Hi and thanks for listening to The Modern Manners Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life. When we last left off, you, dear listener, were loaded up with stuff and headed onto an airplane. There are a number of things left for us to discuss that will help us be the friendliest fliers. You've got about six minutes until you are in your seat so let's get to the tips right after a word from our sponsor.

If you’re like me – you can’t waste time driving or flying to all of your meetings.  That’s why I was excited when I discovered GoToMeeting Now I hold my meetings ONLINE! It’s perfect for sales presentations, training session, or product demos.  GoToMeeting – brought to you by CITRIX – is the easiest, most secure way to hold an ONLINE MEETING.  You can have a meeting up and running in seconds!  GoToMeeting can add hours to your week. Plus it’s just $49 a month and you can hold as many meetings as you want! You can try Go To Meeting FREE for 30 days. But you must visit GoToMeeting.com/podcast. That’s GoToMeeting.com/podcast for a FREE 30 day trial.

Carry-Ons

The airlines have graciously given us the opportunity to bring bags with us on the plane. And carry-ons are a staple for those of us who want to be efficient travelers. There are garment bags, beach bags, cases for musical instruments, canes, and little suitcases. All this stuff must get on the plane with us and then get off with us when we reach our destination—all while hopefully staying in one piece. Since none of us wants our things broken, we need to work as a little team to take care of all this stuff.

I understand that the first inclination is to want an overhead bin for your stuff only. But that's just not how the system was designed. Please be courteous and place the things that can fit under your seat actually under your seat. Then when you are storing your larger bag or miscellaneous item in the overhead bin, be careful not to take up more space than you absolutely need. Fold your garment bags or ask the flight attendant to hang them up and be gracious enough to move your things if it appears they would be more efficiently stored somewhere else. Also, don't beat someone else's things up while trying to get your items jammed into the bin.

If you do notice that someone is trying to rearrange your items to make room for their own, don’t panic. This situation can probably be helped with your help. Getting involved instead of freaking out will usually calm the other passenger down, and if you actually have difficulty finding a spot for the other person’s bag, you will both come to the realization. Sharing that disappointment will be less stressful for the first party. At the very least, the flight attendant will notice you both trying to work out the situation and get involved.

Note: Just because your suitcase has rollers, doesn't mean it is a carry-on. There is one very important word that needs to be examined in this tiny hyphenated phrase. That would be the "carry" part. If you can't lift your bag into the overhead bin, go ahead and check it. It's slightly inconvenient, but many airlines are discouraging their flight attendants from hefting passengers' bags.  Some people--who may be listeners of this podcast--may be kind enough to help you, but it's not something you should count on.

Also, sometimes your carry-ons will just not fit in the bin. Don't force them. Ask if your bag can be checked. It is better to just take care of it than to delay the flight for selfish reasons.

Electronics

Once you've politely stored your appropriate carry-on items and taken your seat, you should immediately pull out your cell phone and/or iPod, DVD player, laptop, etc. insert your headphones and- wait! I'm kidding, of course. It is appropriate to prep your electronics for the flight, but that means wrapping up cell phone calls and storing gear under the seat or in the seat pocket. Part of being polite on your flight is kindness toward the flight attendants. Listen to their instructions and keep your tech items off until they are approved for use. This includes taking your headphones out of your ears. The flight's crew members shouldn't have to treat us like juveniles by asking us to turn everything off. We know everything should be off. I'm just saying!

Seat Backs and Tray Tables

Moving a little forward in time, we see that the plane has taken off. We're on our way, and I say "we" on purpose as we are still part of a little society on the plane. Several things have been provided for your comfort. Maybe it's all not really that comfortable, but at least some effort is being made, right? Well, let's take a look at the tray table first. I think this achievement would be a beacon of design success were it not made to attach to the seat in front of you. Consider that a child or oblivious adult playing with a tray table is very similar to someone standing behind you in a long line and shoving you in the back again and again and again and again and again and again. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly at the Department of Motor Vehicles, so it probably won't be tolerated for long on a flight. Now, this also includes kicking the seat.

Parents, if your child is kicking the seat in front of them or playing with his tray table, it is not cute. It is maddening and your mannerly responsibility is to keep your child from disturbing other passengers. Do your best to prevent your child from physically disturbing the other passengers

If you are on the receiving end and someone is kicking your seat- child or adult- patiently turn and make eye contact with the person and say something like, “Hi, buddy. Would you mind not kicking my seat? Air travel gives me a headache, and it’s already started.” You can make up another excuse if you want or just use the “not kicking my seat” part. The point is to be genuinely interested in the other person. Gruffly yelling at them will make them an enemy who will either fight back or look for passive-aggressive ways to annoy you the whole trip.

Now, this thing goes both ways. The reclining seat just might be the best and worst idea for airplanes. It can potentially help one person find a little comfort, but usually provides the exact same amount of discomfort to the person whose space is being reclined into.

There are two simple things I can suggest here. Do not just blindly recline your seat. Check behind before you recline. Everything from knees to DVD players and laptops can be crushed by a seat flop.  If no one is seated behind you, by all means, recline as far as that little button will allow.  However, it often doesn't require a full recline to gain a little more comfort. Reclining just a little bit can help you and not destroy the entire flight for someone behind you.

As a high school senior, I flew to Frankfurt, Germany from Atlanta, Georgia. Twenty minutes into the flight the person in front of me reclined that seat all the way, and I couldn't rest for 8 hours. It was rough, and I learned my lesson to be courteous to those behind me on the plane.

If you absolutely must recline, there are a few things you can do that will usually be well received by the flight crew. You can request a seat with no one in the row behind you. You can also simply turn around and ask the person behind you if they mind whether you lean back. You will most certainly blow someone's mind with that request and that person just might change their behavior as well. If you are seated behind someone who reclines fully and it completely destroys the flight for you, don’t be shy about requesting a little more room. “Excuse me. It’s really tight back here. Would you mind raising your seat just a tad?” Just catch them before they go to sleep.

Kids on a Plane

We are all aware that children are loud-- most of them anyway. Again, it is the adult's responsibility to maintain control of his or her child for the entire duration of the flight. That might include having an endless supply of treats in one's bag. It might involve a portable DVD player or a portable gaming system. Whatever it is, please us it to maintain control of the children. You won't be able to muffle every sound but making a concerted effort will be noticed by other passengers and appreciated.

There is also the issue of having a pressurized cabin. Small children and babies who do not have ear tubes and have not yet learned how to pop their ears get the same amount of pressure build up in their ears as you. You know what it is and can try to deal with it. The child will absolutely not know what's going on and the typical response to this is to scream bloody murder. Now, here is an actual tip from an actual flight attendant for an actual airline! Bring some form of bottle, pacifier, snack, or sippy cup for your child to suck or chew during take-off. Then make sure they have a similar thing the very moment the plane starts to descend. If you wait until the screaming starts, it's pretty much too late.

It is very distressing to other passengers when a child begins to scream uncontrollably on the flight, but you are now prepared to handle this situation, and it will feel really good to hear all the passengers coo and praise your child for being such a fantastic flyer.

I’ve got one more episode on airplane manners so stay tuned and, in the meantime, do your best to be the friendliest flyer.

Administrative

Thank you for listening to The Modern Manners Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life. Be sure to try GoToMeeting today FREE for 30 days. Just visit GoToMeeting.com/podcast. That’s GoToMeeting.com/podcast. Do more and travel less with Go To Meeting.

There are transcript of this and all my other episodes at manners.quickanddirtytips.com where you can also find a link to my FaceBook group.  Come on over, become a fan and join in the discussions. And don't forget to tell a friend about your Modern Manners Guy.

The Modern Manners Guy is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network.