An In-Flight Observation

Just got back from Surabaya. Flying Garuda Indonesia, as usual... but was so annoyed on the Jakarta-Surabaya flight because I couldn't find a space on the overhead compartment for my small luggage: every inch was packed with other people's stuff! How is that possible? Aren't the compartments supposed to provide enough space for everyone? This has never happened to me before... not in domestic flight, not in international flight. What happened? I decided to settle down and observe my surroundings (after a flight attendant found a space for my luggage in business class). 

I've been on so many flights and have taken lots of things for granted. Once I start to observe people's behavior, I realized some things. And I'm sure you would find (at least some of) them rather familiar. Here goes:

1) Overhead compartments are jam-packed and people who board the plane last would have absolutely no space to put their stuff (as happened to me). The reason? Just look at one lady who brings on board: one medium-sized luggage (definitely not cabin-sized), one sportsbag, one box of local snacks and crackers, and another plastic bag of God-knows-what. She packs everything into a compartment, and of course her stuff fills in the whole damn space. How about the passengers next to her? They put their stuff in the next compartment, thus using up yet another passenger's space. Repeat the process 22x2 times (in a Boeing 737), and voila! not enough space for everyone. 

2) Stinky stuff in the cabin. Try this on a flight from Palembang. You know pempek, the sinfully yummy and not-so-healthy fish cakes from the city? The fish cakes on their own are fine, but there's this black spicy sauce that goes with them, and it's made of spices and garlic and vinegar, and it STINKS. No matter how good you wrap it in plastic, the stink would persist. People would bring boxes of pempek into the cabin, and by the time the airplane is taxiing on the tarmac, the stink would gloriously fill the air. Try breathing that air for the whole 1,5 hours flight. I did. I survived. But I can't imagine how people could be so ignorant of their fellow passengers' sense of smell, sanity and well-being. I did bring a box of pempek myself, but I checked it in. Since I'm sure there's no living being in the cargo area, I can be sure that I'm not torturing anyone with that dangerous biohazard that is pempek.

3) In-flight mobile phone galore! Numerous newspaper articles, online forums, and chain emails have covered this issue extensively. And given Indonesia's less-than-excellent airline reputation, people should've known better. But I see it all the time: 

• people chattering into their mobile phones well until the plane is taxiing before take-off, saying (loudly so the whole cabin could hear), "YES! YES! I'M BOARDING THE PLANE NOW! HUH? YES, I'M IN THE AIRPLANE!!! PICK ME UP AT [city/airport name] IN ONE HOUR, YES?!!! OK!!! I HAVE TO SWITCH OFF MY PHONE NOW!!! [duh] BYE!!!"
  
• people keeping their mobile on while in flight (a friend of mine experienced this recently, she heard a familiar ring from a passenger behind her, 45 minutes into a Jakarta-Surabaya flight, at night, in stormy weather... she freaked out, of course, and screamed at the mobile phone owner)
  
• people switching their mobile back on right after touchdown at destination... isn't it like music to your ear, when you hear that familiar Nokia startup tune at landing, when the airplane hasn't even slowed down? This time you would hear them scream, "HELLO?!! HELLO?!! I JUST LANDED IN [city/airport name]!!! YES!!! PICK ME UP AT THE FRONT, WILL YOU?!!! YES YES... SEE YOU SOON!! HUH? HELLO?!! HELLO?!!" ... at times like this, I wish there was some kind of alien presence (like Klaatu/Gort) that could send hypnotic/telekinetic electricity/electromagnetic pulse to these ignorant passengers through their mobile phones, that would stun and incapacitate them on the spot... *sigh* me and my overimaginative mind.