My top 5 air travel pet peeves

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Photo of My top 5 air travel pet peeves 1/1 by Prathima

Travelling over a long weekend means airports will be more crowded than usual with super long queues everywhere including at the entrance to the departure gates.

It makes me realise how I pray really hard to not face some things every time I travel by air. But God must really have a purpose because sometimes, I face them anyway.

Here are my top five air travel pet peeves:

Long rides to and from the airport: This is especially a pain in Bangalore, where the airport is located on the outskirts of the city, meaning it takes me a good two hours to get there. And that’s on a good day when the traffic is tame. So basically, wherever I go, I have to add an hour and a half to the total travel time. The only time it would take an hour or less is when I have to be at the airport during the wee hours of the morning. Which means I need to wake up at all sorts of ungodly hours. And really, who likes that.

The thought of being late: I’m an anxious traveller. Which is why, I make lists before and after I pack, I refuse to get excited about travel plans till I’m actually on a bus/plane/whatever mode of transport and I leave earlier than required to go to the airport. So when I get stuck in traffic or a long queue at security check despite all my precautions, I can’t help but get a little paranoid about missing my flight. If you travel with me, I’m going to be a pain about getting to places way ahead of time, and that can leave you feeling pretty peeved. Haha. Oops.

Airbuses: I know I sound like a princess when I say this but I simply Do Not Like riding an airbus when I have to board or get off the plane. I’m sorry, I don’t. And I don’t even have a real reason. I developed these strong feelings of contempt towards the mini-buses when I would regularly fly home to Bangalore from Mumbai during college. The entrance to the airport would be right there but no, that bus would take a big roundabout before dropping us off. I know, I know, they can’t just drive across but I’m allowed to be peeved, right?

The middle seat: I bet this is a common pet peeve for many of you too. I mean, who likes being sandwiched between two strangers on a flight, however long. Then there’s the whole thing about the armrests. It’s rude to use both, right? So if you choose one, which one do you choose – left or right? Also, if you’ve to use the washroom, you’re not just disturbing the person on the aisle seat, you’re disturbing the person on the window seat too! The only time I’d think sitting in the middle seat is a good idea is if you’re a kid with your parents on either side so you can stretch yourself and travel like a king/queen.

Kids on a plane: If you’re reading this and you’ve got kids, please accept my apologies in advance. To put it mildly, I’m not fond of kids. Sure, there are exceptions but overall, no. And that’s just on the ground, where I can safely (for the child and me) walk away. But there’s no such option when I’m up in the clouds, is there? Ha? Every time I watch a parent carrying their kid walk up the aisle from my seat in the plane, I’m silently, desperately praying they don’t stop at my row. But like I said initially in this post, God must have a purpose. Because guess where that kid always, always, always ends up. Yup.

Until I find out what that purpose is, thank you for flying.

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