Respect Your Fellow Traveler

As I was walking down the concourse in Santiago Chile the night before last, I was passed by a fellow traveler who was in so much of a hurry that the bag he was dragging behind him almost snagged my computer briefcase and snatched it out of my hand. I watched him as he hurried up to the gate, pushed past a few people who were standing near the gate and planted himself near the front of the line. Not once did he slow down to even acknowledge that he had run into me. Obviously he was important and a Business Class traveler who was determined to be first in line to board the airplane. And he was about to board MY flight.

I boarded when Business Class boarding was announced, waiting for the initial rush of Business Class passengers to push ahead. As in almost all Latin American countries everyone was briefly delayed as each passenger's carry-on bags were searched by local security personnel. As I sauntered past, I noticed that the important "bag dragger" was being detained and both his briefcase and his drag-aboard were being inspected with a bit more interest than usual. I walked onto the airplane and found my seat, 5B, left hand side, one seat between me and the window.

International Business Class provides travelers with plenty of leg room. American Airlines advertises up to 5 feet of space between seats. I was standing in front of my seat (out of the isle to let other people pass) when I was pushed, ever so slightly, from behind. I glanced at the seat between me and the window and saw that my traveling companion for the night was going to be the important "bag dragger". GREAT!! This guy managed to ignore the fact that I was standing there and start unpacking his briefcase, take off his jacket, rearrange everything about his seat, inspect the menu for the evening's dinner and only bang into me 5 more times. No thank-yous or even an acknowledgment that I was there. I stepped out into the isle and put my briefcase into the overhead compartment, sat down, and had the pleasure of seeing the important "bag dragger" pull his drag-aboard into the isle, hoist it and discover that the overhead compartment was now full. Pay-backs can be Hell. He muttered something, then retreated to his seat and shoved his bag under the seat in front of him. His last act of arrogance during the boarding process was to take the evening's menu to a flight attendant at the front of the cabin and, obviously make a special request regarding his desires for dinner. (I think he was wanting to reserve his selection since it is possible that an airline will run out of certain popular selections.) The flight attendant let him know that she couldn't take his order at that time and he would have to take his turn at ordering after takeoff. As he came back to his seat he uttered the first words of the evening that I could actually understand, "That sucks big time!"

Fortunately, it was an overnight flight and I didn't have to deal with him except to ignore his snoring and know that, according to Bo, MY snoring had to be worse than his. I hope he woke up during the night while I snored away.