Don't you hate it when...

[1sd]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4

I hate it when kids bring toys and food to church. Take them to Children's Church, INDEED!! Or teach them that this is God's house and we do not play or eat HERE!!!!

Yeah...I don't know about anyone else, but I got "the pinch". The one where you BETnot scream/cry/yelp, you know the one that oftentimes comes hand in hand with "the look". You get the point that although right now you are in the house of the Lord's, when you get home...your behind is her's. SMH

[Rain Man]

....a Top Ten list of Don't You Hate Customers That........

Top 10 ways travelers can be jerks


Power Trip / Christopher Elliott

It's about time I let the other shoe drop. I've written a series of stories taking hotels, airlines and car rental companies to task for failing to meet their customer-service obligations to travelers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


But travelers themselves aren't exactly known these days for their politeness either.

Below, I list the top 10 ways travelers can be a jerk, and you may find yourself somewhere on that list (perhaps in more than one place). A new poll by the nonpartisan opinion organization Public Agenda suggests a lot of travelers leave their manners at home. The research finds that nearly one-third of passengers believe rudeness is a serious problem. More than half of all travel employees say passenger impoliteness is the top source of their on-the-job tension.


How so? Well, nearly half of travel workers say they have personally seen a situation where disrespectful behavior threatened to escalate into physical confrontation, according to the study. Almost 20% say disrespect had led to a situation actually getting physical. We don't know if the problem is getting worse, since this is the first survey of its kind. But my instinct tells me it certainly isn't getting any better.

So how exactly are we jerks? Here's my list:

We can be space hogs. We sprawl all over our seats, consuming valuable armrest room. We fill the overhead bins with our carry-on luggage without leaving some for our fellow passengers. We recline our seats even when they press up against another passenger's knees. In short, we behave as if it's our own private charter flight. That behavior has been the inspiration for devices such as the Knee Defender, which stops a selfish passenger from leaning back all the way by jamming the seat into place. A radical solution? Sure, but what else can you do when people aren't considerate of other passengers?


We abuse the use of our cell phones. We don't have the foggiest idea about when we should keep our mobile phones turned on and when we should power them down. We know little about cell phone etiquette, and if you don't believe me just go to an airport (or any other public place, for that matter). You'll hear ringing cell phones, which are second in annoyance only to screaming babies (don't worry; I'll get to those in a second). You'll hear people blabbing on and on at top volume about the innermost details of their personal lives while everyone else pretends they don't hear them. Then, those same careless chatterers get into their cars and drive away.

We drive like maniacs. Speaking of cars, one of the most inconsiderate things any traveler can do is to think of the traffic laws as a suggestion rather than a rule. Speed limits? Who needs those when you have a radar detector? Stop signs? Get outta here. Add a cell phone, or a map spread out across the passenger seat, and you have all the makings of a serious traffic accident. When it comes to driving, forgetting your manners isn't just infuriating; it can also be fatal.

We don't know when to shut up. It's probably happened to all of us at some point: We board the flight or the train, sit down with a good book, only to find that the guy next to us wants to tell us his life story. I once sat next to an animal photographer on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Orlando, Fla., and he would not stop talking, even though I was wearing an eye patch and had a blanket over my head. We understand that there are nervous fliers who need to talk to someone, but why does it have to be us?

We are often short with employees. We treat hotel clerks, flight attendants and car-rental employees as if they are our personal servants. We issue orders — no, demands — and when they aren't obeyed immediately we insist on speaking with a supervisor. We don't take "no" for an answer. We think we're always right, even when we know we aren't. One of the most common complaints I get from travel industry employees is that they're tired of the abuse and burned out by being harassed by us. They deserve better.

We take our kids where we shouldn't. There are places where young children should never go. A five-star luxury suite is no place for a toddler, for example. A newborn in first-class? Take it from someone who's tried; it's a bad idea. Most of us love kids, but most parents have a difficult time understanding that their children don't belong everywhere adults do. Dragging your offspring into an airport lounge, or to a business lunch, makes you look like irresponsible and inconsiderate parent. Leave the little ones with a sitter.

We scream! Noise is a constant problem when you travel. Exposure to a prolonged racket has been proven to raise your blood pressure, which is the last thing we need when we're on road. But it happens everywhere. Cell-phone users scream into their handsets. Airline passengers scream at gate agents; curbside check-in agents scream at air travelers (although, to be fair, it's so that they can be heard over the traffic noise). While most of the screaming is unintentional, some of it has a purpose, which is to berate, intimidate and browbeat travel employees into seeing things a traveler's way. Now that's rude.

We lie. We fib our way through our trips as if it's Joe Isuzu's very own vacation. Did we take anything out of the minibar? No way, we say between mouthfuls of a Snickers snatched out of the so-called "honor bar." We reserve a vehicle from a car-rental company but have no intention of showing up. We plug our own headsets into the armrest and enjoy an in-flight movie without paying for it. But why not? Doesn't the travel industry lie to us, too? Maybe, but as my mother always said, two wrongs don't make a right.

We make thoughtless comments. Maybe we think that because we're traveling, and we'll never see the people we encounter again, we can forget about our manners. But that's a bad reason to behave like a Neanderthal. Just last week, I interviewed an airline customer-service agent in Miami for whom English was a second language. He told me the story about a time when he denied a passenger a seat on a flight (it was overbooked) and the passenger demanded to talk with a supervisor. When the boss arrived, the passenger exclaimed, "Finally, someone who speaks English!" It was an extremely hurtful thing to say to someone who was doing his best to communicate.

We request a lot more than we deserve. We demand free tickets, upgrades to first class, hotel suites and cabins with balconies when things don't go our way. We don't even bother to wonder what would happen if everyone whose toilet didn't flush or whose flight didn't take off on time asked for the world. We don't even take a moment to find out if we're actually entitled to these favors. As a result, we end up parked at the front desk making outrageous demands — and leaving the overworked, underpaid employees to find a way to say "no" without provoking a fight. Come on.

So, how do you and I make the travel industry more civil? Public Agenda says rudeness, and politeness, are a two-way street. Or, put differently, niceness is contagious. So if we make an effort to be courteous, chances are we'll get the treatment you believe you're entitled to. Just a thought for the next time you travel.

By the way, if I didn't mention your least favorite behavior, please send me an e-mail. I'll be sure to include it in a follow-up column.

Christopher Elliott is the editor of Elliott's E-mail, a free weekly newsletter for travelers, and the publisher of Triprights.com, a site about travel rights. You can e-mail him or visit his Web site.

[TonyB06]

Originally posted by 1sd
Yeah...I don't know about anyone else, but I got "the pinch". The one where you BETnot scream/cry/yelp, you know the one that oftentimes comes hand in hand with "the look". You get the point that although right now you are in the house of the Lord's, when you get home...your behind is her's. SMH

...you mean "the pinch" where it feels like you got 30,000 volts going through you, yet your moms is steady smiling and speaking to folks the whole time?!? Believe me, I feel/felt your pain.

...to this day, I don't chew gum in church.

[CrimsonTide4]

. . . the topic of today's Maury is "I'll Prove You Had Sex with the PIZZA DELIVERY GUY!!"

[1sd]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
. . . the topic of today's Maury is "I'll Prove You Had Sex with the PIZZA DELIVERY GUY!!"

This oughta be in the AWW Hell to the naw!

[BabyBlue91]

Don't you hate it when folk try to get something for nothing. The school I work for announced a toy drive with a local nonprofit organization, and when the newspaper ran it they added my direct line for more information. I can't believe how many 'baby mommas' have called not to find out how to contribute, but how they can score some of the gifts for their kids! Unbelievable!

[BabyBlue91]

... but don't you hate it when companies you love and trust go out of business? A few years ago, I discovered a prepaid calling service that was the bomb and have since saved a ton on my Verizon bills! Last night, I got my debit card all ready to replenish my minutes when I got to this company's home page ... "We regret to inform you that we will be phasing out prepaid phone service" at the end of January.

Perfect. Now my husband is going to run up the bills again ...

[Edited to change top to ton. Oops!]

[9dstpm]

Originally posted by BabyBlue91
... but don't you hate it when companies you love and trust go out of business? A few years ago, I discovered a prepaid calling service that was the bomb and have since saved a top on my Verizon bills! Last night, I got my debit card all ready to replenish my minutes when I got to this company's home page ... "We regret to inform you that we will be phasing out prepaid phone service" at the end of January.

Perfect. Now my husband is going to run up the bills again ...

I know. I feel the same way about my Preferred Reader Card at Waldenbooks. They are phasing that out in January, too. I saved a lot of $$ on books by racking up points and turning them into gift certificates and buying books with those. They did make it up to me by telling me that they will have more in-store deals and they will still send gift certificates to me based on my purchases.

[OrangeMoon]

When you purchase a textbook for $120 and the campus bookstore buys it back for $20. Talk about depreciation Now, I see why I sell and purchase my books on Amazon.com.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by OrangeMoon
When you purchase a textbook for $120 and the campus bookstore buys it back for $20. Talk about depreciation Now, I see why I sell and purchase my books on Amazon.com.

Don't forget half.com too, lol. I wish they had been around when I was in undergrad. I am about to become a half.com seller to get rid of my VHS movies.

Don't you hate it when your hands are cold and your gloves are at home?

[BabyBlue91]

Don't you hate it when bar codes don't work at the supermarket?

Some of you may have seen the Unilever rebate in Sunday's paper (up to $20 back) so I decided to take the bait and buy the items, most of which I would have invested in anyway.

The first required item was a laundry detergent, Wisk. When the cashier at ShopRite rang it up, it registered as a different brand, All, which was on sale this week. Although I got a nice discount for it ($3.99 versus $5.99), the company offering the refund probably would not honor that amount of the refund for that product if it were not actually on the receipt (required).

So, with $7.50 on the table ($1.50 plus $6.00 for buying all 10 required products), I turned face and bought another Wisk at a different store. Oh, well -- at least it won't go to waste.