The phrase I despise hearing on a plane in South American. Why? Because at the sound of that seemingly innocent *ding*, utter pandemonium is about to break loose.



There is something about lines, waiting, or exiting through door that enervates people and makes them want to get through as quickly as possible. Well the process of getting off a plane is quite similar. Once that sound hits, every single person bolts off their seat as if there were snakes on that plane (sorry, couldn't help it...) and frantically searches for their bags and belongings. Of course not everything is within arm's length and sometimes people are forced to claw, push,or dive their way through to reach it as if it were their lost, wailing child. After this 5 minutes of mayhem, everyone of course just stands there waiting another 15 while everything is being prepped for our exit, clinging to their belongings like it's the Golden Ticket.

This is where I like to have fun sometimes. Once people start filing out and my turn comes up (I was that guy that patiently sat there reading or smirking during that mess) I usually jump at the opportunity that is my turn. I calmy stand up, block the aisle, slowly grab my belongings from the overhead container (obviously to be careful for any bags that may have shifted during the course of the flight), take my time at putting on my jacket (wouldn't want to catch a chill), check to see that I have everything, and head towards the door. As you can imagine, this evokes some frustration and annoyance. I've gotten the "perdon...perdon...perdon...etc," the (not so) subtle nudges for me to move, and even had a lady attempting to climb over a seat to get around me (no joke. And no, she didn't get around me - by the time she was close, I was done and already walking in front of her, ha!).

Aren't I fun to travel with??