Well, the results are in and they’re definitive: We annoy each other.
After recently sharing my thoughts about the ten types of travelers who annoy my family, several ShermansTravel readers, travel colleagues, and friends responded in kind about the travelers who annoyed them. And in the spirit of continued sharing, I've excerpted my five favorite examples here.
1. Nose-blowing seatmates. “Can we talk about the people who blow their nose next to you on the airplane? Yes, thanks for the germs, and the lunch-ruining visual,” Shermans commenter Kim-Marie says. I’ll concur that even if a sneeze makes blowing your nose an urgent next step, you’ll be doing everyone a favor if you retire to the lavatory to excavate whatever's stuck in your nose. And speaking of sneezing…
2. Travelers who don’t cover their mouths. “Anyone who doesn't cover their face when they cough or sneeze” bugs Shermans commenter Connie Foggles who also takes issue with “loud talkers of any kind, people who are drunk (get a room)” as well as “rude front desk clerks or flight attendants (get a new job).”
3. People in airports who block your way. Bothersome to my travel colleague, Monika Woolsey, are people “who become slower and more disruptive to terminal passenger flow the wider and bulkier the baggage they are carrying...you know...the ones who sense you're about to veer left to go around them and veer in the same direction a millisecond before you.”
4. Loud, bragging man-children. In keeping with my objection to twenty-something men in elevators who freely curse in front of my children, Shermans commenter Jen remarked that “I will take the screaming child over the loud men on a boy’s weekend discussing the previous night’s escapades – which happened to us on our last plane ride. I almost hoped a child would start screaming and misbehaving so my children wouldn’t ask me what some of that stuff meant.”
I noted previously that since I sometimes curse in front of my children, asking others not to would make me a hypocrite. Shermans commenter Stef noted that in her case, she loves to “parent” adults who curse in the elevator.
5. Traveling parents who act out on their kids. It annoys yet another Shermans commenter, Megy Karydes, when she sees parents lashing out at their children for behaving badly when that behavior is a result of the parents not being prepared. Had the parents “simply come more prepared they could have avoided the need to raise their voice or curse at their children,” says Karydes, adding that when she travels with her family “we’ve gotten savvy about bringing snacks and water bottles with us, because you just never know when you’re going to find yourself waiting much longer than you think for a rental car or [at] a lunch counter.”
Thanks to all who took the time to reply! Feel free to keep sharing your thoughts in our comments section…
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