Few horrors compare to the realisation that you are sitting next to a neighbour from hell on a long-haul flight.
From manspreading to reclining the seat with shoes slipped off, we’ve all encountered that passenger. But one traveller took things to a new level by eating a tuna melt — ‘stinking up the entire plane’ mid-air.
Zavier Torrence was on the second leg of his trip from West Virginia to Tampa, Florida, last month when he overheard someone behind him ordering a toasted fish sandwich.
The 25-year-old captured his disgust at the pungent odour in a five-second video on TikTok, titled ‘because WHY are we eating a tuna melt on a flight?!’.
Is it ok to eat fish on a flight?
The video quickly went viral, racking up over 713,000 views and many sympathetic responses.
‘Food is fine, strong food is a crime,’ one person replied, while another added: ‘Fish on any kind of plane is diabolical.’
But the footage also sparked a firestorm, with some viewers lashing out at the text Torrence added, which read: ‘Strongly believe that people who eat on flights need to be incarcerated for 10 days.
‘You expect people not to eat during a flight?’ many wondered, while some asked if he had ever flown more than a couple of hours at a time.
‘Guilty of this. Sorry, I love tuna and all meat smells,’ a woman called Kim said.
Torrence conceded that other passengers didn’t seem to be bothered by the smell, that or they chose to ignore it.
There is much debate around flying etiquette.
Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas, believes there is a line you shouldn’t cross if you’re eating in closed quarters.
‘You should always avoid eating foods most people would find offensive, which include tuna and boiled eggs,’ she told Fox News. Fair enough.
But what about other plane habits?
Long-time flight attendant Cher Killough has one pet peeve that ticks her off most; a habit that men in particular should take note to avoid.
In a TikTok video, the Dallas-based airline worker listed things she believes ‘should be illegal to do’ on a plane.
Number one was manspreading, or more specifically, ‘manspreading when you’re in a middle seat.’
If you haven’t heard the term before, it refers to when people (normally inconsiderate men) sit with their knees so far apart that they take up more space than their seat allows, encroaching on people either side.
‘I’ve been a passenger, and had it numerous times, where men will spread their knees all the way into my seat section or the person’s on the other side’ said Cher. ‘It’s just unacceptable.’
According to the flight attendant, it’s often shorter passengers who are guilty of this faux pas.
Cher also called out passengers who wear strong perfume, and people who take their shoes off.
‘There’s not a time that it’s acceptable to have your bare toes out in the cabin,’ she said, adding that sandal-wearers ‘seriously deserve to go to jail.’
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