, I am quite scary.

[lordlundar]

Well... you can... I mean... The Darwin Awards are there for a reason...fixing stupid all over the world...

Permanently, one time only.

But with a perfect track record.

[crazylegs]

During turbulance I have yelled at pax to sit down and they have done, I am quite scary.

You obviously then have The Voice. The Voice is useful in many professions; yours, mine and teachers alike. Sometimes I think all we're doing is telling off overgrown children!

[csquared]

Paramedics? I would have called for a Marshal. He endangered the lives of the other passengers.

Also, the airline should bill him for the cleanup.

[crashhelmet]

Hopefully you've got in-cabin surveillance to show you told this guy to sit down for when he tries to sue the airline. Yes, you've got witnesses but nothing is more pwnage that having the idiot have to watch his own face slamming accident over and over and over again.

CH

[EricKei]

He told us that the airlines could get in a lot of trouble for letting people stand up while taxiing.

This was pre 9-11, and I was wondering how on earth you can MAKE people take their seats? Short of brute force, you cant. He said that the captain should have stopped the plane and refused to move until people had sat back down... It was all very strange to me.

Wait...isn't disobeying a direct "safety" command from an airplane crew member a Federal offense?

[mikoyan29]

I never stand up before the seat belt sign is turned off. And I even wait a bit after that since it's going to take a bit before I'll be able to get off the plane anyway.

[Midnight_Angel]

Meh. You can't fix stupid.

Hey, they say that an occasional slap to the head might actually kickstart the process of thinking...

My sympathies to you, Princess Katie. Every farking time I am aboard a plane (and I use to fly a lot), I observe at least one or two idjit passengers who do their very best to give cabin personnel a hard time...

- Persons standing up during taxi, usually to rummage through their bags stored overhead. Bonus points if these bags were too heavy for being stored in the overhead bins in the first place.

- The 'Oh, but I really neeeeed to use the loo right now' specialist (usually happens some 90 seconds before touching down).

- Cell phone users. While I admit that I see little merit in keeping those things completely switched off (disabling the antenna should suffice IMHO), making calls during taxi or take-off is a NO-NO. Oh, and trying to text things along 'we are approaching Cologne now' during landing, then complaining to the hostess that your reception on board is piss-poor will NOT endear you to anyone.

- Guys who think a closed curtain to the hostess's cabinet is just an invitation to barge in and demand (not ask for, demand) some little things.

- Oh, and the fact that you don't get any more alcoholic beverage from the cabin crew is NOT a cue to go take a swig from that bottle you bought in Duty-Free.

Honestly, I bow to you for actually put up with those kinds of people, and not smack them with a heavy object. Repeatedly.