Your Trash.

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Flight Attendant | 3 comments

On his blog about the life of a flight attendant, Booby Laurie talks about passengers and trash! Apparently some people consider it their right to be as messy as possible because they paid for their flight. Check out the low cost holidays that are available and be a “green” passenger.

I’m going right to punch line. We thank people for their trash. It’s true, we do. Our job is so glamorous as Flight Attendants, that while walking through the cabin collecting trash we actually say “thank you” as passengers pass it to us.

Trash seems to be a love / hate relationship for people on an airplane. Some complain that you don’t pass through the cabin enough causing their trash to sit on their tray table restricting them from closing it, moving their legs, using their laptop, etc., and some, no matter how many times you ask for it, they don’t want to give it up.

It never ceases to amaze me when I ask someone who is blatantly holding an empty water bottle, cup or can if I could take it for them and their response is “no, I’m not done yet.” The thought that runs through my mind is “what the heck are you going to DO with it?” I can understand if someone wanted a refill and wished to keep their cup (because lately, everyone who flies is green — and I mean everyone) but your soda can and your bottle too?

It’s not just cups, cans and bottles, people seem to have a fascination newspapers as well. They hold onto them like they contain tomorrows lottery numbers or they’re going to regenerate with live breaking news. The standard response for not wanting to throw away their newspapers is “I’m going to take it with me.” Why? You just read it! By the time you get home, there will be nothing in that newspaper you haven’t already seen!

There’s also that select group of passengers who let go of all inhibitions on the plane as it relates to trash. They believe since they paid for their ticket, they also bought full rights to do whatever they please. On Twitter @Dennis9295, a fellow flight attendant, was telling me that he “saw a guy eating sunflower seeds and spitting his shells in the seat back pocket” and on numerous occasions I’ve witnessed soiled baby diapers being placed there as well. Don’t you realize that SOMEONE has to clean up after you? I almost want to ask them — what is going through your head? I know at home you use a cup for your sunflower seeds, why not here?

As we walk past you, with that puzzled look on our face as to why you would want to hold onto garbage, or why you decided to place your sunflower shells and diapers in the seat back pocket a little part of us cringes. It’s a little known fact that most airlines require the flight attendants to “tidy” the cabin after everyone deplanes at your destination. “Tidying” consists of crossing seat belts (to make the cabin look neat) and cleaning out the seat back pockets, leaving the contents on the seats for the cleaners to pick up. Some airlines don’t even have cleaners and require that the flight attendants do all of the cabin cleaning to prepare for the next flight. That’s part of the reason why some flight attendants take trash pick-up so seriously. When the plane lands, they want to go to the hotel just as quickly as you want to get to your vacation or go home, they don’t want to stay behind and clean up your mess.

What makes people act so strangely about trash once on an airplane?

I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with people not wanting ‘strangers’ to touch their belongings or maybe it’s that their not used to someone picking up after them (which could still be solved by them personally walking their trash to the back). But there has to be a logical reason why people hold on to their trash and do these crazy things.

Maybe, there isn’t. Sometimes, a few minutes after a trash run the call button will sound, you walk over to the row and its the same person who wanted to hold onto their used cup and they declare “oh, I just wanted you to take this.” You look at it, nothings changed since you last saw it 15 minutes ago, smile, slam your hand on the call button to turn it off (because you can’t believe they rang the call button so you can pick up a cup) and it’s these situations that I tell the passenger that “I’ll be right back, I need to get gloves before handling trash, thanks.” Seriously? I don’t even want to know what the passenger did to/with that cup since they told me “I’m not done with it;” never mind touch it.

Maybe its all just a big game to some passengers. Maybe they’re just so caught up in the inflight entertainment, the work they’re doing, their magazine or something that they lose all notion of common sense. Or maybe, that old Flight Attendant saying is true: “they checked their brain, with their bags – at the ticket counter.” But if that’s the case, in the true spirit of today’s economy I’m proposing a Trash Fee. There’s a 9/11 Fee, Security Fee, bag fee, why not a trash fee? Some residential communities charge a fee to have their trash collected, so why not on an airplane as well? The fees collected could be pooled together and awarded to the FA who could come up with the best reason as to why your newspaper that you wanted to “take with you” is shredded into hundreds of pieces on the floor like a jigsaw puzzle (really, what were you doing with it?!) or the FA who could re-assemble the newspaper in the quickest time. As Flight Attendants, we’re easily entertained.