Arrogant Passenger Ate My Plane Meal – Karma Didn’t Let It Slide
One woman anticipated an average flight, but an unexpected turn of events resulted from an unexpected act of daring by the passenger sitting next to her. Not how one of them had hoped the flight to finish.
Thus, I found myself on an additional aircraft from New York to Los Angeles, anticipating a nice and uncomplicated voyage. I’m a 35-year-old marketing consultant who travels frequently for work, so I’ve mastered the art of navigating planes and airports.
This time, I had a close connection to San Diego for a pre-conference meeting and was headed to a significant conference in Los Angeles. Everything had a precise minute timing. I had no time for delays.
I’d made all the necessary arrangements, down to picking a seat in the aisle for an easy getaway. I could see the man in the window seat was comfortable as soon as I got to my row.
He looked like he was in his early 40s, and it was difficult to ignore his aura of significance. He had polished shoes, good slacks, and a button-down shirt that was neatly ironed. He was constantly checking his pricey watch, as if he had somewhere more important to go. When I finally sat down, he hardly looked up.
Not a huge deal, I reasoned. All I wanted was a quiet flight and maybe a few extra minutes to review my meeting notes in San Diego. However, I was unaware that this individual was going to make my otherwise uneventful trip into a terrifying mini-nightmare.
Dinner was served by the flight attendants about halfway throughout the journey. Now, I hadn’t eaten all day because I’d been so busy getting ready for the conference. I was famished by the time the meal service began.
My stomach growled as soon as I smelled the food, making me realize how hungry I was. Before arrival, I was eager to eat, review my notes, and possibly take a quick nap.
But then the natural world called. Hoping the food cart was still a few rows away, I took a quick look at the aisle. It was, so I reasoned that I had enough time to make a fast trip to the bathroom. I quickly made my way to the back of the aircraft after apologizing and taking care not to wake up Mr. Important too much.
There was a line when I arrived at the bathroom. Amazing, exactly what I needed! Anxiously, I looked at my watch. The time passed, and the queue did not advance as swiftly as I had anticipated. I was virtually tapping my foot in frustration by the time it was finally my turn. I was aware that there would be a meal service, and I wanted to avoid missing it.
My meal tray had vanished, and I was shocked to see it when I eventually returned to my seat! The person seated beside me was contentedly tucking into his second dinner!
“Uh, did they bring my meal while I was gone?” Even though it was evident, I inquired.
He lifted his gaze from his tray, showing off his arrogant smile without even trying to hide it. “Yes, that’s right. I figured you didn’t want it because you were taking a long time. did not want it to be thrown away.
I was astounded as I looked at him. “You ate my meal?”
Yes, he replied, continuing to chew. “After mine, I was still hungry, and you weren’t here. When we land, you can simply pick up something at the airport.”
I was hearing things that I couldn’t believe. Though entitled people were nothing new, this was something else entirely. For a little period, I stood there utterly speechless. Who takes that action?
“Are you serious right now?” Still holding out hope that this was some kind of weird joke, I asked, more to myself than to him.
He simply shrugged, showing no signs of fear. “Relax, it’s just airplane food.”
I asked the flight attendant if there were any meals remaining, feeling a mixture of fury and disbelief as I pressed the call button. She smiled pitifully at me and said, “We’re so sorry, but we’re out of food. Instead, how about some pretzels?”
Crackers? That wouldn’t quite do the trick, but what else could I do? I picked up the little bag of pretzels, feeling dejected and getting more and more irritated at my seatmate for being so daring.
As for Mr. Important, he finished both meals, reclined back in his chair, and instantly dozed off, looking as content as a cat that had just captured a mouse.
I nibbled on the pretzels and glared at the man who was now dozing quietly next me while I attempted to concentrate on my work. My stomach protested by growling, but I made myself focus on my notes.
I told myself that I couldn’t afford to let this idiot spoil my day because I had a close connection to worry about. As I counted down the minutes till our landing, I continued to check my watch.
The flight attendants gave the standard remarks regarding landing and connecting flights as we began our descent into Los Angeles. I was forced to snap out of my annoyance and return to work mode by the reminder about tight connections. I took a quick look at my seatmate. He remained unconscious and devoid of awareness of everything around him.
As soon as the plane touched down, I grabbed my suitcase and started running to my next gate. However, one of the flight attendants made a crucial statement just as I was getting to my feet:
“Attention, passengers connecting to San Diego.” A last-minute gate adjustment has occurred. You must proceed as soon as possible to Terminal 4, Gate 45.”
Fantastic, I thought. A gate change, exactly what I needed. I looked at Mr. Important, who was still snoozing, and turned to go. In fact, I was on the fence about waking him up. Though he had consumed my food and behaved badly, did it really imply I should just walk away and lose our connection?
I chose to give him a gentle prod as I went to grab my luggage from the overhead bin. “Hey, we’ve landed,” I yelled, trying not to wake anyone else up with my loud voice.
Nothing. He was not even moving.
I gave him a more forceful prod. “You might want to wake up; we’ve landed, and there’s a gate change.”
This time, obviously not ready to wake up, he moved his head the other way and mumbled something incoherent in his sleep. I reasoned that he would soon wake from the general noise of passengers disembarking, and that I really wanted to go to my next gate.
I had no means of missing my flight. So I quickly got off the plane and left him there, still sound sleeping.
I had to navigate through a throng of people at the busy terminal in order to get to my new gate. They had already boarded by the time I arrived. I arrived in plenty of time, and as soon as I took a seat, I at last felt some relaxation. I had a minute to myself as I traveled to San Diego.
I didn’t learn the whole story until I came to San Diego and met up with my coworkers. One of my coworkers, Lisa, commented that she had seen someone who sounded a lot like me as we were talking about our flights.
“I swear, there was this guy at LAX who looked like he’d just woken up from a coma,” Lisa chuckled. “Looking utterly lost, he was staggering out of the plane. He was fighting with a gate agent because he didn’t get the connection, and I heard it. It appears that he was asleep when the gate change was announced, and it was already too late when he awoke.”
I couldn’t resist grinning. “What did he look like?”
Lisa characterized him as an early-forties man with a slightly wrinkled button-down shirt, polished shoes, slacks, and a fine watch that he constantly checked while he battled with the gate agent. He appeared stressed out and enraged, and his hair was a complete mess.
I knew without a doubt that it was him.
“Oh, that guy!” I spoke, struggling to contain my satisfaction. Yes, he was sitting beside me. It’s unbelievable that he finished his lunch while I was using the restroom and then dozed off. He refused to move when I attempted to wake him up.
Lisa’s gaze expanded. “Not at all! That is an example of karma in action.”
I completely concur. Even though the entire experience had left me feeling frustrated, there was a profound sense of fulfillment in seeing that karma had intervened. Mr. Important was stranded in Los Angeles, missing his connections and undoubtedly regretting his decision to indulge in two dinners, while I arrived at my meeting on time.
What goes around, sometimes, does indeed come around. Furthermore, karma in this instance wasn’t forgiving.