The person next to you has an allergy to the food you are eating. Do you move?

I would certainly agree that thinking that having a sandwich is more important than someone having a severe allergic reaction would make someone an asshole.

If I was on this plane and saw a man doing that to a woman with a peanut allergy I'd wait until nobody was watching, then wrap my car keys around my fist and punch him in the liver.

_

And just to make a serious point also, is it really that foreign an idea to you guys that a gentleman would give way to a lady? Call me a sexist if you like, but I stand up and offer my seat on a bus or a train if I see a lady standing, I hold doors open for a lady, and I would not sit back scoffing a sandwich that would make her ill and leave her to go and stand in a corner until I'd finished. And if that makes me a paternalistic pig in some people's eyes, Im not sure still I would apologise for my view.

 

I think that statement confirms that the idea of being a gentleman towards the fairer sex is certainly pretty alien to you, so I guess I should thank you for confirming.

If you want my real answer, it is the same - that in something that is not really important or going to cause serious harm, I would prefer to put myself out than ask someone else to put themselves out. You can decide for yourself it means I am timid, kind, or a good Christian... but its simply what I would prefer to do.

And yes, I do treat women different from men. I wouldn't slam a door in a man's face obviously, but I wouldn't give up my seat on the train for another man (unless he had one leg or something)

 

You're welcome.

I'm German. Unlike North Americans and you Brits, most of us actually make equal treatment in daily exchanges a reality. While sex plays no role for us, age and health of another person are things we do take into consideration.

If a lady wants to be treated differently by me, then she would have to be my girlfriend/fiancée/wife.

Were my SO on this forum, she'd without hesitation declare to everyone that I treat her worse than all female strangers.

 

The responsibility of this situation should lie within the airline. The airline should have given some options to the man other than to not eat. An offer of another seat if one was available, if it was not his preference to move then the person with the allergy should be moved at least for the the time it took to eat his meal. They could have offered him a different meal.

For someone to suggest that an individuals situation is low risk without knowing the full details is wrong. I once knew the mother of a child who had a nut allergy so seriously that she once was admitted to a hospital and intubated because they were baking peanut butter cookies in the kitchen which was a few doors down from her classroom.

I recall reading once that a typical plane is sanitized only approximately once per week. I don't know how truthful this article was or how many airlines were studied to come up with the figure so the reliability of this statement is in the air. Given that, I wonder if any flight is all that safe for a person with such a severe allergy.

 

Maybe he just wanted to sit rather than stand in the aisle and eat while standing around like a dork. I've been on a good number of flights, and have never encountered that space was so little that she could not have removed herself from him and his sandwich.

And again, completely ignoring that she was discourteous by not taking action in/planning for such a case.

 

"Fecal airspace," huh?

Pfft, has this dude been on flights to Middle Eastern / Asian countries?

The shit-stankin' bathroom often smells better than the coach cabin.

 

There is much truth in that statement.

I really don't like flying in planes with lots of Afghans, Pakistanis or Indians.

Distinctly remember flying from Frankfurt to Sydney with SriLankan when I was 8 or 9 years old.

I vomited 7 fucking times.

 

that's pretty racist man

 

Fremen accused me of the same once. He has since learned the error in his ways.

Seriously, though. I've flown many times in the course of my life (first flight was when I was a year old), and the flights where the above-mentioned peoples were the majority of the passengers were also the most... memorable.

 

10-15 years ago I may have agreed with you on this. Now I would merely say that he was being honest.

Certain demographics have certain odors. That is not to suggest that all people from Country X don't wash etc. Different foods, different spices, different fragrances etc. There are even renters here that hesitate to allow a lease with certain populations because they are well aware that the strong cooking odors they leave behind will make for a very expensive cleaning when their tenants move. I have spent many hours in tiny little exam rooms with people and can attest to this unpleasantness. I don't think it makes me a racist, it only makes it clear that I noticed. Am I insensitive because I believe smokers smell badly as well? Am I discriminating against alcoholics when I can smell the noxious odors of alcohol sweating through their skin? That is not to say that there may be a population group that finds myself and my fellow americans stinky.

 

That would certainly be a criminal offence in the UK. Can't speak for America... but I would be pretty shocked if it was legal.

It doesnt mean I dont believe it happens, but I would characterise someone who wouldn't rent a property to a couple because they were Asian (as an example) as a racist without hesitation.

 

Somewhat relevant:

 

I think he did the responsible thing. The female passenger, on the other hand, will probably end up dead one day due to her failure to take proactive precautionary steps (unless she is indeed, the precious type who enjoys special considerations being afforded to her). She could just as easily have sat next to someone who was a major asshole and shoved the walnut bread right up her nose.

If she's unwilling to inform airline staff of her allergy before they bring the food around, maybe she needs to wear a sign around her neck announcing to the world that she can't breath in nuts. The guy could have had fair warning and ordered the other option (isn't there always two?) Instead, she waited until he was already into his meal to announce her affliction. Not smart lady.

Yes, he could have brought the sandwich on board himself but I have to wonder why it was the airline staff informing him of her allergy and not the woman herself. Unless she was afraid of what his reaction might be if she'd confronted him herself.

Airborne nut allergy. Yeah, I'd be wearing a mask in close and crowded situations.

 

I just finished off two chock and nut ice-cream cones to get me in the mood for this thread.

If I were the one with the nut allergy, I'd sure as heck look to my own salvation. I'd not ask the person next to me to remove their nuts. Hmmm I can't stand the smell of some stews, and some fish-smell wants to make me chuck. But no, I still wouldn't want to tell THEM to do stuff differently.

HAH ... I've found an "critical situation"example in my own experience: synthetic alcohol-based perfumes. Some of those totally slay me - my eyes are destroyed, my skin peels off to reveal muscle sinew and bone, and my breathing is knocked out. What would I do. I'd go to the steward and make it clear that I cannot be next to that person and can they put me somewhere else. They would then have to do something. I would not go back to my seat. But I would not simply choose the solution that the 'other' person has to shift. Also, I'd most definitely have told the authorities of my sensitivity at the start.

Now let's turn the table around, and it's someone else with the allergy.
Say someone saw me with my chock and nut cones and went "I'm allergic" - I probably WOULD stop eating them or something (eg move into aisle to munch them). Also, since they'd opened a conversation with me with intent to totally modify my behaviour, I'd give them a cautionary lecture based on the points raised in this thread. They'd better be willing to take it on board as well meant advice on what THEY need to do differently in future to look after themselves. Because if I got the whiff of a hint that they were using their allergy as a general means of social control, I'd out them.