Things don’t always go as we want. It is impossible and completely normal. People are all incredibly different, who had a life/day going before they ran into you. You can’t expect them to be in a same mood as you. Unless you are in a shitty mood (that stuff is catchy). It is completely normal too.

So on my 8 hour plane to New York from London, my seat was broken. There was no button for it to be pushed back so I essentially had to sleep in a upright position. My friend next to me had her TV set broken so she couldn’t watch anything. Uncomfortable yes. A bit annoying too. Not the end of a world.

There are three possible scenarios in a situation like this:

  • Complain your ass off.
    Tell the staff what had happened. Go all in and spare no mercy of how uncomfortable your journey is going to be. There are no extra seats for you to be moved anywhere else. Drama just escalates.
    Result: everybody around you is annoyed, they are probably looking for the faults in their seats or TV sets. The staff who had to deal with you is definitely unhappy too, it’s not their fault and there is nothing they can do. The best you get is an apology voucher and a free drink. Was it worth it?

Unpleasant situation is like finding someone else’s poop where you didn’t expect it to be. Not nice. Complaining about it, is like taking it in your bare hands and smearing it all over other people. Discussing, pointless and you end up dirtier than anybody else. Definitely not nice.

  • Suck it up.
    We are in a confined space, there are no extra seats for you to be moved anywhere. You know that the best they can do is to offer you a voucher. You don’t want it, well than what’s the point of touching the “poop”?
  • Inform about the issue in a polite way.
    Maybe the staff do not know about the unlucky seats, maybe it is a “fresh poop”. If you are being respectful, polite and nice about the issue, you are not complaining. You are not trying to be a detective on a mission to find that ass who pooped under your seat, you are just pointing out that the poop is there and probably even laugh about it. I mean, I know I would, I just find poop jokes very funny. Also you get the same apology voucher as if you would have smeared yourself and everybody around you in poop. So the choice is clear?

Next time something unpleasant happens imagine that it is a poop and think whether it is worth picking it up and getting dirty or better just to laugh it off?

Cheers with an elephant in a glass!