Posted on 05/17/2006 12:27:25 PM PDT by SW6906
The sophisti-yokels are at the gates, C-13 and C-24 to be exact.
The other day, on a flight over the Midwest, a sophisti-yokel – one of those smooth young alpha dogs with semi-expensive suits and implanted iPod ear-buds. Like sophisti-yokels everywhere, he exuded a sense of entitlement, assumed superiority and apparently his mama never taught him manners.
“You call this legroom?” he said, jamming his knees into the seat in front of him. He whipped out a tissue and blew his nose. “This is what I paid 15 bucks extra for?”
Reaching forward, he jammed the used tissue into the seat pouch in front of him. “Stewardess,” he barked before takeoff. “I need a Bloody Mary.” The flight attendant walked past, eyeing him sideways. He yanked out another tissue, honked into it, and stuffed it into the pouch. Throughout the two-hour flight, he honked and stuffed, until the pouch bulged.
It probably never occurred to him that someone else would have to clean up his mess.
Air travel has become the great leveler, replacing bus stations, trains and subways as the one place where Americans are forced to confront people unlike themselves. The people with silk shirts and mixed drinks in first class may seem to be in their own world but look again. See those upgraded frequent fliers?
Then we still have the traditional yokel-yokels, such as the long-haired young guy in dirty jeans and construction boots, who, on another flight, lit up a cigarette in the jet's bathroom, returned to his seat where he sipped from a whiskey bottle. He was immediately sniffed out by a flight attendant. She confronted him; he denied that he had been smoking; she saw his whiskey bottle and demanded it, along with his cigarette lighter. He gave them up without a fight.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
"It's sad that people feel the need to brag about things they will probably never own."
You can't ever tell. My wife worked at a very successful ad agency in Nashville whose owner drove an old Chevy Caprice. The guy was worth millions. I worked for a guy whose father (founder of a very large hospital corporation) drove an ancient Oldsmobile. You really couldn't tell by their cars they were extremely rich.
Must be nice to have that kind of time. I get 2 weeks of vacation a year. When I want to go from WA to NC to visit my folks for Christmas, I will not use all 2 weeks driving across the country and back. I will use 2 days flying and 1 week of vacation. And then I have another week for whatever else I need. Flying 3000 miles (each way) is much more pleasant and time-efficient than driving 3000 miles (each way).
Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart drove around in a old truck.
I have heard a lot of great competitive intellegence nuggets just by passive listening. Usually great after meetings or conventions. I speak very obliquely re: business (tony soprano would be proud "Several thousand cases of cannolis costing 3 boxes of ziti) when I am in a public domain.. I have been burned before.
Nice image. Those days of lounging around and playing cards are over, that is unless you make seven figures a year...
"You can't ever tell. My wife worked at a very successful ad agency in Nashville whose owner drove an old Chevy Caprice. The guy was worth millions. I worked for a guy whose father (founder of a very large hospital corporation) drove an ancient Oldsmobile. You really couldn't tell by their cars they were extremely rich."
I agree. You can't always tell someone's net worth by the car they drive. But if they openly brag about so many things that they own, hoping people nearby hear it, then get in an old, beatup POS car, more than likely they aren't what they claim.
Someone needs to teach him some manners. Preferably someone about 6'6", 250 pound, and ripped.
Hello, Everyone:
I usually wear a suit and often a tie when flying even if not on business. People tend to (unconsciously I think) give me a little more space and slack compared to when I'm wearing jeans. I also find a suit to be incredibly useful with all those extra pockets. Now, if they'd just occasionally make a mistake and seat me in first class! Sometimes, though, harried older people mistake me for somebody with the airline and ask for assistance or directions.
Air travel... like the bus but with smaller seats and more difficult to exit.
LOL! :-)
BTW, First Class is all I fly period. (I either upgrade or pay)
Yep. in 1961, I flew a SuperConnie (Flying Tiger Airlines USAF charter) from Travis AFB, CA, to Tachikawa AFB, Japan -- with stops at Hickham (HI) and Midway (or was it Wake?) Island.
Not much glamour: school bus type seats, stewardesses who looked like ex-Marine Drill Sergeants, and box lunches.
Mainly what I remember is 33 hours of droning engines...
The one I was in, was full of radar screens. :-)
Thank you for posting the Superconnie.
(Waves of nostalgia.)
Thank you for the marvelous picture.
I was about twelve when my Dad and I flew to LA in one of these and then took the SuperChief back to Chicago.
Travel was a fabulous adventure then. Now, it's just something to be endured.
Cool!
Were you a Willie Victor crewman? I remember those guys in constant rotation out of JAX. I've a lot of respect for dudes that pulled that kind of duty.
All this is, of course, true, and now multiply it by a factor of X as we get 200,000,000 more people in this country in the next couple of decades.
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