Social media has made celebrities out of everyone.
These days anything you say or do can be broadcast to the entire world.
We’re all having fun reading that “Modern Family” editor/director’s Twitter feed about “the worst person in the world,” with whom she recently shared a flight.
But it also provides a teachable moment about what is and isn’t appropriate to say about someone behaving inappropriately.
“Modern Family’s” Ryan Case certainly is getting a lot of attention today for live-tweeting a nightmarish overnight flight she spent seated behind a loud and unpleasant passenger named “Nadia.”
During the course of the three-hour flight to Los Angeles, Case described a “wasted” Nadia’s antics, which included chatting up her poor seatmate, making racist comments, arguing with fellow passengers, and drinking — a lot.
The result: Case is now a hero of passengers. And Nadia is in the Twitter hall of fame for being one of the worst passengers ever. But this case illustrates some do’s and don’ts of dealing with obnoxious passengers on flights.
Sitting near a loud, belligerent drunk who’s ruining your in-flight calm can be maddening, and it’s clear from Case’s tweets that the stress was getting to her. But fortunately, tweeting about her angst helped keep Case distracted from the darker thoughts she was clearly having (see below).
Thoughts that, if acted upon, would have gotten her hauled off the plane right next to Nadia. So if you find yourself feeling an explosive anger at a rude fellow passenger, expressing it in 140 characters is very therapeutic. And legal.
Don’t: Tweet murder confession
Case’s funniest tweet of the series:
Surely, Case obviously meant this as a joke. But she tweeted this relatively early in the flight, before the full extent of Nadia’s drunken belligerence was revealed. What would have happened if, later on, Case had lost it and flipped out on Nadia, with tragic results?
The last thing in the world Case would want in that situation was a tweeted record of her intent. (Can you say “premeditation”?) You want your tweets to go viral; you don’t want them to go into evidence.
Don’t: Engage rude passengers in conversation
Case spent three hours live-tweeting about how Nadia was talking the ear off the guy seated next to her — a fellow passenger of Middle Eastern descent whom Case called “Abdul.” Apparently Nadia spent the whole flight alternately flirting with Abdul and directing racist comments at him.
We sympathize with Abdul; after all, getting stuck next to a Nadia on a long flight is a fate we actually would wish on our worst enemy, but we’d still feel a little bad about it.
But this is still partly Abdul’s fault. Case’s commentary shows Abdul was still talking to Nadia, even at her most obnoxious. He was obviously just being polite. But unless you want to get stuck having to deal with an obnoxious seatmate talking to you throughout the entire flight, you need to shut things down immediately, even at the risk of appearing rude.
Put on your headphones (and forget those frilly white earbuds; nothing says “Don’t talk to me” quite like a pair of big, Darth Vader-black, head-covering ear speakers). Fake sudden-onset deafness. Take a cyanide pill. Or, failing all else, just say politely: “I’m sorry, I just really don’t feel like talking right now.” You may come off like a jerk. But you won’t have to spend your flight having to deal with a bigger one.
Do: Help a brother out
We’re glad Case recorded this for posterity. But maybe, just maybe, she could have stopped tweeting for a second and come to Abdul’s rescue by drawing Nadia’s conversational fire.
Maybe she could have asked Nadia for vodka recommendations. Or maybe Case could have said to Nadia, an apparent “Hawaii 5-0” fan: “Hey, you like TV? I’ve won an Emmy Award. Ever hear of a show called ‘Modern Family’…?” Flights are like war, people. We need to have each other’s backs.
Do: Ask obnoxious passengers to keep it down
Case tweets admirably about a man who was the first to confront Nadia about her loud and rude behavior.
Case is right: This man is a hero. Making first contact with an obnoxious passenger validates the feelings of everyone who’s been suffering in silence: “Hey, it isn’t just me — that woman shouting in 34D really is annoying.” And making first contact with an obnoxious flier brings the situation that much closer to being resolved.
Don’t: Argue with them
At the end of the day, all you can do is ask a passenger to keep it down. Anything beyond that and you risk the offending party digging in her heels and lashing out, as Nadia did at a couple who confronted her:
After the first confrontation, it’s best to let the flight attendants handle it. They’re trained to handle these things. And they have access to something you don’t: police backup.
Do: Name corporate names
Case’s final tweet on the matter.
Congratulations, Case. Gogo will almost certainly hook you up with free Wi-Fi on your next flight. And maybe Tiny Tito’s vodka will find a way to capitalize on its shout-out as well.
Don’t: Snap a picture
Included in Case’s Twitter feed is a picture she snapped of Nadia. Hey, we’re all for passenger shaming (both the concept and the famous website, which also features pics of misbehaving passengers). But in this particular case — in which Nadia’s name, face, and blow-by-blow description of her behavior have gone super-viral — we can’t help but feel a little tiny bit bad for her.
One bad night has turned into an instant online infamy that she’ll probably never live down — especially after she’s inevitably outed. Such pressure could drive someone to drink, and gosh knows Nadia doesn’t need to be doing any more of that.
Which is why we won’t be showing Nadia’s picture. Everyone deserves a chance to get their in-flight act together. And we sincerely hope Nadia does just that, for her sake. And ours, because we might end up being her next seatmate.