Sunday 22 February 2015

Bossy Brits

Last week I went on a jolly while the Ball & Chain took the Little Guy skiing on his week off school. It's quite a luxury traveling around sans kids - I even got upgraded to first class on one flight. As is my luck however, it was a 1.5 hour flight on such a small plane that first class was just a teeny bit bigger than regular coach seats. Oh well. Free drinks though - :-)

So yes, I went to DC to see the ex-Queenager. Doing very well thank you. Unfortunately I took the bad weather with me so DC saw about three inches of snow, which brought the entire city to a stand still. Talk about wimpy. They had declared all schools closed by 4pm one day - even though the snow was supposed to stop at about 5am. Government buildings also closed and public transport was sketchy at best. What a palaver.

Then it was on to Houston where, once again, the cold weather followed me. Now, when I say Cold, I mean not as tropical as it usually is in Houston. The temps had plummeted to about 60 degrees F (15.5 Celsius) instead of the 70+ they're used to. People were wearing sweaters and coats and complaining about the cold. More wimpiness. I was just happy not to have to layer up and wear my bloody snow boots yet again.

On the flight back from Houston to Chicago I had a couple of funny incidents, you might like:

Guy seated behind me had three teenage kids and between them they had managed to fill every overhead bin for miles. Grrr. Then the guy in the window seat of my row comes along and tries to get his roller case into the bin above us. He eventually managed, by rearranging everything in there, removing a coat and then wedging it back in.

Dad Guy - Hey, hey, hey, What do you think you're doing? Don't stuff it in like that.
New Guy - I'm just making room.
Dad Guy - Give it to me.
New Guy - It shouldn't be up there anyway.
Dad Guy - It was off to the side.
New Guy - No it wasn't it was taking up room.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting to sit back down and boarding has ground to a halt. Time to take control.

Me - Come on boys, let's sit down.
Result! And suitably sheepish "boys".

About two minutes later, I hear a British guy being very jovial about three rows back, and helping small ladies lift their cases into the overhead bins. Then a cross-looking business man in the aisle about three rows in front of me decides this isn't to his liking.

Businessman - Get a move on down there guys.
Brit guy - I'm helping people, what are you doing pal?
Businessman - Well move out of the aisle.
Brit Guy - And I'm gonna do it again. Watch me.
(Everyone silently hi-fiving the Brit.)


Brits - sorting things out.  


7 comments:

  1. Somebody's got to take charge and I say it should be us Brits! We like to be assertive (bossy) and keep everyone in their places. Otherwise.... total anarchy.
    :-)

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  2. Oh, I enjoyed this :) I'm glad you got some time away - Ball and Chain sounds like a pretty cool guy taking on a week of kiddo-sitting.
    People on planes always fascinate me - particularly those who complain for nothing in particular or are so self-involved in such a small, shared space. Way to go, Brits!!!

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  3. Well, those are Brits who've had a bit of America brushed off on them. Surely otherwise they'd have been saying "oh, sorry, I don't mean to be in your way, it's just that, um, I think it would be best if..." and then turning round and apologising to the person who trod on their toes.

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  4. I always thought America dealt with snow better than we do in the UK - quite reassuring to hear that Wsshington DC gets in a flap like we do!

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  5. Oh those internal US flights and their luggage wrangles. It's so aggressive! Well done for sorting them out.

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  6. Iota- Not sure whether it was an age thing. You get to a certain age and you don't really care what people think as much. I would also like to have seen those two behave like that and get away with it in certain parts of the UK. The Geordies, for sure, would have told them to put a sock in it. LOL

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  7. Most Brits would apologise for the delay.

    We cannot handle snow over here, as you will no doubt know. We get in a flap even with an inch of the white stuff.
    Maggie x

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