On the ten hour flight from Tokyo to LA I actually got a 3 seat row all to myself coz the flight was so empty. Mother of all happiness! But for this flight, even though it's also relatively empty I got stuck sitting with an old Indian lady in a 3 seat row. I'm not being racist ok? I'm stating her race as a fact and as a description. Any stereotypes you have or presume I have just means YOU are the racist one.
She seems nice enough and we chatted for a bit before the flight took off.
Halfway through the flight though, she nudged me when I was watching a movie (Ip Man prelude).
I was quite annoyed coz I was rather enjoying the show and had to pause it (not to mention fumble with the remote lost in the tangle of blankets) PLUS remove my earphones just to hear what she had to say. Oh this better be important.
To my further annoyance she wanted a cup of water and asked me to flag down the next air stewardess who walks by to get her what she wants - since I was seated by the aisle and her, by the window.
Thinking she didn't know that you can press for service with the remote, I asked, "Why don't you just press for service?"
She replied, "Oh I don't like doing that because I think it irritates them."
Oh? It irritates them! What about irritating ME?
Forget it. Since she is generally nice and I'm generally nice (believe it or not), I did what she told me to and got her her stupid water via medieval flagging. I felt like I was using a black and white tv while rollerskating.
(On a side note for a long flight everyone should bring a water bottle which you can ask stewardesses to fill for you so you don't have to keep asking for puny cups of water)
Later, it was lunch-time and I had my mouth full of yaki-soba when I got that blessed nudge again. This time she wanted orange juice but seriously, at 8 hours into a 10 hour flight everyone's fucking grumpy already.
Get ya own damn juice!
I said nothing and just pressed the goddamn service button. In my mind a scene was playing where the engineer who designed the service button is yelling at her for pure pig-headedness. "Use the fucking button woman goddamn it, I got paid good money to invent it!" He's also smacking her with the inflight remote for good measure.
Flight attendant came within 10 seconds and she got her juice. I hope I made it clear I'm not going to fucking help her nudge and harass a passing attendant anymore just coz of her silly theory.
Which is more stupid? Interrupting me to ask me to actually spend time LOOKING OUT for a passing attendant for her (thus interrupting my movie), stop the attendant (so that I look like the troublesome one), belay her request... or her just pressing the button?
Instead of irritating two people, including an innocent passenger, she could just irritate one who's paid good money to be irritated.
And as I was thinking about it, if I were an air stewardess I'd much rather people just press the button instead of stop me when I'm, say, pushing a trolley full of fruits while pouring beer. That way the person who attends to my juice-drinking neighbour will be the next free attendant and not just a passing busy one!
Chao ah kua really damn annoying lah! I mean obviously she's a sweet old lady overall but why the FUCK on earth would anyone ask for a request like that??? Can someone explain her logic to me??
Maybe she has a fear of remote controls.
If she does she could have just said "I'm sorry, I have an irrational fear of remote controls, can you press the service button for me?"
And I would have gladly obliged.
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Update: After the stopover in Narita a guy came onboard and he sat in between me and the Indian lady. He was very, erm, third world and had completely no sense of personal space so although he is quite skinny, he kept putting his elbow WAY over the arm rest in between us such that I had no choice but to have my arm touch his arm. GROSS! His feet were also open wide apart with his enormous backpack in between them so that it intruded into my leg room.Cheebye! Lao niang paid the same price as him, why should I get less space??
After repeatedly asking him to tuck his damn elbows in, he still didn't do it so I moved to another seat. Give me the Indian old lady anytime!!!
Speaking of long-haul flights... I think I wouldn't mind them so much if they allow mahjong on them!!!
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