Kids these days

Yesterday’s flight from Boston to Minneapolis was utterly full. When that happens, overhead bin space is precious and you can see some ugly behavior.

I was in the aisle seat (three across), row 10 and because I fly all the time and have status with Delta, I boarded in Zone 1. Without status, I’d have been boarding in Zone 3 or 4. Zone 1 But boarding in Zone 1 meant I had plenty of overhead space.

As the plane filled I realized people were tripping over a bag sitting in the aisle by the man in front of me who was standing. He was older than I am, maybe even in his 70s and he looked really uncertain as though he were trying to do something. But people kept coming down the aisle and getting hung up over that suitcase.

So I asked him if he needed help putting it into the bin—it looked like there was room across the aisle for it. Imagine my surprise when the man in the window seat ahead of me spoke up and said it was his bag.

Uh what? He said there wasn’t room for it and both the woman next to me and I both said hey you need to put your bag up. No, no he didn’t, it was the flight attendants’ responsibility.

The old guy in front of me did find a spot for it and the young guy (he wasn’t even 30) didn’t even thank him.

To top it off, when we deplaned in Minneapolis, it was clear the old guy was disabled—he walked with a severe limp. I can only imagine that his shoulders were in the same condition as his legs.

As for the young guy, may he always sit in the middle row between two people of very generous size who squeeze the snot out of his self-entitled body. What a jerk.