A few years ago, I boarded a flight on AA and took my window seat in coach. As I sat, I felt a lump in the seat under my rear, so I reached and encountered something large, paper and squishy. I stood back up to look, and found that someone had stuffed a barf bag into the space between the seat and the bulkhead, so that some of it was protruding into the seat. I pulled it out gingerly. This bag was completely full with ’something’ liquid. Fortunately, the top had been folded over and the closures had been used, so it was more-or-less sealed closed, but it didn’t look especially secure.
Not sure about what to do with it, I rang the call button. The FA who came was quite disgusted (as was I). She suggested that I should discard my own barf so that nobody else had to touch it, but turned a little green herself when I explained that it wasn’t mine – that I had found it in the seat. Since I was already holding it, I was quite willing to take it to the trash, but I wasn’t sure if I should just throw it away, since it might be a biohazard. Also, since the plane was still boarding, I didn’t really want to go out into the aisle with the boarding passengers for fear of being jostled and having the bag come open. She agreed that it should probably go into a plastic bag before going into the trash, and told me she would go get one. Because the flight was still boarding, it took her a while to get forward and back, so I ended up literally ‘holding the bag’ for about 10 minutes. I didn’t want to put it down or into the seat pocket because I was afraid it would come open – so I just held it. The thought that I was cradling a pint of someone else’s vomit in my hands kind of made me want to add to it.
Finally, after 10 minutes of contemplating what might happen if the bag opened, or whether I was going to get some awful disease from it, and feeling more and more nauseous myself, the FA returned with a plastic bag and wearing rubber gloves, which somehow made me feel even more nauseous at the thought I’d been holding it bare handed. As she relieved me of the bag, she suggested that I might want to go to the lav to wash my hands, but I was already on my way!
But come on, anonymous barf-bag filler! Did it really seem like a good solution to you to stuff that bag of your barf into the seat for someone else to find?
Demotage
Tagged as:
american airlines,
flight attendant,
vomit
I was travelling from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC to visit family and I was 6 months pregnant. I was flying alone, and although I was having a good pregnancy I would easily get cold, hungry, etc. I would carry granola bars, etc. in case I got hungry, but I got cold on the flight and my jacket wasn’t enough.
Low and behold when I asked for a blanket I was told I would need to pay $2.00! I didn’t have $2 ~ only $20, and they weren’t sure if they would have enough change. They said they might have to get me change when they landed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Even the stewardess was embarrassed. I guess they would rather the pregnant lady shivers for 2 hours – what if I had no cash with me? Embarrassing for the airline - please just tack on $2 to my $500+ flight and spare us all.
Tagged as:
fees,
pregnant
My mother, sister and I fly to Augusta, Maine every summer for a few weeks to visit my grandmother and uncle who have a summer home on a tree farm there. We live in Utah, so naturally it is a long boring flight.
So back in the summer of 2005 I turned 18 and we take the usual annual trip out to Gram’s house. The flight to Maine wasn’t bad; I slept through that one fine but the return trip was where everything went downhill. Good ole Grams dropped us off at the airport, we said our goodbyes, and headed to the line for security. I take off all the metal I had on and shoes and whatnot and finally get a turn to walk through the metal detector. To my surprise it goes off and a security guy kindly walks me to a glass partition where he has me turn my pockets inside out, take off my shoes, and proceeds to wand me. The wand kept beeping around my waist, so he thoroughly checks my waistband and pockets again but it still keeps going off. Now there are two 300 pound body builders dressed in camo as well as a 299 pound sheriff inside the glass room with me looking very uneasy.
My mom and my little sis are watching in shock as the sheriff then searches me still to find nothing. Finally one of the camo muscle heads comes over and starts looking through my clothes; we then find out why the wand keeps beeping on my waist. The tiny little pocket on my jeans right above my right pocket had been overlooked and I had completely forgotten the condom I had in there that just happened to be in an aluminum wrapper. All the officers become extremely uneasy and very quietly asked if my mother knew I had a condom while trying to block her view of it. Of course she did, so we all had a good laugh and went on our way. Luckily the whole time the airport security was very nice and courteous to me.
Tagged as:
airport,
police,
security,
sexuality
I was always one of those single working ladies in my 20’s who couldn’t stand kids, especially on flights! I hated the little creatures and their mothers. Fast forward a few decade later and I became a mother! (be careful kid haters). My first and last flight with my two year old son was taken from SLC to Portland, OR years ago. I was mortified! My son threw the fit of all fits for almost 2 hours. He was arching his back, screaming, crying. Nothing worked. Nothing. Medicine, toys, snack, you name it.
We were seated first of course, and were in the front of the plane. Person after person boarded after us, took one look at us, and ran for cover in the back. Who could blame them?
Finally, a poor middle age man who boarded last was the unlucky soul who had to sit by us. I felt so bad. He was so kind to us. He tried unsuccessfully to help entertain my son and then just patiently waited it out.
At the end of the flight, he looked me in the eyes, obviously knowing how embarrassed I must have been and said, “You know, I used to have young kids, too. They acted just like that,” and he turned around and walked away. I never in all the years since forgot his kindness. People like that make the world a better place.
Tagged as:
children & babies
