I Hate People

[mjb]

Luckily, I rarely come in contact with those I would consider assholes except for a couple of politicians I know.

Most of us here, IMHO, are anything but assholes, maybe pricks sometime.

Hey! Unruly cretin, sure. Miserable curmudgeon, okay. Asshole, I don't think so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgpZ0fUixs

[Mr. Met]

Well, I like you, Jimmy. HOWEVER, the cranky miserable hag sitting behind me in tbe plane last night had the audacity to move my seat back up when I went to the bathroom. I came back, shifted it back and she went 'tsk.' RBS

[Tom Storer]

Randy, are you one of those annoying people who put their airplane seat all the way back just because they can?

[moldyfigg]

Tomorrow. We're in the claws of Delta. I have three hopes, that my seat mate doesn't weight 300 lbs, that there no screaming fucking kids near me and they give me the seats I reserved.

[jtx]

You'll be fortunate if one of those wishes come true. And if the flight departs on time...

[Mr. Met]

Randy, are you one of those annoying people who put their airplane seat all the way back just because they can?

Nope, Tom. I wanted to lean back because I wanted to sleep -- which Delta allows me to. On the way to my destination, I had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting next to a guy who must have been pushing 350 pounds. He ate the entire flight and pooted, too.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

I live on a very quiet street. It's not a very long street. It's in a more or less secluded neighborhood. If I happen to be sitting in my living room I might notice one car every thirty minutes or so passing by my house. Yesterday, as Joanne and I turned onto our street we came upon two objects in the middle of the street. As we approached we noticed that the objects were little plastic AOL type figures of little men holding flags. I had to pull to the extreme left of the road to pass by these little obnoxious men with flags. Actually, in order to pass I ended up on the wrong side of the road, so if another vehicle happened to to be coming from the opposite direction I would have been in the wrong. WTF? These figures were in front of a house where children live. Apparently the parent, in this case a single mother, thought it was within her rights to close off half of the road so her kids had free access to the street. Hey, lady, instead of ecouraging your kids to use the street for play keep them safely on your property.You've got a huge back yard, I've seen it. Let them run free there as we did with our kids.

Yes, I called the police, not to make trouble but just to find out if anybody and everybody can take it upon themselves to close off half a public street to extend their children's play area. Twenty minutes later the little guys were gone and what little traffic we get on our street was flowing freely. Again, Hey, lady, we pay taxes too! Here's a graphic of the little obnoxious man. I'm sure many of you have seen him at one time or another. I hate people and those obnoxious little men.

[Mr. Met]

I sure hope I don't get on your bad side, Jimmy.

[Tom Storer]

I wanted to lean back because I wanted to sleep -- which Delta allows me to. On the way to my destination, I had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting next to a guy who must have been pushing 350 pounds.

But did you put the seat ALL THE WAY BACK? That is unforgivable, even if allowed! It completely restrains the movement of the unfortunate party who has the seat in front now pushing against their nose.

[mjb]

I wanted to lean back because I wanted to sleep -- which Delta allows me to. On the way to my destination, I had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting next to a guy who must have been pushing 350 pounds.

But did you put the seat ALL THE WAY BACK? That is unforgivable, even if allowed! It completely restrains the movement of the unfortunate party who has the seat in front now pushing against their nose.

Tom,

With you on this one all the way. I am fairly tall and if I cannot bag an exit seat or bulkhead in economy, I am doomed. I attract seat back recliners. I took a day flight to England recently and travelled with my daughter. I told her I would get a recliner in front of me. I did. The only person on the plane to do it and she was in front of me. To watch her little TV screen.

I have experimented with the rake and it does not make that much difference to comfort for sleeping. I asked one guy to raise his chair back as he was not sleeping. He reacted as if I'd asked for $20 out of his wallet. He, clearly reluctantly, complied. An hour later he crashed it back down. When I asked him why he told me "I changed my mind."

I despise the people behind me too who cannot get up from their seat without grabbing the back of my seat and giving it a rigorous shaking.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

You guys are blaming the wrong assholes. In the case of airline seats the sardine-like seating arrangement is the fault of the aircraft manufacturers and the airlines that buy those airplanes. For me, sitting totally upright in a coach seat is extremely uncomfortable. I feel like I'm sitting in a goddamned electric chair so I put my seat back to just about halfway as a compromise. If the person in front of me does the same thing I understand and I'm okay with that. Sorry, fellas, but unless you're willing to pay for business class or first class you'll have to endure these annoying little indignities like the rest of us peons.

Now don't get me started about when I'm sitting in an aisle seat and some jerk decides to visit a friend across from me. Nothing like having someone's ass inches from your face for twenty minutes or so.

[Tom Storer]

Jimmy, I will magnanimously allow you (and others!) to recline your seats "just about halfway." That's a good compromise for everyone. But ALL THE WAY BACK? It is a crime against humanity akin to chemical warfare or child prostitution.

[LennyH]

Geez, Tom. Are you talking about some type of plane that I've never seen? The seat reclines like 3 inches. On the long list of reasons to get pissed off at people during traveling, that's the one that gets you?

[walto]

I agree with Lenny.

I have to admit, I'd never thought about this much. I've always assumed it was OK to recline the seats (the couple of inches that they will), that that's why they're made to do it. I suppose if you recline yours the guy behind you will sort of have to recline his--but, of course, the guy in front of you may have reclined HIS. Anyhow, you're going to be uncomfortable, upright or reclined, whatever anybody does in economy seating. That's pretty much the idea. IMHO, the more random problems generally arise with screaming babies, kids that kick your seat endlessly, and fat/smelly neighbors.

[Tom Storer]

Geez, Tom. Are you talking about some type of plane that I've never seen? The seat reclines like 3 inches.

I don't know. Maybe 3 inches is too much for me. I do know that I have had occasion to be very annoyed when the seat in front of me reclines so much that I can no longer get the little screen on the back of it at the right angle to watch the movie with optimum definition. Must be more than 3 inches. And also, when it's that far back you can't reach down to pick up the thing you dropped on the floor.

I'm thinking mostly of trans-Atlantic flights, where you're stuck in there for hours and have a lot of stuff in your personal space, such as reading material, anti-noise headphones, bottle of water, etc. On short hops nobody puts their seat back much anyway because nobody wants to sleep.

I usually find people's behavior in airplanes fine, though. The reclining-all-the-way-back thing doesn't happen often. I forgive noisy babies and small children because, hey, they're little. They can't much help it. The thing that probably annoys me most often is people having loud conversations over multiple rows or aisles for extended periods of time. Shut up, already.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

My favorite part of the flight is when we finally pull up to the gate and everyone in the plane wants to be the first one off the plane. Joanne is right with the crowd. I have no desire to be pushed and shoved by the herd. I sit until the plane is almost empty. I try to explain to my lovely wife that we're going to have a wait at baggage claim anyway so why would you want to rush out of the plane just to wait for your suitcase to show up? And no, I very rarely travel with just a carry-on.

[Tom Storer]

I'm with you on not leaping to my feet on arrival as soon as the seatbelt sign is off. Or, worse, BEFORE the seatbelt sign is off. Scofflaws!

And the usual etiquette anyway is to let the rows in front of you file out first. So what's the rush to stand cramped in the aisle impatiently waiting?

[Jimmy Cantiello]

My wife posted this on facebook this morning. I think she's finally close to being on board with realizing the assholeness of people. I quote.

"Am I officially a grumpy senior citizen? Driving to the stop sign on my street I see a car at the stop sign with flashers on. I ask if she needs help. No, she is waiting for the school bus to arrive. Her two kids were across the street waiting. What makes her think she can just sit there in the road making me have to drive around her onto the other side of the street to make a right turn? I asked her very nicely if she could please park on the side so drivers can get by. She stared at me for a few seconds like she had no clue how inconsiderate she was and then said ok. We'll see tomorrow. She only lives 3 houses down the street. What is this teaching her kids? No one walks anymore?"

[Tom Storer]

Jimmy, you would like my old man, whose mantra all his life has been, "People are no damn good." I try to temper that realistic assessment with annoying saintliness.

[steve(thelil)]

I generally really like people. And I always say, when you like people, NYC is the best place to be. (When you need to get away from people, not so much)

Contrary to what many people think, I believe city living brings out the best in people. Not only does it create a sense of what we have in common and "we're all in this together" (much like a vacation location), but it becomes clear to many how important the quality of one's daily human interactions is to one's sense of happiness and well being. Walking the streets and riding the subways every day, I see many more examples of strangers showing kindness and consideration and personality to one another than examples of behavior that bums me out.

[LennyH]

My favorite part of the flight is when we finally pull up to the gate and everyone in the plane wants to be the first one off the plane. Joanne is right with the crowd. I have no desire to be pushed and shoved by the herd. I sit until the plane is almost empty. I try to explain to my lovely wife that we're going to have a wait at baggage claim anyway so why would you want to rush out of the plane just to wait for your suitcase to show up? And no, I very rarely travel with just a carry-on.

Now that's what gets me. I sit down and wait as long as possible too. People are just nuts. You're going to be there for like 10 minutes before you can go anywhere but people are so stressed and anxious. And the plane unloads from front to back and most people are courteous and respect this but once in a while there's some asshole that's way too anxious and important for that and as soon as they see a gap they shoot through, without waiting for someone who was sitting in front of them. I'm okay with waterboarding in that case.

And a lot of the time you might as well check bags today, especially if you're going to be sitting in the back. Since they started charging to check bags, people carry on more often and you end up getting screwed if they run out of space. Although, if you're in the back and they know they already ran out of space before you board, they stop you on the jetway and you check your bag right there without needing to pay. That's a lot better than finding out they're out or room the hard way by getting on the plane and struggling to find a place for your bag.

Traveling sucks but I have to say that I'm much rather do it alone. I'm relaxed when I'm by myself and another person with me can only screw that up (especially my wife).

[Mr. Met]

I generally really like people. And I always say, when you like people, NYC is the best place to be. (When you need to get away from people, not so much)

Contrary to what many people think, I believe city living brings out the best in people. Not only does it create a sense of what we have in common and "we're all in this together" (much like a vacation location), but it becomes clear to many how important the quality of one's daily human interactions is to one's sense of happiness and well being. Walking the streets and riding the subways every day, I see many more examples of strangers showing kindness and consideration and personality to one another than examples of behavior that bums me out.

I'm with Steve on this one. You'd be surprised -- if a person falls down, plenty of people are there to help them back up, call the police, make sure they're okay, etc.

On another note, I don't fly well -- I get migraines, and have to lean back. I sit in the aisle, too -- that way I don't have to be squeezed into the seat against the window. I don't have a problem if someone in front of me leans back. I figure it's part of what we've paid for.

I do have a problem if someone takes my oxygen mask during turbulence. That really pisses me off.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

I miss the days when I was able to bring a bottle of cognac on board. Fucking Al-Qaeda!

[bluenoter]

I miss the days when I was able to bring a bottle of cognac on board. Fucking Al-Qaeda!

I haven't looked at likely websites yet today, but as of yesterday, I hadn't seen a single reference to the date it will be tomorrow.

[A. Kingstone]

That asshole behind home plate waving like a desperate cab flagger with the needless hope of 'being on television'.

Why can't I reach into my TV and strangle him?

Technology fails me.