Annoying plane passengers podcast Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Kate: Hi Drew! Nice to see you! How was your trip? Drew: Oh my trip was great but I'm absolutely exhausted. Kate: How come? Drew: Oh, 'cause I had a terrible flight back. Kate: Why's that? Drew: Well, because there was a group of really rowdy passengers on board. One of them even started a fist fight and had to be subdued by the crew. Kate: Oh, no... that's awful. How unlucky! What happened? Drew: Well, problems really started at the boarding gate, even before we got on the plane. There was this group of guys who were already well oiled. They'd obviously had one too many drinks, you know? So, well, the ground staff told them to stop trying to jump the queue as they tried to push their way into the line for first-class passengers when they had economy-class tickets. Kate: Oh dear. Did they become aggressive? Drew: Not at that point. They just made a lot of noise about it. The real trouble came about later on, when were in mid-Atlantic... Kate: Go on. Drew: Well, they'd obviously made the connecting flight in Miami from Cuba, as they were going on about the great time they'd had in Varadero. They'd taken their trainers off and obviously hadn't taken a shower for some time... Kate: How disgusting! They sound like the typical passengers from hell, noisy, with smelly feet and body odour...Were you sitting near them? Drew: Unfortunately I was. The real problems began when they started to kick the seats of the passengers in the row in front. Kate: Why on earth did they do that? Drew: Oh, just for the hell of it! Kate: And what happened then? Drew: Well, the woman who was sitting in front of them, told them several times to knock it off. Kate: And I imagine they took no notice and went on kicking her seat... Drew: You guessed it! Kate: So what happened then? Drew: Well, when she'd had enough, she suddenly stood up, turned around and slapped one of the guys across the face. Kate: Good for her! Drew: Do you really think so? It just made things worse. Kate: Well, I can just imagine how irritated she must have felt. Drew: Me too, but all she achieved was that her husband ended up with a bloody nose... Kate: Oh no! Why's that? Drew: Well, because one of the guys stood up and punched him in the face... Kate: Oh my god! That's dreadful and how dangerous! Drew: Well, I have to say that the cabin crew were very quick off the mark and managed to subdue the two guys before they could cause any more trouble. They told them that if they didn't behave, they'd spend the rest of the flight locked up in one of the toilets and that the police would be waiting for them in Madrid to escort them off the plane. Kate: And did that do the trick? Drew: Oh yes. They were as quiet as mice for the rest of the flight. Kate: Thank goodness for that. And what about the poor husband with the bloody nose? Drew: Well, fortunately it was nothing serious and the purser moved him and his wife into first class to make up for the incident and keep them happy. Kate: It's incredible how irritable people get when they're flying. It seems that incidences of air rage are becoming more and more common. Drew: Well, it's hardly surprising really, especially with low cost airlines that give you practically no personal space. If you're tall, like me, it's impossible to sit down in most rows 'cause I just can't get my legs in. I always have to sit in the row over the wings where there's an emergency exit and often pay extra for that. Kate: Yeah, my husband has to do the same. I usually try to get a window seat myself. Otherwise, the chances are you spend the whole flight getting up and down to let out the passengers sitting next to you so that they can go to the loo. Drew: Yeah, I know. And it's really irritating when they lean on the back of your seat when they're getting up and down. One thing I can't stand is having a really chatty person next to me, giving me a rundown of their life story, when all I want to do is read, or listen to music or sleep. Kate: Yes, I know what you mean. In my case, what really gets my goat is when I can hear the person next to me crunching crisps or peanuts. Or when they order, or what's worse, BRING their own really smelly food - sometimes it makes me feel quite queasy. Drew: Well, I once had just the opposite problem. Kate: How come? Drew: Well, once I had a lady sitting next to me who decided to try out all the perfumes on offer in the in-flight magazine. You can't imagine the stink! Kate: Yes, she must have caused quite a pong. Did she buy any of them? Drew: No, she didn't. I don't know how the cabin attendants put up with people like that. Kate: Yes, they have to be really patient. Look at the people that try to stuff their hand luggage and duty frees any how into the overhead lockers or jump up to get their stuff out so as to be the first off the plane, even though they are told time and time again to wait until the aircraft has stopped completely. Drew: Yeah. It's ridiculous. I think a lot of people don't really respect flight attendants and consider them as glorified waiters when they are really there for passengers' safety. Kate: Yes, you're probably right. But what is clear is that we all seem to find the same things irritating when we fly. I remember reading an article, not so long ago, that said that air rage is often triggered when economy class passengers board the plane at the front of the aircraft and have to walk through the first class section. Drew: Why's that? Kate: Well, apparently people feel a sense of inequality and it unconsciously stresses them out. I remember it said that it makes economy class travellers feel like cattle and this can then lead to fits of air rage. Drew: Really? I'd never thought about that, but whatever the reasons it appears that we all get annoyed when we fly and can all be annoying for other passengers at the same time. Kate: So it would seem. Drew: If you have found this podcast interesting, at the end of the transcript you will find the link of the CNN article about the World's most annoying plane passengers that's mentioned in the conversation. Bye for now! http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/airplane-etiquette-study- annoying-passengers-expedia-2017/index.html We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!