and what the fuck is wrong with people?
I was flying Southwest on my commute to work. My boarding number was in the high B numbers, so I figured I would have a middle seat. That's fine. Since I'm flying standby, beggars can't be choosers. Imagine my surprise when I found an open window seat with the middle seat next to it also unoccupied. Feeling lucky, I sat down and started to read my book.
I'm currently reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. My flight was from from Portland to Oakland, and I was feeling less lucky and slightly pissed off because of the baby that was kicking the back of my seat. That baby wasn't even 1% as annoying as the woman who boarded the plane last and decided to sit in the seat next to me.
The guy on the aisle was reading his magazine while the plane was boarding. This woman came up to him and interrupted him, asking him to put her carryon in the overhead. I'm a firm believer in the "don't pack it if you can't lift it" concept of carryon luggage, but he was nice enough to get up and put her bag away for her. She then said that she was going to take the middle seat in our row because there was nothing else. Except that there were a bunch of other open seats on the plane. Whatever, I'm flying for free so who am I to complain.
She sat down and immediately started asking him all sorts of questions. He's tall, does he play sports? Hockey? Her son plays hockey. Where does he play? Oh, she's never heard of that town. The whole time he was trying to get back to his magazine. Finally he put on his earphones and she left him alone.
Then she swung her head my way and started reading my book. This is one of my very biggest pet peeves. As if that wasn't bad enough, she interrupted my reading to ask me to hold my book in a better position for her to read along with me. I told her no, that I was trying to enjoy my book in peace and quiet. She started arguing that she wanted to enlighten her mind as well and she was finding my book very interesting. I told her sorry, but I didn't bring my book for others to enjoy. She had a thick Eastern European or Russian accent and used it to tell me that she didn't know much about American history and was finding the book fascinating, so could I please share it with her. Again, I told her no and that if she found it so interesting, she should go buy it. I continued reading.
But she continued reading along. When she got to the right-hand page, she started huffing and puffing and fidgeting because she was having trouble seeing it. The she said "But I'm so bored. Please let me read along." I told her to read her own book. She said that she didn't bring one, then said that it was boring and she was enjoying mine better. I was utterly annoyed with this woman at this point and told her that she was being incredibly rude. She explained that "In her culture it is not rude."
At this point the guy on the aisle who had put her bag away for her got up to get a flight attendant.
"Well in America it is considered rude to read over someone's shoulder, and since you are currently immersed in American culture, you should act accordingly," I responded.
Her retort? "I'm not reading over your shoulder. I'm sitting next to you."
She saw my name tag and asked how Southwest would feel about me treating passengers that way. I told her that I didn't work for Southwest so I really couldn't give a fuck what they would think. She then saw my company's insignia and asked how THEY would feel if she sent a letter.
"Go ahead and write them a letter and tell them that you were rudely reading over my shoulder and when I asked you politely to stop, you pressed the issue and insisted that I let you. Go ahead. I'll help you with your spelling."
I stood up and said that I was going to change my seat because she had made me utterly unable to enjoy reading my book in peace and quiet. I started to crawl over her legs to get to the aisle. She said, "No, I'll get up, I'll get up."
"We're past the point of being polite, lady." I got up and moved my seat. Everyone in the immediate area who had witnessed this exchange was utterly flabbergasted. The guy on the aisle also started searching for another seat.
Even if it wasn't considered rude in her culture, once I told her that I didn't want her reading over my shoulder, that should have been it. She should have stopped and left me alone, right? What the fuck is wrong with some people? When your obnoxious behavior causes two other people to move their seats, wouldn't you know to settle down?
I'm currently reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. My flight was from from Portland to Oakland, and I was feeling less lucky and slightly pissed off because of the baby that was kicking the back of my seat. That baby wasn't even 1% as annoying as the woman who boarded the plane last and decided to sit in the seat next to me.
The guy on the aisle was reading his magazine while the plane was boarding. This woman came up to him and interrupted him, asking him to put her carryon in the overhead. I'm a firm believer in the "don't pack it if you can't lift it" concept of carryon luggage, but he was nice enough to get up and put her bag away for her. She then said that she was going to take the middle seat in our row because there was nothing else. Except that there were a bunch of other open seats on the plane. Whatever, I'm flying for free so who am I to complain.
She sat down and immediately started asking him all sorts of questions. He's tall, does he play sports? Hockey? Her son plays hockey. Where does he play? Oh, she's never heard of that town. The whole time he was trying to get back to his magazine. Finally he put on his earphones and she left him alone.
Then she swung her head my way and started reading my book. This is one of my very biggest pet peeves. As if that wasn't bad enough, she interrupted my reading to ask me to hold my book in a better position for her to read along with me. I told her no, that I was trying to enjoy my book in peace and quiet. She started arguing that she wanted to enlighten her mind as well and she was finding my book very interesting. I told her sorry, but I didn't bring my book for others to enjoy. She had a thick Eastern European or Russian accent and used it to tell me that she didn't know much about American history and was finding the book fascinating, so could I please share it with her. Again, I told her no and that if she found it so interesting, she should go buy it. I continued reading.
But she continued reading along. When she got to the right-hand page, she started huffing and puffing and fidgeting because she was having trouble seeing it. The she said "But I'm so bored. Please let me read along." I told her to read her own book. She said that she didn't bring one, then said that it was boring and she was enjoying mine better. I was utterly annoyed with this woman at this point and told her that she was being incredibly rude. She explained that "In her culture it is not rude."
At this point the guy on the aisle who had put her bag away for her got up to get a flight attendant.
"Well in America it is considered rude to read over someone's shoulder, and since you are currently immersed in American culture, you should act accordingly," I responded.
Her retort? "I'm not reading over your shoulder. I'm sitting next to you."
She saw my name tag and asked how Southwest would feel about me treating passengers that way. I told her that I didn't work for Southwest so I really couldn't give a fuck what they would think. She then saw my company's insignia and asked how THEY would feel if she sent a letter.
"Go ahead and write them a letter and tell them that you were rudely reading over my shoulder and when I asked you politely to stop, you pressed the issue and insisted that I let you. Go ahead. I'll help you with your spelling."
I stood up and said that I was going to change my seat because she had made me utterly unable to enjoy reading my book in peace and quiet. I started to crawl over her legs to get to the aisle. She said, "No, I'll get up, I'll get up."
"We're past the point of being polite, lady." I got up and moved my seat. Everyone in the immediate area who had witnessed this exchange was utterly flabbergasted. The guy on the aisle also started searching for another seat.
Even if it wasn't considered rude in her culture, once I told her that I didn't want her reading over my shoulder, that should have been it. She should have stopped and left me alone, right? What the fuck is wrong with some people? When your obnoxious behavior causes two other people to move their seats, wouldn't you know to settle down?