Airplane etiquette rules we should all follow

I thought these were common sense, but apparently I was wrong.

They say the only thing you can control in life is yourself, but almost every time I step on an airplane, there are a few other people’s attitudes and actions I wish I had some control over.

Just last week, I was on a flight home from Curacao (reluctantly, I might add, because it is my favorite island to visit) with my family. We had only been in the air about 10 minutes when a man yelled loudly enough for the whole plane to hear, “Shut the $%@! up!”

The offending party? A baby who had been crying during takeoff. Mind you, the flight had barely gotten off the ground. The baby was likely scared or in pain from the change in pressure.

If it had been my baby (or if I had already been served some inflight liquid courage), I would have reminded that man that he was once a baby who cried and that purchasing a plane ticket does not entitle him to a quiet, baby-free flight.

Maybe I would even mention to him that noise-canceling headphones exist and are available from several retailers across the World Wide Web. If I were feeling nice, I would even search for a good deal and drop him the link.

Regardless, what he did was completely out of line. Not only was it disrespectful to the child and his parents, but it also likely made them feel uncomfortable and unsafe for the remainder of the flight.

I am not sure to what degree he was reprimanded, but I wouldn’t be mad if the universe blessed him with more loud babies and maybe a few inconvenient flight delays in the future.

I thought that not screaming swear words at a baby who is already in distress was common sense, but that man proved me wrong.

The situation got me thinking about some other air travel etiquette rules that I wish we would all collectively agree to follow.

Wait for your turn to deplane: One of my biggest air travel pet peeves is when someone comes from the back of the plane and barrels through to the front the second we arrive at the gate.

Unless you are racing to get to your next flight, it is not more important for you to get off the flight before anyone else. Things go more smoothly when we all wait for our turn to deplane and exit in an orderly fashion.

The middle seat gets both armrests: Being in the middle seat kind of sucks, especially when you are stuck between two strangers. If you are in the aisle or window seat, help make the person in the middle more comfortable by giving them both armrests.

Headphone jacks exist for a reason: I feel like it’s becoming more and more common for people to watch movies on their phone or play games on their tablets without headphones in. If I wanted to know what happened in the newest episode of “The Pitt,” I would watch it myself, so please bring a pair of headphones (I save the free ones they hand out on flights for this purpose) for yourself or your kids when you travel.

Recline your seat responsibly: It’s been years since the passenger in front of me smashed my laptop when they reclined their seat, but the loss of my computer still stings.

The Points Guy

Regardless of your stance on whether or not to recline your seat in economy, this incident opened my eyes to the fact that a little courtesy can go a long way. I rarely recline my seat, but if I were to do so, I would turn around and give the person behind me a heads-up. They may be working, eating or holding a baby in their lap (crying or otherwise), and I am sure they would appreciate the warning.