The person who created the idea of personal space might have done that because they felt awkward because of someone standing too close to them. Or, they might have also done that because the person pressing up against their grill had BO and bad breath. Those are the kinds of people who usually have secrets to tell. No thanks.
But this can be taken to a whole new level if you add entitlement into the mix. Because why else would you demand a first class seat claiming someone else reeks of rotten eggs and vinegar (or whatever) when it’s you who’s the reeker?
There isn’t much that you can do when you find yourself with face-melting body odor on a seal-tight mode of transport, like a plane
Image credits: Iakobchuk (not the actual photo)
Unless you consider blaming your own lack of hygiene on an innocent plane passenger a solution
Image credits: Hanson Lu (not the actual photo)
Image credits: dring157
While the flight was fine, the loud and obnoxious plane passenger did make the author of the post feel uneasy with the odor and unsolicited medical advice
Redditor u/dring157 was recently flying together with this older gentleman who made himself heard almost immediately after boarding his flight. Yes, it was the negative kind of being heard.
It didn’t take long for the loud-mouthed aeronautical patron to start stirring trouble for OP personally. OP was out of the blue accused of smelling bad. They weren’t—all signs led to the not-so-gentleman wanting a seat upgrade to first class with that poor excuse. The tactic didn’t work out in the end, but it also didn’t stop the passenger from being obnoxious.
Towards the very end of the flight, after a short instance of insecurity regarding body odor, OP noticed that it was the old loud-mouth who was the criminal against hygiene. It didn’t help that he also felt the need to get too close to OP and to proceed to give them medical advice about a skin condition they have. An unpleasant situation all around. At least the flight itself was fine.
It didn’t take long for the post to draw a crowd that speculated why the guy was nasty and provided some possible counter-shenanigans
The story soon found its way to r/mildlyinfuriating, where OP vented their frustration and asked what the guy’s problem was. Most guessed that this was just an attempt at getting a seat upgrade without actually paying for one. But others also guessed that it might have been a petty attempt at scapegoating OP, projecting or flat out losing his marbles.
Others were surprised at the amount of patience OP had, suggesting they could’ve maybe had some fun with it by throwing out the idea of having leprosy and it being contagious within 2 feet. Or maybe the flight attendant could’ve trolled the smelly gentleman by putting OP in first class.
Others shared their stories and typical approaches to situations like this. Some fight fire with fire, and if someone is rude to them, they become petty and nasty, leading to stomping on the foot of someone who couldn’t keep their feet within their seat space. Others have a headphone policy where they only take them off once, and otherwise never take them off again. Even more so if the person is a combination of two cheeks.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the post to learn more about what happened on that flight
Because the situation seemed weird and a bit embarrassing, OP couldn't let themselves rant about it to their friends and coworkers. Reddit, on the other hand, with its anonymity, turned out to be a good place to get some perspective on it. And perspective they got.
"I was glad that basically no one accused me of being in the wrong or of whining," elaborated OP. "My conclusion from the replies was my original conclusion: The old man was angry about something else (likely travel delays) and felt like lashing out at someone."
However, flights are probably the last place people would want trouble. While petty revenge and malicious compliance would be possible, it's better to take the high road and not make matters worse, which is what OP decided to do in the end. Luckily, the flight was fine. However, if the old man was to get more rowdy, OP would've asked to be moved and that would've been that.
"I believe that the man got in my face, because he was looking for a reaction. He was angry and wanted to yell at someone. By being calm and polite, I didn't feed into his game and I believe that he left the plane in a worse mental state then me," added OP.
As for everyone else's reaction? OP explained that they got the feeling that everyone was annoyed by the smelly guy. Remember, he was complaining loudly even before OP sat down. The guy was genuinely unpleasant to be around.
So, if you ever end up in a situation with a nasty smelly dude sitting next to you on the plane, why not consider OP's advice: "Have self confidence, don't lower yourself to the level of a jerk looking for conflict, and ignoring attention seekers is the best policy." Safe travels, everyone!
With that said, we’d love to hear from you. How do you deal with bad BO and other problems others might be inflicting upon you on flights? Share your tactics, takes and stories in the comment section below!
The post garnered 3.5K upvotes with folks sharing stories, reasons for why the guy chose violence, and how to best deal with it
