I actually enjoy pretty much everything about flying (or should I say I enjoy everything about starting a trip somewhere)...but there are a few things that I could really do without...

For one, when you're about 20 minutes from your destination, the flight attendant comes on the intercom and says "We will be on the ground shortly..."



Not "We'll be at our destination shortly" or "We'll be arriving shortly"...but "We'll be on-the-stinkin-ground shortly"...

Ok, when I'm 35,000 feet in the air, I do NOT want to be told that I'll be on the ground shortly... ...Everytime I hear them say that, I think to myself "Hell, take your time...if being on the ground 'shortly' were important to me, we could lose both engines and I could be on the ground in 45 seconds. I'd rather be on the ground safely, thank you."

I also hate that Waiting-To-See-Who's-Gonna-Sit-Next-To-You timespan after I get to my seat...since I travel alone, I tend to get the window seat...then after boarding, I sit there watching the droves walk by, saying "mg, please don't let him sit next to me...or him...or especially her!"...then I'm given that false sense of security when there's a break in the traffic...Ah, everyone's boarded, nobody's sitting next to me...

Then...47 other people start piling in... Don't tease me like that, dammit...lol


So, what do you hate about flying??...Add your own...

On a recent flight there were 3 Muslim women that boarded the plane wearing religious garb with a box the size of a cake.

i'm far from a racist and really don't mean to stereotype, but damn!! i was shook the whole flight!! Especially since they were sitting right across from me a row back!

yeah the legroom is crazy. i think people 5'5" would be cramped too.

and did you know an airplane seat is no wider than a regular magazine when opened? try sitting your ass on that and see if you hang over

but i don't mind the end of meals on short haul flights. just give me my coke and bag of peanuts please

emm said:

emm said:

yeah, no big whoop on shorter flights, but going to Germany without something to eat stinks...

Pet peeves about flying:

1. Missing the connecting flight;
2. The movies are sometimes lousy;
3. Waiting for the luggage carousel to start;
4. Inflight meals (they don't feed you enough);
5. People being careless when they are putting overhead luggage in the overhead compartment (hoping you won't get hit if it falls);

Screaming kids!

shanti0608 said:

That's when parent(s) should bring colouring books and toys, and snacks to occupy the kid(s) time. Flying seems like eternity to them.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Some folks felt that way towards me too, during a train journey about a week after the 'Failed London Bombings'. I can understand your apprehensions though, but believe me, we feel just as freaked.

luv4u said:

You've got to be kidding me! I always wonder how people can eat everything they've laid out for you. Unless, we're flying vastly different airlines.


As for me - when you're flying abroad on a looooong flight and the couple next to you argues loudly for 6 hours so you can't sleep.

senik said:

Hey man, i hope you weren't offended. It's just that i was on my way over to Bali which had been the target of bombers then and still obviously (BTW, i was staying in a hotel 1 min away from the first bombing and the recent second bombing in Kuta beach, i even ate at one of the restaraunts that was bombed ) ! i was flying out of Jakarta which is has the largest muslim population in the world and also about a week before i left to visit Indonesia somebody at Jakarta's embassy supposedly flushed a Koran down the toilet. This cause them to close their embassy for a couple of days and when they reopened it was like a fucking fortress!! it also put me on edge that every Mall, restaraunt, & club i went to had guards armed with military weapons doing searches on your vehicle before entering their parking lot and then another search before going in.

i know there's only a few radicals that cause this hysteria, but the fear is real and apparently unstoppable! So, i guess my pet peeve would be not to let conservative muslims hold on to boxes whilst in their seats on a plane. Sorry.

sinisterpentatonic said:

This is a true story, I was catching a plane headed for Dubai. In front of me there were 3 middle eastern gentlemen. All of a sudden there were about 10 women with them in their muslim outfits. Then all hell breaks loose because these guys thought they could check their wives in as luggage It took a long time to sort out

luv4u said:

Folks with kids should catch a boat instead.

charlottegelin said:

So
If they checked in electronically
when they got to the part where you are asked how many bags you have to check in
obviously,
they pressed the 3 or more button.

charlottegelin said:

So, your flying pet peeve is men who want to check their wives in as luggage??...lol

Better than the overhead compartment, I guess...

.
[Edited 10/12/05 19:26pm]

Byron said:

long waits to check-in is my peeve, and folks holding places for everyone in the queue.

The smell of airplanes and airports makes me want to vomit. It's a smell of unhappiness, of waiting, of complaints, of swollen feet, of impatience. At certain times I smell this unpleasant smell in other, random places, and I get the same nauseous feeling.

I hate flying. I always think I'm going to die.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Nah, bruv, don't apologise. I know you're cool. Absolutely no offence taken, mate.

I was just mentioning an experience I had on the flip-side of the same coin. Asian and Asian looking men (esp. with beards) and women (with optional beards ) all felt as if they had to look extra placid and non-threatening during train and bus journeys after the London attacks. When people from our own communities want to turn into cold blooded mass murderers I guess we must expect the brunt of public suspicion and reaction too. It's understandable. It's human nature, fear. I was also trying to empathize with your feelings too. As some people's attentions were cautiously fixed (on and off) upon me, I too was discretely being vigilant for "my own", boarding with large bags and looking suspicious. It's because those callous methods of indiscriminate carnage is aimed towards any human life that stands in their way. I like said, we're just as anxious... if not MORE!

Rezpec'z, Sin

Yeah lemme share dat one once i'm on a freakin plain

Seriousy da last time i stepped on a plane- i was 3 yearz old and I was going to Sydney- but i thought i was going overseas cuz on the weather map they made it look like another country.

I had nothin 2 complain about by da way- i had crayons and colouring books and a croissant with honey and butter as i can recallz

My parents fed me sedatives on the plabe to Australia, and I listened to S'Aschebrödel (Cinderella in swiss german) on a cassette player with these massive headphones - this was 1978, before walkmans were invented.

charlottegelin said:

Are you still under the effects?

luv4u said:

Yes, I guess my peeve is against the parents that allow their kids to act like animals on planes!

I can think of only 2, but they're significant to me:


1) Flight attendants who play pranks. On a Southwest flight in the spring, I had the experience of some extremely silly flight attendants playing pranks on passengers. One had hidden in the overhead compartment to scare a passenger (any passenger, I suspect) who would open the compartment to store their luggage. The same flight attendant screamed -- while the plane was in the air -- just for giggles. :slap: And, she continually poked fun at one of the passengers. (No, it wasn't I, but it was still unprofessional). I meant to complain. Hmmm...

2) Freaky hookups. I flew this past weekend, and my row mate was a "mysterious drifter" type (think any horrible B-movie involving a small town, a corrupt sheriff and a young, comely widow...) Well, he found the comely widow-type on the plain, sitting a few rows behind us. They strike it up and she moves to the empty seat between me and Drifter Boy. After a few minutes of banal banter (she really was as starved for attention and validation as the B-movie characters would suggest), they start rubbin' on each other as if they're about to become members of the mile-high club right there! I'm trying to go back to sleep, but I was too awake (I can only sleep once during a flight, it seems). Meanwhile, my closed eyes can't block out the sounds of their sporadic giggling. Now, I know how icky college roommates felt under similar circumstances.

ThreadBare said:

not cool at all...



nothing cool like that ever happens next to me...

actually this goes for not only flying but any kind of public seating arrangement like buses, movie theatres, etc.

fat people! it's ok if you want to be 'big' in life but please don't occupy half of my seat in addition to your own.

AND people who smell bad. bathe, brush your teeth, refrain from pouring too much perfume on yourself. please be kind to the people around you by not smelling bad.

crying, endless screaming babies? i have some duct tape for your child's mouth

ok. those are my pet peeves. other than that i LOVE my fellow men and women and the flying experience

edited to be PC
[Edited 10/13/05 7:52am]

PANDURITO said:

I have a very bad cold

XxAxX said:

those are pretty much my peeves, too. fat people, smelly people, and screaming kids. especially screaming kids. they should have separate children flights and all the screaming kids and babies can fly together.

As for fat people, just buy two tickets. it'll make everyone more comfortable than trying to squeeze yourself into a seat that doesn't fit and squeezing the person next to you in the process. airplane seats are ridiculously small as it is.

so if i have it straight
anyone who crowds anyone else should be made to buy another ticket
anyone with a child should not be allowed to fly

a pet peeve is one thing - hopefully these sentiments are exagerated?
flying is a convienence for everyone and as a result we have to deal with some unpleasantness.
cramped seats, stale air, sitting too close to the loo, lineups, waiting, no food, bad food... whatever

but we all deal with it
including the people who are trying to occupy as little space as possible
or the parent who is trying to quiet a screaming kid.