When you’re cramped on a plane with hundreds of other people for hours on end, there’s bound to be a bit of tension.
Aside from getting to your destination safely and on time, your main goal is not to be ‘that passenger’ who annoys everyone else — and invoking the ire of the cabin crew is a major no-no.
Cher Killough has been a flight attendant for the past five years, so has seen her fair share of nuisance travellers.
But there’s one pet peeve that ticks her off most; a habit that men in particular should take note to avoid.
In a TikTok video, the Dallas-based airline worker shared a list of things she believes ‘should be illegal to do’ on a plane.
Number one was manspreading, or more specifically, ‘manspreading when you’re in a middle seat.’
If you haven’t heard the term before, it refers to when people (normally inconsiderate men) sit with their knees so far apart that they take up more space than their seat allows, encroaching on people either side
‘I’ve been a passenger, and had it numerous times, where men will spread their knees all the way into my seat section or the person’s on the other side’ said Cher. ‘It’s just unacceptable.’
According to the flight attendant, it’s often shorter passengers who are guilty of this faux pas.
She added: ‘I’m 5ft 8in, so if I’m taking up just my seat section, then you as a little 5ft 6in man can definitely do the same.’
Others agreed, including Caroline who responded: ‘When they man spread in the middle, I make myself as big as possible til they get the hint.’
‘On a 12-hour flight, the guy next to me had his legs spread open so far they were taking up his seat and most of mine, and his elbow kept digging in my ribs,’ another commenter, Jess, complained, while LynnieG simply urged manspreaders to ‘Please stop!’
That wasn’t the only thing Cher called out as bad in-flight etiquette either.
Next up, she claimed wearing strong perfume on a plane should be illegal, commenting: ‘I don’t care if it’s good or bad, no-one wants to smell whatever fragrance you decided to wear today.’
‘It’s already an environment where people are prone to getting nauseous,’ she explained. ‘Having an extra fragrance on top of that is just not a good mix.’
That said, Cher did highlight that she’d rather smell perfume than body odour, so don’t think her advice means you should skip deodorant (or heaven forbid, a shower) on your travels.
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Last but not least, she said there’s ‘not a time that it’s acceptable to have your bare toes out in the cabin,’ and that sandal-wearers ‘seriously deserve to go to jail.’
What our readers think
Dan: ‘What should be illegal is being charged for extra legroom when you had no control over how tall you were going to end up.’
Jay Alva: ‘On any form of public transport the seating is designed for the average-sized person, if you are bigger or taller than that it’s tough luck.’
Edwardo Gonzalez: ‘I’ve smelt some nauseating stenches on flights before. Basic hygiene and consideration for others isn’t rocket science.’
The reason for her disgust is seeing people use the on-board toilets with exposed toes — which presumably, especially if they stand up to pee, is less than hygienic.
In the past, she called the habit of using the bathroom wearing only socks or going barefoot ‘disturbing’, since you’ll now have to spend the remaining hours of the flight in ‘soggy, pee-covered socks’.
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Apparently, this is something she sees at least once a week in her job, so it’s not an isolated quirk. And now you know about it, you’ll probably never be able to unsee it yourself.
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