On Thanksgiving Day Janelle Elise Flom posted a video to TikTok of a woman tossing her hair over the back of her airplane seat and over the screen of the person sitting behind her. The video has been viewed over 107 million times because the passenger seated behind her takes matters into her own hands, vigilante style.
First the passenger throws the woman’s hair back back over the seat back. Now they’re in a game of tit-for-tat, and the hair gets tossed right back. And that’s when things get out of control, as the passenger whose space is invaded by hair sticks chewing gum into the hair. Then she cut off some of the hair using nail clippers. And sticks a lollipop into the hair. And dips the hair in coffee.
The video has been liked nearly 11 million times. You can see a flight attendant walk by, but doesn’t stop to intervene.
@janelleelise Whose side are you on?! ##ohno ##toxic ##drama ##airplane ##travel ##GivingThanks
And my take is,
- Situations like this do happen
- But I’d bet this one is staged
It just so happens it’s caught on video and shared by a power TikToker? And the passenger sitting behind the hair just so happens to have the tools to clip the hair, and not just gum but a lollipop? The odds of this all working out seem low. Still, it speaks to something we all feel sitting in the confined space of an economy cabin when another passenger violates norms and invades our limited space, captured by the comment “I fully support their actions.”
A passenger hanging their hair over their seat back, in front of the passenger (and their TV screen, if not flying American) behind them always creates a social media stir. And it immediately prompts fiendish dreams of cutting off the passenger’s hair with a pair of scissors.
Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22B. You've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet. pic.twitter.com/VWTPMI5JrM
— Dante Ramos (@danteramos) March 29, 2016
At the very least the takeaway here is always bring nail clippers, gum and a lollipop.. just in case.
It’s staged, but serves as a warning to those who may consider putting their hair over the seat back!
Same name as the woman with the marriage proposal. I wonder if that was a set-up as well.
@ Gary — Yeah, staged.
All that aside, the alleged perpetrator in this video decided to use her mask as a chin-guard. Social distancing and masking be damned, apparently.
I’m guessing this is okay because the Astral HEPA Gale will make the Covid “extremely unlikely” to catch.
Ok, staged? Maybe. But I’ve had sassy little skanks do that onto my food tray. They thinks it’s funny. Too bad we cant pack a scissors anymore.
Why social media should be A: removed or B: regulated. Isn’t it amazing that the rise of facebook and other social channels has paralleled the rise of in rude and inappropriate behavior in this country.
I hope your proud of yourself Mark. . .time to take back the country from the far left, the far right and the manor-less people in those groups.
Some years ago I had a similar experience. We were fairly close to our destination when the woman in front of me did a similar hair flip. There was no IFE screen to cover but her hair was long enough to almost reach the open tray table. So I closed and latched it. She did squeal when she moved her head forward a couple of minutes later.
Don’t mess with frequent flyers!
Staged, but good enough for Fox to make a reality show out of.
Social media has no real value, just a place for pretenders and crackpots to play with themselves.
Fake. They’re both in on it and she’s wearing a wig.
I refuse to click the video, but I’m here to +1 @sunviking82. Social media gives a voice to all of us — but the majority of us — I’d say at least 80% — do not actually deserve to be heard. At best, we have nothing worthwhile to say. At worst, we ignite lies and misbehavior that spreads into the physical world.
Thanks Jason! I work in marketing for the past 30 years and the rise of the social channel has been the biggest PITA! I dream of the days of print, radio and TV (with 3 channels 🙂
I felt it was fake and left the page. Came back here to comment and found that almost everyone agreed.
But he got his clicks.:), as usual.
#fakenews. This fake news falls in line with all the liberal BS spewed from this site.
Fake or not these social media influencers get their status and paychecks from eyes on the screen. I know of one who is pretty small potatoes yet earns north of $500k annually from it. It’s just plain disgusting yet this is how the internet has functioned since nearly day 1. It’s how Google paid so much for YouTube, it’s all about unique views and how to serve more ads.
For the first time since the late sixties, my hair, uncut since January, is getting long enough to do this; I don’t plan on trying it though…
No wonder AA is ripping out their video screens
@Sunviking82 & Jason. Y’all have something that is lacking with the 80% referenced . . . WISDOM. Thanks for the post.
Lee
joanie adams: Per TSA.gov, scissors “less than 4 inches from the pivot point” are allowed in carry-ons.
I have a Swiss Army Classic Knife that at my request had the knife blade removed (and replaced by a small ruler) by Victorinox (no cost other than mailing to them) when the prohibition started. It still has the small very pointy scissors and I’ve carried it on commercial flights ever since. For the first year or 2 I placed it CLOSED in a small round screening tray and often a TSA agent would take it out and hold it up and say “you cannot take this”. I’d say “there’s no knife blade”, the agent would then check and hand it back to me. Since then, I’ve opened all the parts before placing in the tray and it’s not been questioned. (I did have to beg a supervisor to return it to me in Bahrain, he did so surreptitiously while I was waiting in the post-screening area, since then I don’t carry it on some international flights.) Victorinox Swiss Army Jetsetter is a current “knife”, keychain sized, without a blade.
Years ago a private pilot laughed at me for carrying a knife without a knife blade. Now I can tell him it’s also to cut hair that’s blocking my video screen.
That is so disrespectful. Staged or not.
People doing this, lack discipline, kindness towards others, and common sense.
Why do people have to act like @$$3$ on flights, just be courteous to others and follow the Airline’s rules and regulations.
I sat behind a lady with a cowboy hat on a talk show filming once. The nerve! Be aware of your surroundings people!
Question, why do they put their hair over theirs seats in the first place? I have long hair and I don’t see the point. I braid my hair over 1 shoulder when I fly only because I don’t want the strands bothering my husband or whoever is in the seats by me. Plus, with all of the running to gates, running to the rentals, etc my hair won’t get badly tangled.
So if anyone knows what the reason is for their hair violating your “air space”, I’d love to know.
Fake or not, if this ever happens to me I plan on tapping the person on the shoulder and informing them I am about to become airsick. I bet they not only remove their hair super fast, but they gather it into a tight bun or pony and keep it close to their head! Either that or I’ll remove my wig (I wear one every day) and place it on top of the offending hair! Hmmph!