People watching is always something that I enjoy doing. And besides the mall, the best place to do this is in an airport. Sometimes when I fly, I almost want to have long lay overs so that I can just sit and spend some quality time people watching.
I also like to do my part in providing my part of the entertainment. On my recent trip, I packed my suitcase so that I could take it on the plane with me. This is a first for me. Usually, I take my whole closet with me so I have to check my bag. But this time, I had a certain time line that I was going to stick to and waiting for baggage just didn’t fit into it.
Well, since I am not used to pulling a bag behind me, I knocked things over, my bag hit people and I got it stuck on an escalator. George Clooney, in the movie “Up in the Air” makes pulling a suitcase look so easy but really its not. It takes skill, a lot of skill. Who knew.
Anyway, this post did have a point. Oh yes, people watching. People watching can usually provide a good laugh but it also can showcase people at their worst.
Case in point, stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman. I had the pleasure of watching her little fit on my plane from Detroit to Baltimore.
On this flight, I got stuck sitting in the very last row on the plane. Me and this other woman were packed like sardines into our seats. I really didn’t care about my seat location, I had a book and time to read it and that was all that mattered too me.
I opened my book and began to read when I heard some hushed yelled coming from behind me in the area were the flight attendants sit.
“I am NOT going to sit there” a voice hissed. “I will not be made to sit there.”
“I am sorry ma’am but she can put the arm rest down beside her and that is the policy of the air line. She did not need to buy two seats, per policy she does fit” another voice stated.
I looked around to see what they were talking about. And two rows ahead of me, I saw a very large African American woman sitting in the isle seat.
“I paid for a whole seat. Not half a seat. I demand that I be moved to a different seat” the voice hissed once again but this time you could just feel the ‘I’m to good for this’ pouring out of her.
“I am sorry,” the flight attendant said, “but this is a full flight. There is no where else to seat you. She fits in that seat per policy.”
“So you are telling me that I am suppose to sit next to that for the whole flight? That is not right and I will not do it.” The woman said no longer keeping her voice down.
As the conversation took place behind me, I couldn’t help but watch the African American woman in front of me. You could tell that she was trying to make herself as small as she could. She just hung her head and closed her eyes, just waiting and willing the scene to be over.
My heart broke for her. This was no way to treat another person. It wasn’t like this woman was sick or had a disease. She wasn’t some misshapen horrible creature. No. All she was, was overweight.
In all my interactions with people, I have never heard a person talk about another person with such disdain and hatred as that ‘business woman’ had for this woman.
I felt like something needed to be done. Someone needed to put an end to this. This just had to stop. This was just wrong.
I was just about ready to open my mouth and let the stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman have my seat when a man in the row next to mine got up from his seat and said, “Here. Let her have my seat. I will sit there.”
I could see the flight attendant sigh with relief as she patted him on the shoulder in a sign of appreciation when the business woman spoke up, “Oh, no he doesn’t” she seethed. “I will not be made to look like the bad person here. I am not a bad person. No person should be made to sit next to that. You sir, you sit down. I will sit there but this airline will reimburse me. I will get something for my troubles. You will make this happen”and she jabbed her finger at the flight attendant as she walked towards the seat.
I could barely look at this woman as she walked by me to take the seat. I was disgusted by her and her actions. Frankly, I think that she should have been asked to leave the air plane. How dare she make this woman feel like dirt. She truly sickened me.
And then the unthinkable happened. After about two minutes of stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman being in the seat, a flight attendant came to talk to her. She tried to whisper the words ever so quietly but when the stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman got up, we all knew.
Stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman had been given another seat.
This was just icing on the cake for me. I know its not much but I will never, never fly with this airline again. They allowed this woman to treat another human so badly that I was almost ashamed to be a human being myself.
Behavior like this should not be accepted, let alone rewarded. It should be condemned and stopped.
As we were leaving the plane, stuck up-snotty-I’m too good for you-business woman was perched in her new seat waiting to get back into her old seat to get her bag. She tried to smile politely as people passed her but her smile looked more like a smirk to me.
And I just couldn’t resist. I glared at her with all the evilness I had in me and said, “Bitch” as I walked by.
I know it was wrong but it just had to be said. That smirk had to wiped off her face.
Tomorrow, I promise to share more about my trip and all the
things that I learned at Bloggy Boot Camp in Baltimore.
