REVIEW

Mind Your Manners, travellers!

 

I was of the view that Punjabis are perhaps the noisiest travellers until I encountered a big group of Chinese tourists during my vacation in the Maldives. Such is the reputation of Chinese tourists all over the world, that China had to tell its tourists to mind their manners!

I know it is unfair to stereotype when one encounters ill-mannered tourists everywhere — one who loves to shout and scream, one who loves to break the queue, one who will force you to listen to his conversations, you get the drift.

Isn’t encountering these trouble makers on airplane is the worst travel curse! I remember the honeymooning couple sitting next to me on the last seat on my flight to Chennai. Love was in the air quite literally for them! Needless to say, their making out session wasn’t a bit “aww so cute”. Clearly, their manners took flight long before they did, much to my misery. [Sadly, it was a full flight, boohoo].

So, here’s a guest post paying an ode to the travellers who forget to pack their manners along. Sheena Aggarwal, Image Consultant, Urbanista Image Consultancy LLP, shares some basic (but easily forgotten) travel etiquette:

Low fares have made air travel accessible to a lot of newbie travelers. As happy as I am about that, there are some rules that everyone must know of. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for all travellers:

Do’s

1)     Wait Before Reclining: Reclined seats are the only thing in an Airline where one can get a few inches of extra leg room. But wait! Do your backseat neighbour a little favour by waiting just a few minutes before reclining.

2)     Arm Rest : Arm rest space is very limited in Airplanes and is split 50/50. If you think your neighbour is stealing your share then gently nudge the elbow and claim your stake.

3)     Stay Calm and Polite: While you are relaxing in your seat, you feel a piercing jolt in the middle of your back. And before you could know the reason, it happens again. Kindly stand up and politely ask the adult to control the kicking child. And if that doesn’t work, an evil eye between the seats will do the work! [May I add, please control your cranky kid too!]

4)     Packing Travel Essentials: Pack all your essentials in clear plastic cases. This will help the security to see what you’ve got without having to open a case and touch your stuff.

5)     Carry necessary travel documents: Make sure that you have all of your travel documents before leaving home. This will include airline tickets or boarding passes, passports (if required), and a valid government issued Photo I.D.

Don’ts

1)     Grumping: Delays are quite inevitable with airlines. Yelling at staff members and being rude to fellow passengers would not serve any purpose. Therefore stay calm and co-operate and things will definitely fall in place.

2)     Boozing: Some people are greatly fascinated with mini wine bottles, so much so that they carry it along with them even in the flights. What people forget is that as you move up, the supply of oxygen falls and booze hits hard and fast.

3)     DJ in flight:. We understand that travels can be boring when you don’t have much option of keeping yourself entertained. Also, we love listening to music while travelling. But it can be possible even without holding a karaoke contest inside the flight.

4)     Questionable Items: Avoid packing questionable items in your luggage and save yourself the trouble. If you aren’t sure of a particular item, better play it safe.

 5)      Luggage Unlimited: Do not stuff your bags into overhead compartments crush the items into other bags. There’s a reason why carry-on luggage is limited.

[Adding to this, patience to wait for to get the luggage while landing is, I think, one wisdom we badly need. Just don’t understand the rush to save 10 seconds and create a bigger chaos!]

Purva is the co-founder of Blue Sky Dreamers. A journalist with 11 years of experience, she also freelances as a content writer & editor.

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