Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Chicago Midway found themselves sitting behind a woman with her hair draped over their seat back. They didn’t want a confrontation, but they didn’t want the woman’s hair in their face, so they sought help from a flight attendant.
According to the passengers, the flight attendant replied, “What exactly would you like me to do?”
“What do you want me to say???”
byu/Choice_Tie_8838 inSouthwestAirlines
Normally I’d suggest involving the authority of a crewmember rather than escalating a confrontation with a passenger on your own. But here it seemed like the flight attendant was saying it’s Road Warrior time. You’re on your own, with no one else to depend on. You must take matters into your own hands.
So which camp are you in?
- Say “excuse me”
- Pull the hair
- Scissors
- Dip it in coffee
- Gum
Now, honestly on Southwest Airlines this isn’t nearly as bad as on Delta or on JetBlue, since those airlines consistently offer seat back entertainment screens. The hair would be obstructing your view (and touch screen control). It’s still bad even on American, since you’re covering up the device holder that pops out of the seat back so you can watch entertainment on your own device.
Regardless of airline though this is downright wrong, and a whole new way to be awful at 30,000 feet. What would you do?
What is so difficult about saying, “Excuse me, your hair is in my way.”?
Gary the drama queen (we have to really check your man card) – if this is a “nightmare” you must live a sheltered, privileged life – so Fing sad.
I’ll pick #3. Inconsiderate jerk.
Midway – Vegas is a zoo flight with terrible behavior.
Last time I was on one there was open vaping of hash oil and and the FAs just ignored every issue that came up including helping passengers deplane due to a late arrival and missed connections.
I call it the zoo bus and will never connect that way again.
FA ignored this the same way they pretend to not see morbidity obese people who should have bought two seats. Sad that they refuse to do the job they get paid to do.
So which camp are you in?
Say “excuse me”
Pull the hair
Scissors
Dip it in coffee
Gum
SuperGlue
I would politely ask the offending passenger if she could move her hair.
Flick your bic and start an inferno!
It seems like the rational behavior is
1) Ask the person to move their hair, on the off chance that they aren’t aware
2) Just push / move the hair out of your way and onto their side of the seat
3) If it gets hostile, involve a flight attendant
To the commenters that say “scissors”, I know that this is the Internet bravado and doesn’t translate into what you would ACTUALLY do in real life, but if you did that, IANAL but I would not be surprised to see you arrested for assault.
I would say dye it an unnatural color that dosent exist in nature but she beat me to it.
If asking politely doesn’t get results, “Oops, your hair just flell into my coffee” and flip the (wet) hair back into their face (and hopefully splatter their shirt).
It’s pretty weird and inconsiderate of the woman, but the hair isn’t in the person’s way. Sure, if the plane had IFE or I had food on the tray, I would ask her politely to move her hair. If she said no, I would involve the FA.
FA don’t get paid anywhere as much as they used to. They are not on the clock until door is closed. Helping passengers with carry ons, checking & closing overhead bins, checking that everyone has seat backs up, nothing blocking aisles, etc. Then having to put up with all the happy horseshit from the passengers (drunks, assaults, being sworn at, etc.). Not a job I would do today.
I’ve seen this disgusting dead skin toss in front of me too many times. I usually think of how I wished I carried a small spider or some lice, but those uncivilized thoughts are brief and I inevitably do the “Excuse me” thing that usually is effective, but annoys the person and does little to curtail their lack of couth.
Bozos. It’s rude, period. Air travel is now permeated with the same lack of self awareness everything else is.
Ask for a snack, soak the bits in your mouth, stick them in hair.
I had this happen to me earlier this year. Long hair came flying over the back of the seat in front of me and blocked the seat back entertainment and covered everything I had on the tray. I immediately grabbed it and thew it right back over to her side. No reaction at all, and she didn’t do it a second time. My threshold for bad etiquette is very low in the cramped confines of coach.
Smelling, stroking, moaning.
Dan, shut up until you know the difference between assault and battery.
FA’s? Union scum waitresses doing what they do – nothing.
@Walter – I did say IANAL…
Is this where I return the pedantry and tell you that when you write “FA’s”, it should not have an apostrophe since it is plural and not possessive?
I mean I do hope that you can agree with me that approximately 0% of the keyboard warriors in this comment section would actually literally cut someone’s hair with scissors if this happened to them?
Sometimes I have duct tape with me on a flight…to use at my destination. But I’d pull it out and just duct tape the hair to the seat and get another cocktail (make it a double) and sit back and wait for the show to begin. That would be my inflight entertainment! LOL
I can understand why they don’t want confrontation. The FIGHT attendant would probably kick both off them off the flight.
Coughing spell. Long, sounding very moist and germ-filled.
Why is it so hard for an FA to say “Excuse me but passengers need to keep inside their own space” to correct overhanging hair, manspreading, obese spillover and everthing else. Passengers should not have to risk comfrontations that could turn ugly. FAs don’t want to risk it either but it is their job.
Live and let live seems to be conspicuously absent in these comments. If a little hair draped over a seat gets your panties in a wad then you aren’t fit for public spaces. Why is everyone so interested in being a douche? As if every last stinking one of you has never ever unknowingly been in someone else’s way! So many double digits out and about who are completely coarse and uncivilized. Shame on you!
I liked the suggestion of asking if the carpet matches the drape. Generally relatively short hair like that wouldn’t be a problem for me as long as I didn’t want to rest leaning forward (which I sometimes do due to my back aching.)
I would stroke stroke stroke that silky auburn hair. Natural consequences, mahlady.
No excuse me. Simply say your hair is in my space. They are being rude, you must be unapologetically direct. And firm.
I’d start accidentally kicking the seat just like I’ve had happen a million times by annoying children. Make her trip as annoying to her as it is to you.
I would get up to go to the bathroom and pull myself up by grabbing onto the seat in front of me. When she screamed I would just say sorry and be on my way.
First 5 seconds: “Excuse me hi you’re hair is in my seat area, please move it thank you.”
First minute: “Flight attendant please fix this.”
Second minute: “I’ll be using my hygenie products in a moment including hair gel, deodorant, toothpaste and neosporin…oh and polish remover (gotta get some I guess), SURE hope I don’t get any in your hair accidentally.”
After this, coughing and sneezing loudly right at her hair AND her seatback to support my tablet thus pinch her hair…all accidental thus no criminal charges. I would go on the entire flight and make it my life’s work for those hours.
I’d take a poll on the flight for worst things to get in your hair.
Many years ago I was a Management Rep on the flight crew. I probably had to politely ask these rude passengers 20+ times to bring their hair back over the seatback & they did without confrontation. Having said that, it was a much different time in the airline industry & the world! There was no Internet & social media for people to develop their rude & violent character.
As a passenger, traveling all over the world, I’ve only had it happen once & I handled it the same way with the same uneventful result.
I have to admit the other options might make for a more exciting flight but 99% of us would only fantasize about it in our imagination.
In order of escalation:
1. Ask the person attached to the hair to contain it on their side of the seat.
2. Ask the flight attendant to insure the owner of the hair kept it on their side of the seat.
3. Amuse myself for the duration of the flight by ascertaining the total amount of in-flight food and snacks a given length of hair was able to support. (There’s probably a Guinness Book of Records entry on this somewhere.)
TSA would confiscate your scissors, so you’ll have to use your words. Or gum….
It’s sad that society is so passive aggressive now. You can’t just be direct and ask them to move their hair? If they refuse, then you escalate. If FA doesn’t help, then I’d say repeatedly petting her hair is warranted.
I vote gum.
Some people intentionally do this. I think for attention? Or if there’s altercation they can ask the airline for a free pass. We don’t know if they’re just plain jerks.
I would say, excuse me your dirty hair has bugs crawling.
All the people saying to apply glue, hair dye, etc. are being unrealistic since they are unlikely to have those things. But Purell! Don’t we all carry that? I’d just say I was disinfecting the area in front of my seat.
I prolly wouldn’t do anything. The older I get the more tolerant I get. I choose my battles and that hair is short enough that it would annoy me, but not long enough that I can claim it actually interferes with my flight. To me it isn’t worth the possible negative reaction. Of course I am one of those people who never recline their seat if they have someone sitting behind them, which most always there is someone sitting behind me.
What would I do? Continue to avoid flying Southwest!
Excuse me, just wanted to say your hair is gorgeous and sexy. Would it bother you if I stroked it some and snuggled up against it? 🙂
This is a denial of space issue, not far different as a “spillover” situation I experienced .I once was on a 3.5 hour flight with someone sitting in about 1/3 of my space (he consumed 1-1/3;of his seat). I lasted 20 minutes before physically and mentally I couldn’t continue. I tapped a message in my phones texting field asking the FA for “ANY RELIEF” and offered it to the FA, at which point they were able to relocate me. Not that they would have offered – mind you (obviously not my travel partner), but upon my identifying the issue they graciously found a solution. I never spoke to the person next to me, and they never apologized for any unpleasantness I may have experienced. Give the FA an opportunity to perform, and if they don’t/cannot, then document and file a negligence claim or suit for a rebate.
The first act is to ask the FA if they could ask the jerk in front to move the hair in a voice loud enough for the jerk to hear. If the FA gives the “not my job” response, then ask in a loud voice “then I’m free to fondle it,” as you stroke it.
Nightmare? It would be Biden’s dream.
These woman do this so when you ask them to move their hair they can call you a racist. You know the ones I’m talking about, the one’s with black privilege, always a problem.
One obvious solution… Ask to switch seats, with a hyperactive 4 year old!
Bubble gum
Wait a minute…
Why is no one asking: Why do some people think that it is acceptable to place their hair over the top of the seat back.
Is there anyone here that does that? If so, why?
I’ve seen a few of these stories, but no one ever says why the hair draper feels that they have the right to do this.
I would just let it go, and upon deplaning, be sure to tell her to have a nice day. Why not add a bit of kindness to the world?
Why not address this as part of pre-take off announcements? Simply have the flight attendant tell passengers that long hair over the head restraint is not permissible. Then it’s easier to address if it happens during flight. Honestly and unfortunately, some people don’t get it and they need to be told.