Five things I realized just how much I hated this weekend….

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: September 28, 2009
Published: September 27, 2009

17 comments

1. Parks and Recreation. Does United really have to show this east, west, south, and north? All four mainline flights had the pilot episode. Sorry Amy, you’re not funny.

2. Passengers that chew tobacco. Especially when they’re sitting next to you.

3. Embraer 120’s. If anyone disagrees with me, sorry, I won’t be able to hear you because I lost my hearing on this aircraft. 😉

4. Pilots that use “ah” every second word. “Ah…. folks…. ah…. from…. ah…. the…. ah…. flight…. ah…. deck this is…. ah…. your…. ah…. Captain.” Usually there are only a few “ah’s” here and there, but the captain of United 44 last night added an “ah” after basically every word for his whole announcement. Figured you’d have the routine figured out by the time you’re a 767 captain.

5. Passengers that complain about the lack of frills in coach. This alone is a reason I’m considering not booking the exit row anymore. While the main added benefit of Economy Plus is extra legroom, the fact that most people up there fly more than once every couple of years is kind of nice too. When you’re in the exit row on United, seated right behind you are the once a year flyers. Why? Because anyone that reserves row 12 on the ex-Ted A320 obviously booked their ticket 11 months ago.

Nothing pisses me off more than a whole row of passengers doing nothing but bitching like the guy seated behind me on UA99 to TPA this morning did. “They want to charge us for our bags, how dare they. I heard we should just take all our bags to the gate and they’ll check them there for free.” And then, “Huh, I have to pay extra to sit in the exit row? Are you kidding me?” Of course the flight attendant explaining the situation to him followed by “but I only work here” didn’t help either. Those are only minor complaints, but c’mon folks, travel in the past few years is as cheap as it has ever been. For our $29 fares we deserve respect and good customer service, but that’s about it. I probably wouldn’t have an issue with this if I didn’t fly 250 segments a year and had to hear the same idiotic complaints every single time.

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MatthewLAX Member

September 28, 2009, 9:31 pm

RE: #3 What's that? No, never touched the stuff... Actually, I still love EMB-120s. I was stuck in a CRJ today and I sure missed row nine on the "bro".

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Ross Guest

September 28, 2009, 9:08 pm

Lucky, in response to your stammering pilot, there are some pilots who are forgetful. I flew on a US Airways flight to PHX one day and the pilot thanked us nonchalantly for flying in "America West Airlines". All the passengers were laughing. :)

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Oliver Guest

September 28, 2009, 5:26 pm

@Lucky -- Yes, you have the right to complain about their complaining here... as I basically said in my comment. But then, we also have the right to complain about your complaining. That's only fair, so please DON'T complain about that. I like exit row because of the space. I often don't have the need to recline, and certainly don't just because it's available to me. It's an interesting dillema -- on long flights you get much more space in exit row seats than regular E+ seats, but you're also more likely to have to deal with seat bumping from the E- passengers behind you.

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bmvaughn Guest

September 28, 2009, 2:20 pm

Argh I had 9C on the EMB-120 this weekend.. there were 5 total people in the plane, and someone had 9B reserved... they didn't even move once we tookoff... so annoying.

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lucky New Member

September 28, 2009, 1:28 pm

@ Pat -- ROFL! You're correct. @ Sam -- Fair enough, but how about showing one bad episode when flying eastbound and another bad episode flying westbound. Variety is the spice of life. ;) @ Beau -- If you enjoy them so much, I have a suggestion. Go sit down in a tiny closet in a tight chair and put on some really loud nice. You'll get the same thrill, minus the 500 mile minimums. @ Tom -- Oh yeah, the documentaries are just awful. I miss NBC in-flight. It's all about comedies, in my book. The worst had to be the new "Top Groomer" show, much like "Top Chef" except about groomers. Seriously? @ Brian -- Yep, have had that happen once or twice! @ UAPremierGuy -- As usual? Wow, I'm flattered! :D @ RDimperio -- Trust me, you don't even want to get me started on that. @ ktpc2005 -- I guess Amy saw Tina's success and decided she wanted her share of the pie. Utter fail. @ Oliver & Eric -- It's a free country, and they certainly have the right to complain, but I also have the right to complain about their complaining. OK? :D The real reason I don't like the exit row is because I have a soul. I don't have it in me to recline in someone that has substantially less legroom than I do. In Economy Plus, on the other hand, I have no problem reclining. @ Jim -- That's cool!

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