Travelocity survey says: fat, smelly and coughing the worst to be sitting next to

A Travelocity survey confirms what we knew all along – smelly passengers, coughing passengers and “passengers of size” are amongst the worst people to be sitting next to in the air.

The results are from the Travelocity 2009 “rudeness poll”, asking people a variety of questions. In total, the survey interviewed just under 1600 people, from the US and Canada. When the survey expanded on “large passengers”, 44% said the airlines should provide a second seat for free, while 39% said fat passengers should pay for their own space.

When asked about hotel items taken from the property, people either lied, or are just more honest than I expected – 13% of people never take anything from their room, and just 1% admitted to stealing dishes and silverware.

The survey is very well put together, and a lot of work was put into explaining the results. If you’d like to read more about rude passengers, check out the full version of the 2009 Travelocity Rudeness Poll (PDF file).

%Gallery-10616%

%Gallery-73517%

Lessons in Futility: Eradicating Parisian Rudeness

Parisians are notorious for being rude to tourists and are consistently ranked some of the rudest people in the world according to various surveys.

Filed under the category of “too little too late,” Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë has launched a promotional campaign trying to eek some friendliness out of his fellow citizens. The first ever Paris Tourist Day on July 9th, for example, featured a push to get taxi drivers to smile more and even speak some English. In addition, the city has printed up brochures titled “Charter for the Parisian and Visitor.”

The hilarious thing about this brochure is that it is not only directs Parisians how to act accordingly, but it is also tells tourists how to do so as well. I’m assuming that this is the result of some Parisian rationalizing that he wouldn’t be as rude if only tourists were more civil and polite themselves.

So, for what it’s worth, here is the Charter in its entirety. Let’s see if both sides live up to the promise.

Charter for the Parisian and visitor

As an ambassador of my country, I will share my culture

Commitments of the Parisian
– I will take the time to give information to visitors. I will make use
of my foreign language skills to reply to them in their language.
– I will recommend to visitors things I appreciate about Paris.
– I am proud of my city, the number one tourist destination in the world.

Commitments of the visitor
– I will experience the Parisian lifestyle.
– I will take advantage of my stay to try French products.
– I will respect the city and use public transport.