Was I an asshole?

[wazup]

Many months ago I took a jet airways flight back from TL, there was a shorter flight from bkk to mumbai i think, it was a few hours in length. There was several pockets of noticable body odour in different areas of the seating area including close to me. I complained quite loudly and often about it during the flight, near the end of the flight a stewardess walked through the seating area spraying air freshener, the pilot came on and said it was air regulations to do so, first time I've heard of that.

The flight landed and I complained again that it was unacceptable to have to fly in those conditions as I paid full price, and that it's a smell they might have gotten used to but I shouldn't have to put up with it. I also told her that air freshener is useless as BO is on the body and no amount of disinfectant would help. I demanded a refund but they refused, saying it wasn't their fault if people stunk, to which I responded they should have a policy in place for it. Is this stuff you would put up with and keep quiet about or say something about?

 

[TESLAMotors]

Nope you weren't.

Do these people, yes I said these people, not realize or truly care about their hygiene?
FFS.

 

[wazup]

I have flown a lot and never really experienced it before but anyone that flies always is concerned about this and sitting beside fat people, I've been lucky with both.

 

[TESLAMotors]

Personally, I would say something. I call out people in the washroom who don't wash their hands after they take a piss.
Seriously, it's disgusting and other people will be exposed to that by touching a door, pushing a button, etc, etc.

Although, they might get heated if you mention they smell and who knows if they'll get violent. lol

 

[LeeHelm]

Welcome to the Greyhound of the air.

Part of the solution is to charge more to keep the great unwashed from flying. But I guess rich people can stink too.

 

[basketcase]

I find if you have to ask, then the answer is usually yes.

But asshole or not, you are withing your rights to complain. Doubt you'll get a full refund though.

 

[notthemama]

This happened to me about 20 years ago.
I was flying home from London.
We had only taken off and the jet was having technical issues and would have to land in Glasgow. Nothing noticeable to us passengers but better they take care of it. 45minutes to an hour they said initially. We wouldn't be getting off the plane.
Sitting next to me was a man of East Indian heritage and around the plane many of his countrymen.
It was a hot day, we weren't connected to power and the only fresh air was the open doors.
Not to sound rude but Haji enjoyed food of strong pungent tastes and aromas. In the heat these were emanating from his pores in ever increasing volumes. Additionally he had never been introduced to a flake of soap, forget a bar.
After several hours there were no drinks or food and the toilets were unapproachable.
Now we weren't being let off because we would have to clear customs as there was no secure waiting area for us to stay in.
I'm convinced the airline didn't want to pay for a terminal as the service was being done out on a runway.
Just before takeoff 8 hours later they sent out the cleaners and brought food.
With the stench I could only have the luke warm water.
Buddy and his countrymen got off mostly in Montreal. He may have left but his STINK was still resting comfortably in his seat.
I guess they must be so used to it they don't notice it.
Several years later I hopped into a cab driven, I'm sure by his brother, in Toronto. I had to get out as quickly as I got in. The smell made me relapse to the flight. He yelled at me that I had to pay the min fee. I told him I'd send it to him in an equal value of soap.
I've travelled all over the world and had my poor western nose assaulted by many unpleasant smells, but nothing like on that flight.

 

[explorerzip]

I suspect the airlines are powerless to do much since they can't remove a paying customer from a flight unless they're a security threat. They also can't move you to another seat if the plane is full. That would also wouldn't be fair for the other passenger that had to sit next to the Mr. Stinky. It does amaze me on how some people out there don't look after their personal hygiene and some work in restaurants!

I honestly don't know what I would do in that situation. If the smell was so oppressive, I might take a later flight (assuming there's no penalty and one available.) If there was no other choice and I just wanted to get home, then I'd probably just put up with it. No sense screwing up my day for another person. I probably wouldn't bother with alerting the stewards either since it's their job to manage the cabin air quality and not me.

You may want to call the airline's customer service to see what they can do. They likely won't do much since customer service sucks monkey balls these days. The only other thing you can do is vote with your wallet and pick another airline.

 

[explorerzip]

Welcome to the Greyhound of the air.

Part of the solution is to charge more to keep the great unwashed from flying. But I guess rich people can stink too.

Sadly, a lot of airlines are like this. Worst of them has to be Sunwing. Had friends take them twice and never again because of garbage left all over the place.

 

[Titalian]

Personally, I would say something. I call out people in the washroom who don't wash their hands after they take a piss.
Seriously, it's disgusting and other people will be exposed to that by touching a door, pushing a button, etc, etc.

Although, they might get heated if you mention they smell and who knows if they'll get violent. lol

Theres an old joke to that Tes.

One day an older executive walks into a wash room and sees a a young intern of the company
ready to walk out without cleaning his hands and expresses " You know young man, I was taught
in my senior years in college to always cleanse my hands after urinating". The young man looked
at him in dismay and said " Really, but during my kindergarten years, I was taught how not to piss
on my hands"

 

[wazup]

I find if you have to ask, then the answer is usually yes.

But asshole or not, you are withing your rights to complain. Doubt you'll get a full refund though.

Not the case at all, I usually don't regret my actions, just like to see what others would do, most people don't say anything, i usually don't go too far just like to make a point.

I like to hear from random strangers i'll never meet, see what others would do,

 

[TESLAMotors]

Theres an old joke to that Tes.

One day an older executive walks into a wash room and sees a a young intern of the company
ready to walk out without cleaning his hands and expresses " You know young man, I was taught
in my senior years in college to always cleanse my hands after urinating". The young man looked
at him in dismay and said " Really, but during my kindergarten years, I was taught how not to piss
on my hands"

Never heard that one before, not old enough, but, that said, you're still touching your dick.

 

[Titalian]

Never heard that one before, not old enough, but, that said, you're still touching your dick.

Oh I don't know, I unzip open the trap and it comes out. case closed ! But yes I do wash my hands. LOL

 

[basketcase]

Never heard that one before, not old enough, but, that said, you're still touching your dick.

I scrub my dick regularly with soap, water or just spit. When I was younger I used to scrub it several times a day.

Other factors is a) urine is sterile, and b) I know where my dick has been.

 

[tml]

Just curious do these "smelly" passangers offend people of their own "ethnicity", or is it considered normal to them? In other words, if you were on a plane with many people like this guy would you be the offensive one?

 

[TESLAMotors]

I scrub my dick regularly with soap, water or just spit. When I was younger I used to scrub it several times a day.

Other factors is a) urine is sterile, and b) I know where my dick has been.

I remember watching a reality show about the S.A.S. and survival tips, the one thing that "stood out" so to speak, was the retired S.A.S. guy saying you could drink your own urine if you haven't had anything to drink for awhile.
The only thing was, you could only drink it immediately and could not store it for later to drink.

As for it being sterile, differing views. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/turns-out-urine-isnt-actually-sterile-180954809/?no-ist
http://www.webmd.com/news/20140519/sterile-urine-may-be-a-myth


I'm fairly confident that if someone who you knew never had sex, ever, touched their dick, then touched your cell phone, that you would sanitize your phone, before dropping them on the floor for touching it.
Just sayin'.....

 

[Wild Wiglin Willie]

Something like that happened to me about 15 years ago. I was flying trans Atlantic to the UK. There was this loud mouth jerk that was screaming that his seat smelled like barf, he just went on and on till they moved him to another seat. I asked the stewardess if there were other seats available as I would also like to move to another seat if possible. The stewardess told me the smell was spilled milk but she would see what she do about moving me. They moved me and a Brit lady of about 32-34 years old up to first class. The food was much better and you could have better drinks. The seats were 50% wider up in first class. I hit it off with the Brit lady and she was excellent company during the flight.
Around that time it came out in the news that sitting too long on a flight can cause blood clots. I took several walks around the plane during the flight and saw the loud mouthed shmuck in the back of economy class near the toilets. I did not tell him that thanks to him I was up front in first class.

 

[Titalian]

Geezz you don't have to be on a flight to notice this, you can smell these people grocery shopping for gawd sakes, and I mean black, white, Indian whatever.

 

[fuji]

Jet Airways is a low cost Indian airline, you can assume the majority of passengers were Indians seeking el cheapo fares, the OP was also clearly flying on the cheap.

 

[fuji]

On hand washing, the issue isn't urine, it is e. coli.

Apologies for the unpleasantness but it seems some people need to hear this:

Your genital area tends to be warm and sweaty. Sweat also trickles down the crack of your ass. E.coli and other pathogens from your ass can then migrate and replicate throughout the whole area, living in the moist warm sweat.

When you pee you touch that are and now have these pathogens from your ass on your fingers.

This is why

A) you wash your hands after you pee, and

B) you shower and wash up before sex