In-flight entertainment!

A travel for over 30 hrs is what gets me across half the world,inclusive of transit hours. Such long hours of travel are effective practical classes in psychology. Most people carry their CD player, portable DVD player, playstation,laptop with movie downloaded in it...and for the poorer souls..the inflight entertainment is the best option. But my concern is something totally different.

I think for a comfortable flight, one needs to have good co-passengers. When you don't..it is entertainment in itself! These are some of my experiences!

Children when seated behind you, find kicking and boxing the seat in front the best form of play ever. When seated ahead of you, they just find anything you see, read, touch, do,eat or drink interesting and if at all you don't do anything, they find you amusing. So you will have them constantly staring at you and their eyeballs moving in the direction of any slight movement you make. Babies are my all time favourite in the list of "not preferable co-passengers". Apart from the baby crying and messing around, crawling all over the place, frequent changes, constant attention and entertainment seeking traits, what irritates me the most is when the mother requests you to give up ur seat and shift elsewhere so she can lay the baby to sleep, also the baby-sitting moments while the mother takes the unavoidable breaks in between!

The other kind are the ones that sleep through the entire flight. The moment the flight takes off and is at a reasonable height, our guy reclines his seat so much that he is on your lap. Well, you will have to spare your lap for him or recline your seat to maintain a decent distance, which eventually leaves you with a back ache. Everytime you want to get up and use the restroom or just want to walk around and stretch, you either have to be a gymnast or a circus pro.....hop....jump..stretch...and ya..mumble,rant,swear..n all that! Oh..and forget it when food is served, your tray table is forgotten!

The other is the reader. One such person in front,behind or on either side of you..you can forget about sleeping. The reading light will eternally be on and somehow directed right onto your eyes! Also the frequent bell to summon the steward or stewardess for coffee,water, juice and sometimes drinks. If you choose a seat at the aisle, your ease to move around is at the cost of being hit a million times by the steward(ess), the food trolley that bangs right into your shoulder,elbow or knee, the scores of passengers frequenting the restroom or just walking around to stretch their limbs.

Next is the body type, age and sex! An extremely healthy person could be of quite a concern as I would give up half my seat to adjust to the lack of such 'health'. A tall person would also be of concern coz he would shift and readjust himself , in what seems like every 10 mins, disturbing the few winks one sometimes is lucky to catch. A young 20 something gal is also of concern as she finds a friend in me and talks through the entire length of the flight which could be anything from 3 hrs to 14 hrs.I generally end up with a headache after that, not only by the constant conversation but by just rotating my head in her direction for that length of time. A young 20 something guy is of equal concern...primarily coz I'm not too comfortable with unfamiliar males, secondarily coz there always will be this uneasiness when you need to use the restrooms! An elderly (male or female doesn't matter) might also be of concern as they frequently need to keep walking to keep their circulation going and also the frequent visit to the restroom,which generally is most urgent when you are in teh deepest of your slumber!

So, who is an ideal co-passenger? Hmmm... I do not have an answer to that..but you could avoid the problem by travelling with someone you know!! You can't help what you get ahead or behind you, but you can certainly be releived on some front!!