I have traveled overseas fairly often in my young life and have discovered many interesting things about myself. I enjoy plane food, but I hate pretzels. I really like old movies like National Velvet. But my favorite experience was when I discovered that I was claustrophobic.
I was unfortunately given the seat in the exact middle of an overseas flier. I am not sure what type of plane it is, but it had 5 seats in the middle row. I wasn’t too worried because I was young and fairly small.
As more people piled on, a large German-looking gentleman (we are talking about 300 pounds of German) squeezed himself next to me. No worries yet. Until I saw the other gentleman squeeze in beside me. He was larger still. His waist actually oozed over the arm rest. I am not sure what nationality he was, but it was not one that practiced good hygiene.
I remember the take off and that is all I remember. I apparently passed out from either lack of oxygen or from the stench. The flight attendant woke me up after my seat mates had disembarked. That was the shortest, best flight from Amsterdam to Chicago that I have ever had!
210
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
If you've ever been on a plane/train/bus and have seen someone with foam-type earplugs stuffed into their nostrils, now you know why. 🙂
Stuffing earplugs up your nose just means you have to taste it rather than smell it
Why would you assume that someone's personal hygiene habits are related to their race or nationality? Isn't that racism?
Some nations do not ascribe as much importance to personal hygiene. It's really not racism, it's a well-known fact in travel circles. America is a very, some say overly, hygienic place. Members of most nations do not take long, hot showers every day as Americans do. This is just a cultural difference but it can be very strange to get used to for Americans traveling abroad, especially on planes!
I say that it's to America's credit that its citizens place an importance on hygiene. What's good about being smelly and filthy?