Yesterday I flew home to Boston from Tucson, AZ on Southwest. We connected through Chicago. On our second flight (after an almost 3 hour layover) I really had to pee quite badly. When the flight attendants came through with snacks I asked one of them if she had any guess as to when they’d be turning off the “seatbelts” sign so that I could get up and use the restroom. She said she didn’t know. A few minutes later she came by and told me that in an emergency she wouldn’t be able to “allow” it but that she wouldn’t tackle me, either. I thanked her.
Cue forward 20 minutes or so and the “fasten seatbelts” sign finally goes off. I get out of my seat and go back and use the restroom. When I came out of the room, the flight attendant was there pouring drinks. She looked up at me and said “did you wash your hands?” to which I truthfully replied “yes.” Then she asked me “what color is the soap?”
I had no idea. I wasn’t looking at the soap. The way I use a soap dispenser is to pump the soap into a closed-up fist anyway, since I’ve had “soap-spurting” accidents before that got soap on my shirt or whatever.
Anyway, the point is that she made me feel really self conscious and it was very accusatory like she didn’t believe I’d actually washed my hands. I was a little offended. So what do you think? Was she behaving appropriately to question me like that?
Well, Southwest. :rolleyes: No surprises there. I flew them once 20 years ago and was so put off by their unprofessionalism I’ve never used them since.
To the best of my knowledge washing your hands is not some sort of TSA regulation or something, so yes, not only did she overstep her bounds she was being downright rude. It’s no business of hers if you washed your hands or not. This was not “Bitchy mom with PMS” Airlines. I would’ve been tempted to say “No” and rub them all over her and every can on the drink cart. Of course NOWadays they’ll eject you from a flight for something as minor as urinating on a small child. sigh What have we become?
I sure wouldn’t appreciate being spoken to as if I’m an 8-year-old. That’s probably exactly what my response to her (first) question would have been, too.
Maybe she was screening you as a potential terrorist. She asked about the color of the soap to see if you were too busy rigging up your suicide vest to notice. The tricky part, of course, is that a well trained terrorist would have expected it, and committed all details of the soap…color, fragrance, etc. to memory. Since you did not identify the soap in that level of detail, she then knew you were a legitimate citizen. We should all be thankful for her vigilance. Let’s join hands and sing “God Bless America” now.
Southwest flight attendants are supposed to make dumb jokes, even during the safety announcements (e.g., “Put on your own mask before helping your husband with his”).
OpalCat, are you in fact 8 years old, and do your hands look particularly dirty? Those are the only circumstances in which her questions would be appropriate. But as others have said, she probably thought she was being funny.
This is called “having a sense of humor”. You can be forgiven for not getting it because it’s unusual in an airline situation, but you see… this is Southwest we’re talking about.
There are those who don’t care for Southwest - the lack of assigned seating, amenities, and the effort by their employees to liven things up a bit, even if it comes out corny sometimes. But then you find out they’re always near the top of on-time performance and customer satisfaction and don’t have the same history of labor problems as the other airlines. And in my experience (which is a fair bit - I will always opt for Southwest over other airlines) their employees are cheerful in a way that can’t be faked.
My guess is her delivery was a bit too deadpan for the OP.
On my many Southwest flights, I’ve never been treated with anything other than cheerfulness. Completely different from my experiences with other airlines. I think the Southwest attitude is a breath of fresh air to a very staid industry. BTW: I’m a professional pilot myself, so I always watch the crews with interest.
I actually loved that aspect. I found most people would mindlessly start filing toward the middle/back of the plane while I would be able to snag a seat in the front row, thus insuring I was one of the first people off.
The lack of “amenities” such as food is also a plus. By not catering their flights and then having to clean up after them, Southwest saves a ton of time at the gate. Plus, who wants airline food anyway? I bring my own sandwich on the plane. Win / win. I’ve always seen this as a really smart way of cutting a Gordian knot, and could never understand why the other airlines didn’t do the same thing.
The main reason I always fly Southwest is because I am afraid of flying and it helps to focus on the fact that Southwest hasn’t had any passengers die in a plane accident so far.
I agree that the flight attendant shouldn’t have made such a big deal about the hand-washing, but since a lot of people in fact don’t wash their hands and that’s something I find very gross, I can’t be too harsh on someone who is trying to promote hand hygiene.
I think she was deliberately acting towards you as if you were a child as a silly joke, and you’re overreacting. Southwest are well known for kidding around.
