What is it about airports that turns people into arseholes?

[ThunderInMyHeart]

I came back from holiday last night, arriving into Heathrow at 7pm. Surprisingly quiet in the terminal building, easy flow from plane to passport control. Amazingly, no queues at passport control! Hurrah! The e-machines had just been activated so everyone simply moved in front of, say, 15 machines. There were no ropes in place to segregate lines of people. A free-for-all.

This happened instantly as we all turned a corner. I was calmly walking, saw the machines open up for use and stepped behind a lady to wait my turn. I then hear this low-level muttering behind me. The lady in front of me turns around to the mutterer (her husband, I assume) and asks him what's wrong. He, behind me, mumbles dismissively and she turns away.

He then leans forward and hisses at me, 'barger'...WTF? I turn around and say, 'would you LIKE to go ahead of me?'

Arsehole:

I would have moved to another queue as a up yours to him!

Had that on a 12 hour day flight. Women muttering to her friend about my kids who were “not going to sleep”. On a day flight!!!
Lots of sighing & glances towards them. No eye contact with me. Eventually I asked her if there was a problem. She blanked me. I then told her to stop being so passive aggressive, & she kicked off...to her friend!

Oh, I liked being behind him so I could bore holes into the back of his head as he was in the e-machine...willing for the machine to reject him or glitch.

Hope he enjoyed the 15 seconds he gained!

Good for you, SaffaQueen!

It's amazing how much they back off at just the slightest confrontation

It isn't just airports. I had a similar issue in a supermarket when the people who had just rounded the aisle with a massive trolley and then followed me to the till I was making for muttered non stop about my "pushing in" with my basket of 4 items...

WeaseIsRising - I do wonder what their lives must be like. If they get that upset about such a trivial thing, how can they even sleep?!

The bit that makes me want to scream us collecting bags from the conveyor belt thing.

WHY do people stand 3mm from the belt, with it literally brushing their knees?
WHY do entire families stand there waiting for a bag which only one person can lift from the belt?
WHY do they then all continue to stand there clustered around, now with an additional suitcase taking up space, waiting for the next one?

Take three steps back, and unless you're actually lifting a bag off the belt, GO AND STAND OVER THERE >>>>

The family group of about 20 people who put all their landing cards into a plastic bag to be held by one family member. Then held up the queue at immigration trying to sort them all out again. Just put your card in your passport!!

Also the people who allow their children to climb on the conveyor belts. It makes me very stressed and they aren't even my kids.

Oh - and the people who stand and faff at the end of the security belt sorting out their stuff and putting their belt/shoes/coat back on while everyone else's bags pile up. There are separate tables and benches for that just a few feet away.

I had an argument with a man at an airport when he shouted at me for queue jumping.
There was a huge queue at check in and so the business class desk next to the economy check in was taking odd people from the front of the queue to help move things up.
I went straight to the front to wait for the business class check in desk to finish with the passenger they were serving so they could serve me next.
Chap about five people back in economy queue started shouting at us for ‘ not waiting ‘ and giving it ‘ OI, there’s a queue here, are you kind or just stupid . I turned round to him and informed him I was neither blind nor stupid- what I was though was in possession of business class tickets. He then asked why I thought that gave me the right to queu jump - I told him that my ticket gave me that right. He then shouted that ‘ did I think that having more money made me better than him’ and I replied “ no of course not. But I just choose to pay more than him so i don’t have to speak to or be near people like him’ and I turned round and gave my bag to DH to put on the belt at check in,
. By now a senior member of ground crew had joined the party, approached the man and told him that if he made any more shouty comments at me, any of their staff or any other passengers then he wouldn’t be flying with them today. That shut him up.

I waltzed off to the business class lounge with a slightly raised blood pressure and the urgent need of a glass of champagne. And a slight smug smile.
I don’t know what it is about airports and queuing that make people so aggressive . Maybe it’s the copious amounts of alcohol they sell and the fact that they NEVER have enough desks open!

It's the crowd effect. As I say to DH, individually people are great. In a collective they're generally nobs. I know when I go into that sort of pressure cooker environment you see people acting like selfish arseholes, then your heckles get up. So your head gets into the "right, no arsehole is going to get one over on ME" mode, you suspect everyone, and before you know it you're following the crowd.

DH hates going into London for this reason, everyone's crowded and rushing and out for themselves (not all but ykwim) so if you want to get anywhere you act like it too and get all angry by the end of it.

Agree with the crowd effect - when people just HAVE to be first...plane tyres touch the tarmac, by all means, leap up and grab your bags and stand in the aisle...YOU'RE GAINING NOTHING.

First to board the plane? Pushing to be let on first? Go on, then...you'll be sat waiting in a cramped seat on the plane even longer then...

In 2008 we were flying to the Maldives. Whilst in the queue it was announced that there was a 24 hour delay. Cue the onslaught of arseholes going to the customer services desk kicking off.

DH and I stood back, watched and waited for information to be given out to us. We got chatting to a couple also delayed. An aircrew lady came over and said "This way please - premier customers" We stood and waited. We were economy passengers. The couple next to us who were premier customers followed the lady. Lady stopped and said to us "Come on!" so we did.

We were put up in a pretty swanky hotel overnight, given plush rooms and decent meals.We buddied up with the couple we met and had a good night. Following morning we discovered the economy customers were put in a travel lodge 45 mins away and given packed lunch style dinners and breakfasts.

Just goes to show, being an arsehole doesn't always get you where you want to be.

It's not just passengers either!

Last week I was just off of my fourth flight in 3 days, my bags had just come through security, and I was holding my handbag, my small suitcase, my shoes, my kindle, and my bag of toiletries. The security guy came up behind me and shouted in my ear 'when you collect your belonging, put your tray back in the pile'. I looked at him helplessly as my hands and arms were completely full, and he just continued to shout it 3 times, staring me out.

In the end, I just turned and walked away. The tiny bit of power some wankers want to exercise is beyond embarrassing. Travel is utterly dehumanising.

I spent quiet a lot of my flight dreaming about what travel could be like if airlines gave a single fuck about their passengers.

I used to work at an airport. My god people were arseholes and not just passenger, some of the staff were even worse.

I fucking hated that job.

In answer to the original question: a cocktail of anxiety, boredom, physical activity in a quick-quick-quick-sloooooow pattern (possibly in a non-cooperative time zone); lack of alternative options if you miss your flight; and not being in control of at least 80 per cent of situations that will be encountered in the airport and the air.