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Most Awkward Moments Of Air Travel

Most Awkward Moments Of Air Travel

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Air travel is an incredible thing – you can go to the opposite ends of a country in hours, or the other side of the world in less than a day. But for all of its marvels, there are plenty of awkward and uncomfortable moments unique to flying. And when you look at them all simultaneously, it really makes you wonder why you left the house at all…

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ThinkStockPhotos

Trying to find a ride to the airport, and realizing you aren’t as close with your friends as you thought you were
Yes, it’s a pain in the ass, has guaranteed traffic, and will take up most of their day. But remember the time you helped them move? They apparently don’t.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Realizing your luggage is overweight
And so rather than pay the absurd fee, you try to repack everything to get things under the limit. Meaning everyone in the airport is going to see your undies and that teddy bear you still travel with even though you’re 40.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Getting ready to go through the security line
You have to take off your shoes, belt, jacket, and jewelry, get the laptop out of the case you shoved into the overstuffed backpack, pull out your toiletries (with nothing weighing more than three ounces) – all while walking, and it must be done in less than one minute or you’ll receive the full wrath of your fellow passengers. Also, you have to walk around the airport barefoot. Gross.

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ThinkStockPhotos

The TSA pat down
You forgot about the stylish metal clip in your hair, so you’ve set off the alarm (also earning you the wrath of your fellow passengers) and had to be moved to the side for special screening. Get ready to be groped a bit in public and asked if you have any piercings that aren’t visible (uh…) while you helplessly watch your meticulously packed bags exit the scanner and be ruthlessly unpacked to be checked for bottled water.

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ThinkStockPhotos

The point where you realize no matter how well you plan, you’ll always end up sprinting through the airport with your bags flying everywhere as they call final boarding
You can thank traffic, shuttles that take you to the wrong terminal, lengthy security lines, or that bright idea you had to stay up all night until your flight (meaning you passed out at 5 a.m. and didn’t set the alarm), but you know this is how it is all going to end.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Sprinting to the gate and realizing your flight is delayed
Meaning that the old woman you knocked over on your mad rush is going to see you sitting at your gate, out of breath, and will most likely hit you with her cane.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Being asked to switch seats so a parent and child/couple/uncertain relationship can sit together
And undoubtedly they’re asking you to switch to a middle seat right by the bathroom with heavily overweight passengers on either side. Even worse is if they are already in your seat, assuming you’ll say yes. And while you probably will, it’s a pain to be guilted into it so a 65-year-old can sit next to his 20-something wife and play footsie for five hours.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Going to the bathroom
Most likely you’re in a window seat, meaning you’ll be inconveniencing as many people as possible. Or they’ll refuse to move, allowing for some excellent ass-to-face situations (which will be recreated multiple times on your way down the aisle). Then add in the waiting for somebody to come out who’s been in there 20 minutes, making for a stall you really don’t want to go in next.

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ThinkStockPhotos

Having a conversation with people in your row
This is uncomfortable for a variety of reasons. First of all, judging whether or not a person wants to engage can be tricky and leave you feeling like you’re being a bother. Alternately, the bother next to you clearly didn’t pick up the universal signal of headphones as a sign you really don’t want to talk. Then you’ve got the oversharer, who imparts his/her life story to a seriously inappropriate degree and you’ve got no escape because you’re in the window seat. And finally, the proximity – humans were just not meant to speak that closely to one another, and most planes don’t have in-flight Altoid dispensers.

Oh hey, Jim ThinkStockPhotos
Oh hey, Jim
ThinkStockPhotos

Getting recognized by the bartender in the airport bar
Hey, when the flight you take twice a month is somehow always delayed, you have to pass the time somehow. And you’ve already read this month’s “Cosmo” – er, I mean “Time Magazine.”