WARNING: YOU MAY BE BETTER OF BEING UNAWARE OF SOME OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION DISCLOSED IN THIS POST
I have a fun personality and love people yet, some would say that I’m in the wrong business. I am a self-proclaimed germaphobe who actually enjoys flying at high speeds in a giant metal tube of what? You guessed it – germs. To me, that’s all any form of public transit is – just a vessel of grossness waiting to attack! When I let my mind wander on the topic, it really freaks me out so let’s move on. Now, I’m not technically O.C.D. about it, however I am probably closer to it than most. When you see the things that I see on a daily bases would you blame me though? And let’s not even get started on the vast number of hotel rooms that I have to stay in! (Click Here for Hotel Tips) So how do I deal? Stick with me, I am happy to share a list of some of my tips BUT, no judging please and thanks!
FOR THE PLANE
- Bring sanitation wipes. This is an easy one and in my opinion a no-brainer. Yes we all see the mom wiping down every inch of everything before she lets her kid sit down and we have all thought “that is a little excessive” but its NOT! That’s probably the same mother who used to change her babies poopy diaper on the tray table; and now that she’s seen other parents do the
same thing, she’s decided to finally clean her act up (and the tray table) before she lets her child eat from it. I’ve personally seen tons of drool from sleeping passengers on the tray tables and bodily fluids in the seats. Don’t forget to check the seat belts (because people do get sick and have accidents) and the flight attendant call button above your head (because people pick their noses, cough and scratch their behinds before pressing the button to ask flight attendants for to top off thier drink.) - Don’t put things in the seat back pocket unless you have to. When you blow your nose on a plane and there’s not a flight attendant with a trash bag right there waiting, what do you (or most people) do with your snot rag? Yep, you place it in the seat back pocket while you wait for a trash bag to come around. How about the mom that just changed her child’s diaper on the tray table. Where does she put her trash while she waits? Bingo. Seat back pocket.
Look CLOSELY at what this passenger is doing
The list goes on and on, and here comes an unsuspecting passenger who places their book in the seat back pocket, meanwhile collecting bits of remnants from earlier passengers throughout the day. When that person gets home they put the book on their counters, on their beds – well you get the picture. If you decide to put things in the seat back pocket, please utilize tip #1 – the sanitation wipes.
- Order the bottle (or can). I hate to say it, but if you’re a really thirsty germaphobe, sometimes its best to ask for a bottle or can verses letting someone else make your drink for you. Although it is good practice and most (including myself) probably do wash their hands before serving food and beverages, I have seen with my own eyes that many people do not. As a flight attendant, I prefer to make your drinks for you because giving out bottles and cans can make it more difficult for me; however as a passenger I know that if I just order a bottle of water – no ice – and a straw, then no one has to touch anything. Again, if you do order that bottle or can, be sure to wipe them down using a napkin or your tools from tip #1 just to be on the safe side. These items sit in warehouses and could have God knows what on them.
- Using the Lavatory (a.k.a. airplane bathroom). Hold, on guys, I need to take a breather for this one because so many things go wrong in this department. I’m just going to list them out:
- DO NOT walk around barefoot. You are NOT at home. People don’t listen to us when we say please stay seated, the seat belt sign is on. So they go back and use the lavatory anyway bouncing around the whole time from turbulence. No one has that great of aim. You and your children are literally walking around on a floor full of urine and then taking that back home with you in your shoes, socks, blankets etc. Ew.
- Close the door after you leave. I am sorry but the flight attendants and the people in the nearest row do not care to smell the business you just handled in there. PLEASE, stop leaving the door open.
- Don’t touch the door handle. The people who wiped their behind, didn’t wash their hands and used the lavatory before you, touched the handle when they courteously closed the door behind them (Thank you for that!). Just simply use a tissue and use that to open and close.
Please flush. If you do not know how, please ASK. It is an unwelcome and rude surprise to go into a lavatory and smell someones leftover excrement. - Do NOT sit on the lavatory seat. Why do people do this? Do you think that the cleaning people have ample time to do a thorough cleaning job in those lavatories? Let me help you. NO they don’t. If they don’t see poop on the seat, they’re not going to wipe it down in between flights. A passenger could have very easily had an accident and just wiped it with tissue (we thank you for attempting to clean as best as you could), but the poop or vomit is still there waiting for you to sit on it (BARF!!!!!!!!!!!!) And if you think I’m being dramatic, I am. But I am also being truthful. I have SEEN with my very own eyes poop smeared on the walls of the lavatory. How it got there I do not know, but just keep in mind that although it gets wiped down during the day, the lavatory does not get a full cleaning until the end of the night. So yeah, think on that.
- Wash your hands – Duh! We can tell when you don’t 👀 so if we have a weird stank look when you come out, just know…we might be judging you😉, and please don’t touch us.
- When placing bags in over head bins, don’t touch the wheels. I feel like this is self explanatory, but ill expand on it. You literally drag your bag everywhere with you, picking up all kinds of filth – bathrooms, streets, etc. Then after fondling your bag and other passengers bags too so that yours can fit, you sit down and touch things mentioned in Tips #1 and #2 and then proceed to eat food and snacks provided to you on the plane. While washing your hands is always the best option, if you cannot get to the lavatory, use the sanitation wipes from Tip #1
So there you have it! I’m sure there’s a multitude of tips and tricks out there but I didn’t want to overload you and I am working on not being so germaphobic. These few tips are the ones that I consider to be of medium to high importance. I hope these help my fellow germaphobics who have to travel and give something to think about to the people who aren’t slightly O.C.D. Please check out Part II of this blog which focuses on hotels! Click here for Tips from a Traveling Germaphobe Part II: Hotels Don’t forget to Like, Comment and Subscribe. I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. Fly safe y’all!
