Before airline deregulation, airline tickets were so expensive that most people couldn’t afford to fly. Now anyone who can buy a ticket is allowed on buses in the sky. There’s no decency requirement, and there shouldn’t be, but that doesn’t mean whatever y’all are doing up there as passengers is ok.
Among the worst things you do on a plane – that doesn’t include touching another passenger – are draping your hair over someone else’s seat back, covering their entertainment screen, and sticking your bare feet in the air or on someone else’s tray table.
But maybe the absolute worst is bare feet, clipping toenails at your seat during the flight. And instead of collecting the clippings, you just flick them off, and one lands on your seat opponent?
It can’t be too far off of that to sit at your seat painting your nails, right? Personal grooming of any kind at your seat, surrounded by hundreds of people in close proximity, is just wrong isn’t it?
An Alaska Airlines passenger flying economy from Los Angeles to Belize applied nail polish at her seat. The woman isn’t just painting her nails, she’s sending the waft of nail polish into the cabin. And she’s sitting there on the four hour forty three minute flight.
Some of you might not even mind, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok for the rest of the cabin to be subjected to it. Sadly this is not a one-off, it’s the kind of activity that many seem to feel is ok to do inside of a metal tube?
This woman painting her nails on a 3 hour plane journey.
by u/tazdoestheinternet in mildlyinfuriating
Save it for the bathroom of your hotel room or home, once the flight is over. You may be bored but bring other, productive things to occupy yourself with ok?
Too bad they weren’t painting their toe nails, or Gary could have had a twofer !
People who whine about someone doing this – if it does not interfere with them directly, should just shut up. I am tired of those who ALWAYS look for something to bitch about. Christ – get a life.
I’m sensitive to smells. When I flew most every week on DL in First (an era when First had to paid for) seemed like there was always a woman in the small cabin who, ASAP, pulled that little bottle out and started painting. “Small amounts of acetone will not hurt you. Breathing moderate to high amounts of acetone for a short amount of time can irritate your nose, throat, lungs and eyes.” ANY amount of acetone hurt me. Why in the world would an airline allow ANY paint/remover to be used while flying?
Nail polish and removers contain acetone and toluene. Both are skin irritants and respiratory irritants that can cause health effects. You do not want to be breathing these vapors. They should only be used in well ventilated places. TSA allows for very small quantities to be in carry on luggage but that doesn’t mean they should be used in flight.
If I am seated next to someone like that described in this article, I would talk to flight crew. I have two fact sheets on these substances and will show them to crew as health issue and ask that they inform the passenger to cease use.
This is not a case of “whining”. This is a health issue.
I’m really surprised that while vaping is not allowed on planes, the use of volatile combustible solvents like in nail polish is apparently ok.
This should never be permitted on a flight. This is a health concern for everyone on the flight, not to mention the pungent and irritating smell. Doing this on a flight in a confined space is the height of ignorance.
It seems the flight attendants were not being very attentive. The use of nail polish is not permitted for these very reasons .
This should be an easy one- most carriers have a clause prohibiting “malodorous” passengers; I would think this should easily qualify as in breach of that rule.
OK, we get it, there’s lots of garbage people in this world, and many of them also travel.
The world maybe your oyster. But the cabin. Is not your salon.
Why is Gary starting this article making it sound like this is all because poor people, not like him of course, are able to afford to travel?
Yes, let’s go back to very expensive plane tickets. And everything that came with them. Like the whole plane smoking and getting drunk and grabby. I’d rather have someone paint their nails than smell cigarette smoke on myself all day whether I lit up or not.
Next time someone paints their nails on your flight, share this information from the acetone safety data sheet with your friendly flight attendants. Enjoy your flight.
Classification of the substance or mixture
GHS Classification in accordance with 29 CFR 1910 (OSHA HCS)
Flammable liquids (Category 2), H225
Eye irritation (Category 2A), H319
Specific target organ toxicity – single exposure (Category 3), Central nervous system, H336
After absorption:
Headache
Salivation
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
narcosis
Coma
Other dangerous properties can not be excluded.
Handle in accordance with good industrial hygiene and safety practice.
Kidney – Irregularities – Based on Human Evidence
Skin – Dermatitis – Based on Human Evidence
Kidney – Irregularities – Based on Human Evidence
GHS Label elements, including precautionary statements
SECTION 11: Toxicological information
11.1 Information on toxicological effects
Acute toxicity
LD50 Oral – Rat – female – 5,800 mg/kg
Remarks: (ECHA)
Symptoms: Stomach/intestinal disorders, Risk of aspiration upon vomiting., Pulmonary
failure possible after aspiration of vomit.
LC50 Inhalation – Rat – 4 h – 76 mg/l – vapor
Remarks: Unconsciousness
Drowsiness
Dizziness
(External MSDS)
LD50 Dermal – Rabbit – 20,000 mg/kg
Remarks: (IUCLID)
Skin corrosion/irritation
Skin – Rabbit
Result: Mild skin irritation – 24 h
(Draize Test)
Remarks: (RTECS)
Serious eye damage/eye irritation
Eyes – Rabbit
Result: Eye irritation – 24 h
(Draize Test)
Remarks: (RTECS)
Respiratory or skin sensitization
Maximization Test – Guinea pig
Result: negative
Remarks: (ECHA)
Chronic exposure may cause dermatitis.
Germ cell mutagenicity
Test Type: Mutagenicity (mammal cell test): chromosome aberration.
Test system: Chinese hamster ovary cells
Metabolic activation: with and without metabolic activation
Method: OECD Test Guideline 473
Result: negative
Test Type: Ames test
Test system: Salmonella typhimurium
Metabolic activation: with and without metabolic activation.
There is a term for these people…”TRAILER TRASH”. Airlines are no more than glorified busses. These people are the same ones that leave their “dog squeeze” in the neighbor’s yard (not in theirs, of course!) and have no consideration for their “neighbors” isolated in the same aluminum or composite tube for HOURS. In this era of entitlement, there is no accountability for one’s personal hygiene, “let someone else pay my debt”, etc. and most of all…litigation if someone “offended me”.
Personal grooming needs to be done in private. This includes combing and brushing your hair. On a plane, go to the lavatory. If it makes you feel better, I saw a man clipping his (finger)nails in the library onboard the Seven Seas Navigator, so even they sell cabins to trash
Wear a mask if it bothers you 🙂
I re-call years ago a buddy of mine and myself were seated together on a NW flights from LAX to Detroit. A competitive bodybuilder like myself, he was in the middle of a 12 week contest prep so his diet even on airplane was pretty strict. In the middle of the flight he opened up 2 cans of tuna. Needless to say, many heads suddenly turned!
@David R Miller
Talking about whiners, your hero Chump finds something to whine about every day.
He’s the biggest whiner in the universe. Let’s go Chump!
At American, nail polish and nail polish remover are strictly prohibited in the cabin and it’s included in the flight attendant manual.
David Miller: nail polish and polish remover very much interfere with other passengers directly. It can cause serious illness for some. I wonder if the nail painter would mind if someone threw up on her as that can be 1 of the results. It is absolutely unacceptable. My husband and I were on a flight a few years back when a young woman started painting her nails. As the smell wafted throughout the cabin my husband, seated 2 rows back and across from her said in a very loud very firm voice “PUT THAT AWAY”! Which brooked no argument. She did so.