A man tries to cut you in a drive thru line. What do you do?

[Stadler]

I've witnessed similar situations with parents not wanting to be away from their kids. However, every time they asked nicely for people to switch seats. Heck, I love my window seats and I gave it up once to let a family sit together.

So it was the 2 parents and 2 kids? and they had 3 front row seats? Why not have 1 parent with 2 kids and the other parent by themselves?

EXACTLY.  I fly A LOT, and while I greatly prefer the aisle, if someone asks me, 99% of the time I will switch, even if that means a center seat.  I've flown with kids, and I get it.  I hate it, but I get it.  If the mom or dad sat in the seats with the kids, and said "hey, if we can engineer a switch to row 4, are you willing to move?"  I'd've been, "CERTAINLY".  It never even was an option. They just commandeered the fourth row and weren't interested in negotiation or discussion (and like I said, I only found out later that this was what was what; the mom did ask me what my seat was, but never came back up. As police and gate agents got involved, I stayed out of it, and was never asked to move; that's why I added the part about my seat having switched; the gate agent and I knew each other and had a decent conversation that lasted a good 10 minutes.  If me moving would have de-escalated, he knew he could ask me, but it never came up).

Honestly, I think the request to remove came from the captain (I heard mumblings of that when the police were on; they were all standing right in front of me as I was in Seat 1A.  These people were delaying the process and I think he wanted nothing to do with a shit-show flight to Hartford on a Saturday night.

[Stadler]

It's not like they were spread out over the plane.
1 parent with the 2 kids and 1 parent in another seat. If it was a long flight they could have switched which parent was with the kids.

 

SG, I've made that switch with families 100 times if I've done it once.  The guy and the gal behind me - who weren't together as far as I could gather - both said the same thing, they would have switched in a heartbeat. 

and "have you no soul? (while crying)". 

Call me callous but I lol'd hard at this part.

Nothing callous about it; in listening to her, I could see the dawning realization that "uh oh, they're not playing" at that point.   I didn't say a single word the entire time, just watched, but that was the closest I came to saying anything.   

And honestly, it never occurred to me to film it. I didn't see anyone else filming either.

[cramx3]

I dont understand why that family thought it was OK to "figure it out".  I've been asked and agreed to switch seats for families so kids can be close to parents and whatnot, but it seems they just assumed it would work out in their favor without actually being nice about it.  So ridiculous to think the plane is all about them and a bit shocked they just didn't take their seats.  Was it really worth it?

[Samsara]

I'd have blocked him out if I could, if I was confident it wouldn't escalate from there.

Same, with a loud "a-hole" out the window.

35 years ago, I would have honked, flipped him off, and mouthed off big time and begged him to get out of his car.

[Stadler]

I'd have blocked him out if I could, if I was confident it wouldn't escalate from there.

Same, with a loud "a-hole" out the window.

35 years ago, I would have honked, flipped him off, and mouthed off big time and begged him to get out of his car.

Sir, we're going to have to ask you to leave the plane. 

[Ben_Jamin]

It seems that the parents were already Frustrated from the get go. I bet anything that they were already Frustrated and angry when they woke up from having to wake the kids up, get them dressed and to the airport. All this escalates into the resolution, which is to just get home.

Unfortunately, it seems that was not the case and everything that would go wrong went wrong for them.

I find it hilarious though, because they're assuming of "we'll figure it out" did figure itself out by them being the cause and them escalating it to the point where the staff figured it out for them and kicked them off the plane.


Now, I do wonder what occurred in the aftermath. If they continued their Frustrated anger to the police or if it escalated to the point where one of the parents got arrested.

This is what I mean with regards to people being Frustrated and responding to that frustration. These people expected others to feel sorry for them because they had kids, while disregarding the rules of flights.

Also, why didn't anyone else just get up and explain to them your solution of "One parent in the single seat and the other with the two kids." If someone had kindly spoken up and offered this advice. Maybe they would have realized, "Hey, that's a good idea". But since they were already in a frustrated state of mind, that idea and thought likely never occurred to them at all. All they wanted was to go home and expected others to feel sorry for them, without explaining why others should be accommodating to them.

This is a situation that has many factors to why it escalated and it's something that fascinates me due to how human behavior and response is in these situations. Like how people would rather not deal with it and let's the situation escalate to the point it did. Not only could the passengers offered up their seats by jumping up and saying, "Fuck it, you can my seats to be closer to your kids".

It's a two way situation and the outcome is dependent on everyone on that plane.

I've been on flights where some kids were sitting a few rows from their parents. And they would holler to them if they were okay. Or get up and check on them when we were able to get up from our seats.

Frustration and Anger are emotions that humans need to learn how to handle when situations do not turn out how one expects them to be. That is because the world does not cater to no one, and humans should not expect everything to go their way all the time.

[Chino]

Trying to cut in front on the highway.

https://v.redd.it/hdi9uekp3rk91

[SwedishGoose]

https://youtu.be/E673jKTBPMQ (Magnum -Only in America)

[Skeever]

Trying to cut in front on the highway.

https://v.redd.it/hdi9uekp3rk91

That's exactly why you gotta let the guy merge.

[hefdaddy42]

Trying to cut in front on the highway.

https://v.redd.it/hdi9uekp3rk91

Well, the perception of risk of this happening is clearly irrational.

[cramx3]

That video makes me so mad.  I deal with assholes like that (the driving on shoulder to pass people and then trying to cut in, not the gun part) on a daily basis.  I would have probably been so mad already by the time he pulled the gun that I'd hit the gas and cut right into him risking my life.    And maybe this is because I had a bit a road rage this morning on my way in and am still annoyed with how poor people drive and how unaware of their settings people generally are. 

[El Barto]

SO.... not drive through, but I thought even though this was a travel issue, it fit this conversation better.  I'm sure it will spill into the P/R thread too.   

I flew home from Florida on Saturday.  Had a 6:30 flight from Sarasota, direct to Hartford. I was in the ass end, with only carry on, so I asked the guy at the desk for a seat closer to the front. He said, I have first row, and I'll let you board with Zone 1 so you can put your bag up.  Deal!   I'm basically first on the plane, after two families.  One family was waiting patiently to board, and the other was a hot mess.  Dad was a pistol, he had all the tickets but apparently didn't have them ready to be scanned, but Jackson, his kid, was already half way down the jet way. He let the kid go, then the ticket agent said, no, he can't board until we have the tickets scanned, so he's yelling to Jackson... a mess.  Mom is off somewhere else with the other kid, but finally they board, right in front of me.  So they get on and they see the other family, and apparently they must have known them from the beach or something because Mom says "Oh, we like you, we'll sit here" and they plop in the fourth row.  She's like "we'll figure it out!" and starts asking everyone, including me, what seats we have.  I didn't get the whole story, but apparently they had the other three seats in the front row, and one seat somewhere else.  (For the record, and you'll see why, I would have GLADLY moved had I been asked or had I known the issue before hand, but I did not. Other than one question  - "what seat do you have?" - I had nothing do to with anything below, and only found out after the fact what went down).   

So finally the REAL occupants of row 4 board.  And mom says, "well, why don't you just sit there for now (row 1) until we figure it out".  So they're not really cool with that, and ask the attendant to help.  It went sideways from there very quickly.  The real row 4 was cramped into the galley, because they couldn't block the aisle, and the family wasn't budging from row 4.  The attendant punted very quickly and said "let me get the gate agent down here" and he (the guy that helped me) came down.  He asked the family to go to their seats and let the row 4 people sit and see where it shook out.  She escalated and says "well I have a kid that will be sitting by themselves!" (doesn't take Einstein to put the parent in the single seat but that's me) and doesn't move.  The rest happened in about three minutes:  they were told to take their seats or leave the plane (they did neither).  Then they were told to leave the plane, and they started to argue.  Then they were told the police were coming and one of the kids started crying, saying "are we going to be arrested?".  Dad finally went to row one with the two kids, but bitched and kept asking, "you're going to separate me from my kids?" though I couldn't figure out how that was happening.  They were told again to leave the plane and mom kicked it into overdrive.  "I'll pay for the seats!" and "We just want to go home, we'll behave" and "you're going to throw my kids off the plane?" and "My mom is sick, I have to be home tonight for my mom!" and "have you no soul? (while crying)".  Police came, boarded the plane and the lead officer said (very calmly and with quiet authority) "look, move to the jet way or we will be forced to empty the entire plane and that will be on you."  The crying kid then walked off the plane, so now you had one kid on the jetway and two parents and kid arguing in the aisle.  Dad got smart and walked out to be with his daughter, and the other kid followed.  Mom took more coercing, begging, and even went to shame: "So who was it?  Who wanted their seats so badly that they had to complain?  Who was it that thought this was worth it?" then she finally left, and the plane burst into applause.

It was everything I write about here.  They were entitled, the rules didn't apply to them, and they felt they could drive the narrative of boarding the plane.  But then when "authority" pushed back, it was every story, every excuse, every reason why they should get special treatment, but other than one statement "we'll behave" there was absolutely ZERO accountability or culpability.   They never once took responsibility for the circumstances, or the situation they put the plane and it's crew in. We were almost an hour late in taking off, and I thank GOD that was Sarasota and not O'hare or Atlanta, because I have zero doubt we would have been delayed longer for missing our window.  And I feel bad for the kids; what lesson was that for them?

You like to fly Spirit, don't you?

[lonestar]

 

Trying to cut in front on the highway.

https://v.redd.it/hdi9uekp3rk91

That's exactly why you gotta let the guy merge.

Yup...there's one stretch of highway here that runs through Oakland, the 880, where we have a shooting at least on a monthly basis, enough to where they're actually investing cameras on the Highway to monitor activity. It's amazing how chill my driving habits have become in the last year or so, especially since that one road rage incident I mentioned earlier.

[Harmony]

Ok - this just happened to me and I'm so fucking pissed off about it right now.

The set up - I'm in the middle of a vacation in a small coastal town that went from party central to ghost town after Labor Day.  I enjoy walking and so today I decided I'd head out for a 3 mile walk along the boardwalk - needing to walk down a few deserted streets to get to the walkway.  I've got my headphones on - it is the middle of the day.  People are around but like I said, it is very quiet.  I'm minding my own business, just enjoying the day and the music when all of a sudden.....

A white pick up truck pulls up along side of me very slowly.  The mid to late 20s looking dude in the driver's seat with greasy blond hair rolls his window down and I think he's about to ask me for directions.  I turn toward him, pulling out one of my ear buds and he says something like, "Hey I saw you walking and I thought you were so great looking that I thought I'd stop and see if you wanted to join me for a beer?"

I'm looking around now and realizing there is nobody who can see me and this guy.  I have about a dozen things going through my brain but all I manage to do is grimace as though I smell something bad and pop my ear bud back in and keep on walking.  I also reached for my phone to snap a photo of the truck as he begins to drive away.  I'm think that maybe from behind he assumes I'm some sweet young thing but when I turned to face him he realized I'm old enough to be his mother and am having NONE OF IT and he realized his mistake.  But jeezus fucking christ....a woman out jogging was literally just kidnapped and murdered and this guy gets his jollies off this way?

5 years ago, I would've made some smart-ass remark to try and humiliate him but at least I was smart enough in the moment to not say what I was really thinking.  I guess I should just be thankful he wasn't waving a gun at me. 

[TAC]

So you gave him the look in your avatar?


As I started to read your post, I immediately thought of that poor girl that was kidnapped and murdered, and then you mentioned her.

You are lucky.

[Harmony]

So you gave him the look in your avatar?


As I started to read your post, I immediately thought of that poor girl that was kidnapped and murdered, and then you mentioned her.

You are lucky.

I think it was more like this:

[cramx3]

That is very creepy, and yes, with that recent news story I'm sure you were even more uncomfortable in that moment. 

[hefdaddy42]

What an asshole.

Not you, the guy.

[Harmony]

Thanks guys - thanks for especially not saying that I should've taken it as a compliment.  I've told a few friends and more than one said, "Well, he must have liked how you looked from behind."

EW EW EW EW - this guy was a creep for certain and even if he looked like George Clooney - EW EW EW EW

[Lethean]

Those people are clueless, or ignorant. (Or worse, but hopefully not.)  No one should ever be doing that. 

Hopefully your reaction makes him think twice about doing something like that again.  Or he tells someone about it and they talk some sense into him.