To Not understand why people get so selfish at the airport?

[virilityisbad]

I just don’t get why brits on their family
holidays get so stressy. I walk through the airport seeing them flapping about and highly strung. People are hugely territorial of their personal space. The sheer hostility towards fellow human beings in the queue for boarding.

Then on the plane, people up and down, up and down checking/fetching stuff from their baggage in the overhead lockers.

Then when landed, people in the middle
of the plane deciding they deserve to disembark first and so blocking the aisle for everyone else to get their bags.

What is it about airports that make people so selfish/stressed out

It's not just Brits. I live in China and it's even worse here - passengers standing up before the wheels have touched the tarmac, overhead lockers crammed so full you have nowhere to put your one small bag, not locking the toilet doors when they use the loo, shoving at the carousel to get bags when the carousel hasn't even started to move...
Drives me nuts!

Is it just Brits? Is it just those on holiday? Can’t say I am bothered really.

Never been to china- but that doesn’t surprise me!

When I travel for work, I hardly ever notice this. It’s only when I go on a summer holiday with someone like TUI etc. I think it’s
probably infrequent flyers.

Could be nervous flyers .
Already delayed
Are they all British?

There was an utter pain in the arse woman doing some really OTT Loud Parenting excercises with her DS who was about 3 .
She was bending , crouching, side stretches , sticking her bum out , standing in the aisle , holding the chair to lift out each leg in turn.
While talking her bemused child throughi it .

Walk up and down a bit , you stupid tit of a woman, no one wants your buttocks in their face and the trolleys need to get past .
It was a 2 hour flight , hardly long haul

What’s wrong with people getting things out of their bags in the overhead compartments?

I did an eight hour flight a couple of days ago and have a 13 hour one tonight with my kids. Makes a lot more sense to get out the basics and then if a particular item is needed, get it out then.

I just don’t get why brits on their family holidays get so stressy

Because going through an airport is a stressful process if you are traveling economy. You potentially have to queue to check in, queue for the security check, queue for passport control, hope you find somewhere reasonably convenient to sit and wait, queue to board, hope there's enough space in the overhead locker for your bag, sit in discomfort until you land, wait to get off, queue for immigration and wait what can be a long time to get your luggage.

All those things would try anyone's patience, and some people aren't very good at dealing with it. Throw in lack of sleep if it's long-haul and you can see why people might be a bit grumpy.

People are strange at airports. I work at an airport. I'm not in uniform but I wear staff ID. At peak periods when the lines to get into the security area are longer, they snake back and block the entrance to staff search. More than once when trying to get through and across the queue to get to staff search I've been sworn at for queue jumping. I don't just push through, I say excuse me and wait for people to move but the abuse sometimes is unbelievable. Even when I point out I'm not pushing into their line just crossing through it to get to the door marked Authorised Access Only.

Small children don’t like queuing, they whine and make the parents, who are already stressed, even more stressy. People don’t like being searched, they don’t like having to comply with rules and a lot of people drink too much and get belligerent. It’s just a bad combination.

I use our little local airport if possible, have avoided h’row & Gatwick for years.

It’s bit about inexperience it’s about family holidays I think. They’re stressful until you get there (and sometimes there too)

For me when I travel I have my first bit of stress at security and it continues on a flow thereafter (handbag separation issues). But I put on a brave face and battle on through the hell that is my local airport. I would not act like a knob but I agree it is amazing the way some people go a bit nuts.

There’s a combination of factors and in my case the airport design is like a maze and the airlines don’t make the experience pleasant. Greed, bad lighting, stale air and grubbiness are not pleasant.

I found the person who used to get stressed and subsequently turn into an epic twat in airports was someone who actually travelled a hell of a lot. He was arrogant and entitled in real life I suppose too.

I work at an airport and airports really do make people lose all common sense. For example standing by the big bright yellow sign that says 'departures' and asking where to go to depart they forget all manners too! Such as by taking off their trousers in a busy seating area and putting their bare dirty feet all over the seats then act surprised when you ask them if they could perhaps not do that please.

I've worked in airports abroad and some Brits in holiday lose all rational thought. It's like they leave their brains back in UK.

Because sometimes other people are arseholes and cause stress.

You've gone through the whole checking in, security, getting to the plane thing then you get to your seat and find some people sitting there as they 'want to be together'. So you give them short shrift and they move but you then open the overhead locker to find it completely full of other people's stuff then you have to put your small case somewhere else which takes time especially as you have other people faffing about and not being focused.

It's not Brits on holiday, it's everyone, everywhere. I'm a Brit who lives in the US and travels a lot for work. People just lose their minds in airports and on planes.

I think it's the stress of trying to ignore how unnatural it is to sit in a metal tube and hurtle along at 500mph at 38,000 feet for hours at a time, while trying to maintain your fair share of the arm rest

Ha! I'm horrendously jet lagged as just got off a 13 hour flight so on mn at 5 am. Totally agree although I do also agree that airport procedures are stressful and at at the back of your mind you always worry that something will go wrong and you won't be able to travel. It does my head in that security procedures are inconsistent across the world. I know this is trivial but yesterday I had ages to spare so walked a long way from departure gate back to duty free shop, credit card and boarding pass in hand to get some chocolates only to find that in that country you also need passport even for chocolate!

I always travel with E45 cream for my eczema and thus time it was incomprehensibly confiscated at one airport

My current bugbear is the selfish arseholes who apparently cannot wait until their finished meal tray is collected, so they march up the aisle with it and give it to cabin crew who are still serving further up the plane.

Was on an internal flight last week in Asia and a couple gave toddler daughter an iPad with some annoying cartoon on which they turned up very loud.... for 3 hours.

So yes air travel is stressful but people do behave ridiculously but it's not just brits it is everywhere

I take my hat off to all airport staff and cabin crew, you are saints.

Off ours it’s not just Brit how many airports have you been through OP. If anything we are one of the least angsty in airports and at least we queue properly!

Try travelling through China or E Africa.

Oh which reminds me of the American woman screaming at security in Manchester in June because they were making her miss her plane on purpose.

She had a water bottle in her hand luggage, sill mare.

She didn’t miss her plane, she was on it with us.

Anxiety over flying I guess? A lot of people are stressed over the process of checking in, finding the right queue, keeping kids under control, putting all their phones/laptops/expensive watches in the tray to be scanned in case someone nicks them, getting pulled aside for a search when you've got screaming toddlers clinging to your ankles, or trying to carry baby plus tray of valuables plus hand luggage and buggy/car seat on your own because partner failed the metal detector!

Then the queue to board, if you're carrying a small child you need to try and board first or you get stuck halfway up the plane steps for 20 mins while people faff in the aisle.

Also there's a lack of overhead space thanks to people trying to cram all their luggage into carry on bags to save paying for hold space, or going wild in duty free prior to boarding! So it's first come first serve if you want your luggage near your seat. Hence the queue jumping.

Add in the people who can't find their seats, or sit in the wrong ones, or accidentally booked seats away from their kids and cause the boarding queue to come to a halt!

Then there are people with flying phobias who are panicky, and some who are completely disconnected/zoned out after a big dose of diazepam (my friend can't fly without it!)

Oh and the people who get drunk in the departure lounge to pass the time!

I don't mind the actual flight but I hate the waiting around and the stress of boarding and disembarking. I wish people would just get on and off quickly!

It must be to do with the environment, I normally fly from Norwich it is a tiny airport with very few flights. A few internal ones, offshore and maybe 10 European flights at completely different times so there are never that many people there at one time. I have never been there when there is more than about 100 people flying and it is a very relaxed environment, there is one large room for booking in and one for departures, you don’t have to trek miles trying to find your departure gate.

When I flew from Gatwick it was a completely different experience and much more stressful, the airport was much bigger and busier, it is louder and people were behaving much more selfishly.

Being “stressed” doesn’t give you a free pass to act like a twat though.

Everyone has to go through the same process. Everyone has to put their things on the conveyor belt and walk through the scanner. Everyone is going to get off the plane eventually, so there’s no need to jump up and start pushing and shoving as soon as it lands. Presumably you manage your kids every other day of the year.

Actually if holidays are so awful that they stress you out that much, why bother. Do yourself and everyone else a favour and go on holiday somewhere you don’t have to fly to.

I can never understand why people are so desperate to get onto the plane first (it's not leaving until everyones onboard and seats are allocated!!) And why people are so desperate to get off first (we're all going to end up waiting at the luggage carousel anyway so why rush?!)

Unless maybe they have small children but your average adult... why the rush!

Agreed. We decided that we were only going to fly from our local airports, Southampton and Bournemouth for the next couple of years while the kids were little. Saves a whole load of logistics

YANBU. I am disabled and use my walking stick at the airport but it doesn't seem to stop some people pushing past me even if we are in a queue. I was nearly knocked over last time and the person seemed quite surprised when DH cursed them. I don't think that it is just British people though. In general I find many other nationalities worse as some really don't feel the need to wait their turn.

The sooner you get on, the more likely it is that there will be space for your luggage in the overhead lockers. Have you never been at the back of the queue on Easyjet when they decide the last 30 or so wheelies must go in the hold?

As for getting off, I was once last off a flight at LAX and ended up at the back of a 2 hour security queue.

I find flying very very stressful. It's everything, the queues, trying to make sure you're in the right place at the right time, security and add in four kids you're trying to make sure don't get lost or annoy anyone! It's also really disorientating. Also if you get anything wrong you've potentially lost out on all your savings as you mightn't make your holiday or might not get home okay (hence we can be under a big yellow departure sign and ask someone where the departures is;)) Next year totally holidaying at home(have to anyway but happy out about it!)!!!