Man Called Entitled After Saying Plane Was Dirty

647

We’ve written several posts about travel stories where the subject is called out for some questionable action. We usually find these on Reddit’s AITA area, which stands for “Am I The A-Hole.” They describe the community as, “A catharsis for the frustrated moral philosopher in all of us, and a place to finally find out if you were wrong in an argument that’s been bothering you. Tell us about any non-violent conflict you have experienced; give us both sides of the story, and find out if you’re right, or you’re the a-hole.”

Here are a few examples.

• Someone on a family trip didn’t tell the rest of the family about their plans to upgrade separately from everyone else on the trip
•  A guy had planned a family trip overseas but wound up leaving his daughter home because her passport had expired
• He Wouldn’t Switch Plane Seats, Then Got Yelled At For Ignoring Her Kids

While I don’t have a new thread from Reddit, I do have a situation where I’m asking myself AITA?

It’s about my recent review of our trip on Lao Airlines A320. Because the post was more than a usual review about legroom and tray tables, I came up with the title, “The nastiest aircraft we’ve ever flown on.”  It’s a true statement. So much was broken, from the non-functional IFE and USB charging port, to broken armrests and seat pockets. Not to mention the plane was just generally run down.

I was surprised about the poor state of the aircraft’s interior because we had such a great experience flying on Lao Airlines ATRs.

I wasn’t expecting the comments the post received, which were not about the plane but about me. I have a thick skin and calling me names online doesn’t bother me. However, we do have to read all of the comments because we still approve each one before it posts. We do have a few rules when it comes to comments and we try to err on the side of letting things go.

The first few comments were fine. Then came one that didn’t add anything to the conversation, instead shaming me for commenting about a plane when I should be thankful that I can fly on one.

This article really comes off as entitled and spoiled. The fact that you have the luxury to fly (even though most of Laos probably don’t and can’t) rather than take a very long bus ride is something to be appreciative of. I really do think you should actually delete this embarrassing article.

I wasn’t going to post it but then I got another comment with a similar theme. This one puts me with other American tourists who complain because things are different in other parts of the world.

It really does read as “south east Asian carrier on a super short haul” problems for foreigners. I am pretty sure I am younger than you and I know what a coat pull is (standard in a lot of older Canadian aircraft without cloak storage in the aft, though Ive seen them worldwide).

“(and the person next to me wearing sandals, who needed a pedicure)”. I’m an AC SE and this gives me the “i walked by all the cattle with my zone 2 boarding” vibes from the junk AC 50k members post up and and down. “Asian people have different priorities than me because they have a different economic situation from my own—and I think that’s gross!”

I dislike when travel blogs pass from “useful information” posts to “ugh, coat pulls and pen markings in a national carrier in SE Asia”. Sounds as bad as when Bev Oda bought breakfast at YYZ cuz she couldn’t handle the ‘broken crackers and cold brie’ of AC signature class breakfast. Did you arrive safely and on time? The carrier has already given you your money’s worth.

OK, so there’s a theme developing. Then came another one.

Wow. What a miserable traveler this author must be. You have led a privileged life if this is the worst you have experienced. Unnecessary comments about your seat mate is just tacky too. Amateur hour here.

And in the words of DJ Khaled.

Travel blogger traveling on group trip. Lol. The pathethic comment about someone wearing a sandals and needed oedicure(by your standards). What about you look first at your home yard? With obese people crammed into narrow seats and bossy flight attendand with NOmeal service in economy for 5 hours? Maybe you would be better of staying in your US-Hawai bubble. Laos is one of the poorest if not the poorest country in Sea and your expectations were a bit high.

In hindsight, the comment about my rowmate’s feet was unnecessary. I added a joke because I felt the article was on the lighthearted side. It had nothing to do with the plane so I should have left it out.

I could remove it from the post but I’d rather admit it and learn a lesson than pretend it never happened.

Then started the trolls.

STAY HOME , PERIOD.

The Boomeriest Boomer what ever Boomered

The second one I find funny because I’m not a Boomer. Maybe I just act like one?

Finally, someone thanked for me traveling to Laos while claiming I learned nothing from my trip.

Kudos to you for going to Laos, but apparently you learned nothing about the country or the people. Too bad, travel is supposed to be enlightening.

We deal with trolls every day but their comments are random. These followed a trend.

Am I turning into the person who travels around the world yet learns nothing? Does having the means to fly to places require that I shouldn’t complain about things while I’m there?

What do you think? AITA or just easy, low-hanging fruit for trolls!

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.

Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-with-hand-on-temple-looking-at-laptop-842554/