Landing after a long flight can come with an immediate display of icks: clapping when the plane lands, or worse still, those pesky passengers who simply can’t wait to get off.
Now, there’s a new term for people who fail to exercise even a modicum of patience, standing up and shoving their way through as soon as the seatbelt signs are off. Enter: ‘aisle lice.’
Venting their frustrations on the r/Delta subreddit, @Lawngisland was flying from Minneapolis–Saint Paul to LaGuardia Airport in New York and found themselves surrounded by impatient passengers with little regard for both ‘personal space and order.’
And so, they asked their fellow Redditors which they hated more: ‘gate lice’ (the name given to those who queue up the minute the gate opens) or ‘aisle lice’.
‘I was abnormally shot, maybe from spending eight hours in MSP prior to my flight because I was on standby since Delta couldn’t manually enter me into an available seat on the earlier flight,’ they vented.
‘The flight itself was fine, but I was so tired of travelling I wanted to get up and get off as fast as possible. Normally I’m an aisle seat that remains seated until everyone in front of and beside me moves.
‘I stand up in the aisle as soon as the ding hits. Not only do the two people next to me decide to stand up but somehow the guy from the window seat shoves his way forward and is the first of us to get off the plane.
‘All of this just for the d***head to take a leisurely stroll to the restroom in the terminal.’
Naturally, other Redditors were largely in agreement, with @skurnie joking: ‘I don’t need someone’s a** in my face for 10 minutes.’
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‘I can tolerate gate lice slightly better because I just avoid them. You can’t avoid aisle lice,’ @Spare-Security-1629 added.
‘If everyone stands, it’s going to be an issue. You can wait until the person in front of you leaves like a normal human being from a civilised society instead of a pack of pitbull puppies being let out of their kennel.’
@These-Season-668 lives by a small airport with no additional connections, so ‘short of a baby being born or a relative passing away imminently, there’s no need to push by.’
‘It’s the last stop for all of us on the flight. However, EVERY time I have landed there someone tries to pull it. I just stand there and make them wait,’ they added.
And @dervari’s experience, the last two flights they’ve taken they’ve seen someone ‘so anxious to get off that the flight attendant actually has to tell them they need to move back so she can open the door.’
For @jefferios though, they’re not so much an issue as ‘if they get up in my row (I’m a window seat person), I usually get more room to stretch while I wait.’
‘Now, a person pushing their way past others to deplane first is NOT ALLOWED. Gate lice are annoying when it’s an airport where the gates are small, and they block your path to seating. I blame the airline on this.’
But what about other pesky plane habits?
Long-time flight attendant Cher Killough has one pet peeve that ticks her off most; a habit that men in particular should take note to avoid.
In a TikTok video, the Dallas-based airline worker previously listed things she believes ‘should be illegal to do’ on a plane.
Flight attendant reveals secret plane hack that solves common travel problem
Whether you roll, fold or get seriously fancy and use a packing cube, no item of clothing is safe from getting creased and crumpled in a suitcase.
The truly diligent among us will use the hotel iron (if there is one) – but many make do with looking slightly dishevelled for the duration of their getaway.
But now, a flight attendant has revealed a little known secret that can remove this problem altogether.
Speaking to Metro, ex British Airways cabin crew Saskia Sekhri explained that lots of airplanes have an on-board wardrobe – and passengers can use it.
So, if you’ve got an item of clothing that you want to give some special treatment to, all you have to do is ask the crew on board if there’s space.
Plus, if you’ve got a big winter coat, hanging it in the wardrobe gives you a little extra space, rather than trying to shove it under the seat in front of you.
Number one was manspreading, or more specifically, ‘manspreading when you’re in a middle seat’.
If you haven’t heard the term before, it refers to when people (normally inconsiderate men) sit with their knees so far apart that they take up more space than their seat allows, encroaching on people either side.
‘I’ve been a passenger, and had it numerous times, where men will spread their knees all the way into my seat section or the person’s on the other side’ said Cher. ‘It’s just unacceptable.’
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