Most frequent flyers will be familiar with the situation—a middle seat between two substantial passengers.
Some of us opt for a discreet word with cabin crew to see if we can get relocated to a seat where we have a better chance of an armrest.
This is probably a better idea than taking the course pursued by an irate passenger on a United Airlines flight, who began complaining, in a very loud voice, that the passengers sitting either side of her were “fat pigs” who were “squishing” her to such an extent that she could “hardly breathe,” before yelling at other passengers who reproached her for her behavior, “I eat salad!”
The two passengers either side of her were traveling together, prompting some to suggest that they deliberately booked seats with a space between them, because they knew sitting next to each other would not be comfortable.
Be that as it may, there is little doubt that the abusive woman, who was subsequently taken off the flight, acts with a minimum of consideration or respect to her fellow passengers.
Unfortunately for her, the tirade was filmed by one of the people she was abusing, a registered nurse from New Jersey named Norma Rodgers, who has now posted the breathtaking video to facebook.
The clip begins with the woman making a phone call and complaining—loudly—“Oh my goodness, I don’t know how I’m going to do this for the next four hours. This is just impossible cause they're squishing me. They’re both so big on left and right,” she complains, before adding, “At least they’ll keep me warm.”
Rodgers, who is making the video, then flags a flight attendant and says: “Excuse me, can you find her another seat? Because I will not be verbally abused by this bitch or anybody else.”
The flight attendant asks the irate woman if she would like to move to another seat.
The woman gets up to leave, but as she departs fires off one last insult, saying, to a collective intake of breath, “I eat salads!”
Told she should be “ashamed” of herself the woman replies, “I’m not politically correct.”
“Bitch, kiss my fat ass,” the aggrieved Rodgers yells as she disappears from view.
For those who think that Rodgers’ parting shot lacked dignity and lowered her to the level of her abuser, she has a message on facebook, “My old days would have been to beat the bitch’s ass. The politically correct Norma called to speak with supervisors and asked that she be moved,” Rodgers wrote.