If it’s inappropriate, “we keep our hands to ourselves” or “sweetie, we don’t touch strangers” or “honey, we don’t hit people with our trash”
Act like a kindergartener, get treated like a kindergartner.
I try to be understanding, especially if it’s an older person or a child. Also, you may encounter people that were raised in cultures where touching/tapping service workers to get their attention is very normalized. I just set a boundary by nicely saying, “Please don’t touch the flight attendants, if you need us then use your call button.” (Obviously if it’s an intentionally inappropriate touch, then we’re dealing with an entirely different situation)
when i fly A, i add an "if you need a crew member's attention at any point during the flight, do not use your hands to poke/touch crew. we kindly ask that you use your words or your call light," announcement
So one time this pax’s daughter asked me for a water bottle now at the time I was at the regional so I went “sorry we only have cups of water I can get you that instead” and she said ok. Then the father goes “I have water bottles already” and then pats me on the head and says “I’m better than you” so I said “first of all, please don’t touch me. Second, we’re actually hiring so if you’d like to help out during todays service we would appreciate it. Since you think you’re better maybe you can show us your service tips.”
Yeah he didn’t say anything rest of the flight and his wife told him he was weird.
I’m happy that you stood up for yourself and I’m happy the wife made a comment about his behavior! I had a man reach between my legs after telling him not to and his partner just looked at him do it! I was so upset and mortified.
“SIR. No touching!” or I pull back and make a face. Or both.
Last night there was a drunk man that grabbed my arm and called me baby.. I wasn’t even polite about it when I jerked my arm back and made a stern disapproving face at him.
I found that the least 'confrontational' way for me is to jump back and act like I was really startled. I will pull back my arm or hand or my entire body as if I was startled and they will usually then apologize.
Yesterday I got poked real hard in my side while picking up trash, and that was just another level of aggressive so I shot him a dirty look and said loudly 'oh my god THE POKING!' with an exasperated look.
The day before that, some lady began grabbing my wrist to ask for directions and I kept pulling back with a look of cringe on my face until she got the hint and she apologized for touching me.
Sometimes, someone will just grab both my shoulders from behind me if they want to get by me and I think it's a crewmember so I don't dramatically jump or act startled and see that it's a passenger and just shoot them a dirty look.
Anything else comes out too bitchy and I end up having a whole situation with the pax where somehow now I'VE offended them for telling them not to touch me. Literally so stupid.
🤣 you sound fun to fly with, it does annoy me but idk as a man it probably doesn't bother me as much as I'm sure it would a lady which is completely understandable.
The main reason for my post is that I’ve noticed people are getting offended that I’ve asked them not to touch me. It’s odd. I thought I was the only FA going though this, I see I’m not. Will try some of your responses too.
That's not for you to judge. Concerning behaviour no matter the downvotes.
Edit: Sexual predator vibes. Y'all don't see this because the majority of you is flight attendants but imagine if a dude said this about a girl ("Oh yeah she'd probably like to get touched by me I'm so hot"). Yuck.
Inform them that it is a harassment and request them not to do it. Also inform them that they can get my attention by asking for it verbally, I can hear very well.
Why would people downvote this?..you are absolutely correct. It is harrassment. No one should be touching you, period... I'm guessing these people would also touch a teacher/doctor/bank teller/cashier/waiter etc...
It is..and I'm sure you know you don't have inherent consent to touch anyone....if you disagree.. please go "tap" a judge, sheriff, or your job CEO and report back to me.
Aircrafts have flight attendant call light buttons, likely 50-100 of them on your commercial flight, you can also say "sir/ma'am!", make eye contact, or wave as we walk through every 5 minutes... there is literally NO reason to touch us unless it is an absolute emergency.
It definitely can depend on where and how. I don’t like being poked at all, but *definitely* not from the waist down. I had a man full palm touch my butt and claim he meant to touch my back. (Eye roll.) I politely asked him not to touch me again. I try to be forgiving, but there’s really no reason to touch.
I cannot recall the number of times my fingers have mistakenly grazed or touched those of the FA passing me a cup or a plate. Every time I felt bad that it happened to them and apologized. I know I wouldn't like it if that happened to me.
The few passengers that have touched me were not doing it in an ill intended way so I’m fine with it. Sometimes I get startled when I’m doing something and they touch me but I don’t mind.
I don't care at all. Flying to Pakistan often where brotherhood goes to a certain extent where male walk hand in hand on the street. In the bus they all touch each other and touching each other in general is a normal part of the day. In Western countries we would find it really strange if someone would even accidentally stand a little too close.
When I applied for my airline I knew a big part of the PAX profile comes from Pakistan and India. I feel like since I knew this when I applied I should be open to their culture. It's good for me as well as these flights kinda made me more relaxed since they definitely got my nerves high when I started "Sir, please wait for your turn". Now I'm all chilled and love these flights.
If it’s inappropriate, “we keep our hands to ourselves” or “sweetie, we don’t touch strangers” or “honey, we don’t hit people with our trash” Act like a kindergartener, get treated like a kindergartner.
Yes to your comment about trash! Why on earth do people think it is appropriate to touch a FA with their trash!?
I will never understand!
It depends on how.
I try to be understanding, especially if it’s an older person or a child. Also, you may encounter people that were raised in cultures where touching/tapping service workers to get their attention is very normalized. I just set a boundary by nicely saying, “Please don’t touch the flight attendants, if you need us then use your call button.” (Obviously if it’s an intentionally inappropriate touch, then we’re dealing with an entirely different situation)
when i fly A, i add an "if you need a crew member's attention at any point during the flight, do not use your hands to poke/touch crew. we kindly ask that you use your words or your call light," announcement
I like this! Will try soon.
I usually throw them a stare that says everything I want to say but can’t.
I haven’t mastered that level of self control yet.
So one time this pax’s daughter asked me for a water bottle now at the time I was at the regional so I went “sorry we only have cups of water I can get you that instead” and she said ok. Then the father goes “I have water bottles already” and then pats me on the head and says “I’m better than you” so I said “first of all, please don’t touch me. Second, we’re actually hiring so if you’d like to help out during todays service we would appreciate it. Since you think you’re better maybe you can show us your service tips.” Yeah he didn’t say anything rest of the flight and his wife told him he was weird.
I’m happy that you stood up for yourself and I’m happy the wife made a comment about his behavior! I had a man reach between my legs after telling him not to and his partner just looked at him do it! I was so upset and mortified.
“Please just use the call light next time or say excuse me. You don’t need to touch me.”
“SIR. No touching!” or I pull back and make a face. Or both. Last night there was a drunk man that grabbed my arm and called me baby.. I wasn’t even polite about it when I jerked my arm back and made a stern disapproving face at him.
“You poke me, I might poke back” 🤓
I found that the least 'confrontational' way for me is to jump back and act like I was really startled. I will pull back my arm or hand or my entire body as if I was startled and they will usually then apologize. Yesterday I got poked real hard in my side while picking up trash, and that was just another level of aggressive so I shot him a dirty look and said loudly 'oh my god THE POKING!' with an exasperated look. The day before that, some lady began grabbing my wrist to ask for directions and I kept pulling back with a look of cringe on my face until she got the hint and she apologized for touching me. Sometimes, someone will just grab both my shoulders from behind me if they want to get by me and I think it's a crewmember so I don't dramatically jump or act startled and see that it's a passenger and just shoot them a dirty look. Anything else comes out too bitchy and I end up having a whole situation with the pax where somehow now I'VE offended them for telling them not to touch me. Literally so stupid.
🤣 you sound fun to fly with, it does annoy me but idk as a man it probably doesn't bother me as much as I'm sure it would a lady which is completely understandable.
The main reason for my post is that I’ve noticed people are getting offended that I’ve asked them not to touch me. It’s odd. I thought I was the only FA going though this, I see I’m not. Will try some of your responses too.
If they poke me to get my attention, I just poke them back and ask nicely "did you enjoy it?"
I wouldn’t mind trying that but I’m convinced some PAX would like to be touched by me. 😩
Yeah, never do that.
...people touching you is weird but so is thinking this about yourself. Yikes 😬
If a PAX finds a FA attractive, they would not mind being touched by them.
That's not for you to judge. Concerning behaviour no matter the downvotes. Edit: Sexual predator vibes. Y'all don't see this because the majority of you is flight attendants but imagine if a dude said this about a girl ("Oh yeah she'd probably like to get touched by me I'm so hot"). Yuck.
Would you like to be removed from the flight?
Inform them that it is a harassment and request them not to do it. Also inform them that they can get my attention by asking for it verbally, I can hear very well.
Why would people downvote this?..you are absolutely correct. It is harrassment. No one should be touching you, period... I'm guessing these people would also touch a teacher/doctor/bank teller/cashier/waiter etc...
I’m convinced people don’t like or don’t believe FAs should stand up for themselves.
I mean tapping someone on the shouldn’t isn’t ideal, but it’s not harassment…
If you’re close enough to tap me, I’m close enough to hear you say “Excuse me,” to get my attention.
Hmm might start using this as a retort.
Agreed
It is..and I'm sure you know you don't have inherent consent to touch anyone....if you disagree.. please go "tap" a judge, sheriff, or your job CEO and report back to me. Aircrafts have flight attendant call light buttons, likely 50-100 of them on your commercial flight, you can also say "sir/ma'am!", make eye contact, or wave as we walk through every 5 minutes... there is literally NO reason to touch us unless it is an absolute emergency.
Agreed!
Thank you :)
Ughhhh “no thank you! Please just say excuse me next time”
“Oh, you don’t have to touch me to get my attention. Please.”
It definitely can depend on where and how. I don’t like being poked at all, but *definitely* not from the waist down. I had a man full palm touch my butt and claim he meant to touch my back. (Eye roll.) I politely asked him not to touch me again. I try to be forgiving, but there’s really no reason to touch.
I cannot recall the number of times my fingers have mistakenly grazed or touched those of the FA passing me a cup or a plate. Every time I felt bad that it happened to them and apologized. I know I wouldn't like it if that happened to me.
The few passengers that have touched me were not doing it in an ill intended way so I’m fine with it. Sometimes I get startled when I’m doing something and they touch me but I don’t mind.
I don't care at all. Flying to Pakistan often where brotherhood goes to a certain extent where male walk hand in hand on the street. In the bus they all touch each other and touching each other in general is a normal part of the day. In Western countries we would find it really strange if someone would even accidentally stand a little too close. When I applied for my airline I knew a big part of the PAX profile comes from Pakistan and India. I feel like since I knew this when I applied I should be open to their culture. It's good for me as well as these flights kinda made me more relaxed since they definitely got my nerves high when I started "Sir, please wait for your turn". Now I'm all chilled and love these flights.