When you’re about to embark on a near 12-hour long-haul flight from Europe to the West Coast of the United States you definitely want to be comfortable – but maybe it’s possible to be just a little too comfortable. At least that’s the question posed by Lizzie Thompson on her Twitter account yesterday.
Lizzie had just boarded an Air France plane at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris bound for Los Angeles when a man sat adjacent to her in the Economy cabin emerged from the restroom. Much to Lizzie’s surprise, her seatmate had decided to make himself more comfortable by taking off his trousers to leave him wearing just boxer shorts.
Luckily, Lizzie decided to document the whole drama on Twitter – and of course, there was photographic evidence.
The man in the seat across from me has taken HIS PANTS OFF for the flight and is just in his boxers. Flight attendants seem unconcerned. This is going to be a long flight @AirFranceFR #CDG to #LAX pic.twitter.com/Z0EfktDwpD
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
He has also removed his socks. pic.twitter.com/0cmhtlFxOi
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
Now, don’t get us wrong – we don’t see anything wrong with people changing into comfy clothing but just wearing underwear is definitely pushing the limit. Let’s not forget, this guy was sharing this space is over a hundred other strangers – this wasn’t his living room or bedroom and he definitely didn’t have the right to subject anyone else to his choice of very personal attire.
And while everyone else seemed too nervous or polite to challenge this guy, he didn’t seem to have such qualms.
He just shouted at a man who boarded with a ukulele (also have questions) to COME SIT WITH ME AND MAKE SOME MUSIC. Wtf is going on.
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
Update @AirFranceFR – alerted the flight attendant. He offered to move me (which would mean losing my bulkhead legroom) but just shrugged when I suggested he ask the man to put his pants back on.
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
Just landed. 2 hours in he stood up and took 4 mini bottles of wine from the cart. Then he fell asleep. Then 6 hours in he got cold so PUT ON HIS PUFFY JACKET pic.twitter.com/wNFq9L2bkH
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
Finally, his pants went back on. Good news: nothing bonds a group of passengers like a man half naked in your section. Shout out to the flight attendant who slipped me extra wine and did keep checking in to make sure I was good.
— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 18, 2019
To answer a few q’s I’ve seen:
1. He took pants off in the plane bathroom pre-takeoff. He put them back on pre-landing in aisle right next to me.
2. He was neither American nor French
3. No ukulele was played, sadly@airfrance #CDG to #LAX— Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) February 19, 2019
Could or should the flight attendants done more to challenge the man and force him to cover his underwear? Perhaps they thought that in the context of all the things they’ve seen this was actually quite tame. Either way, they may well have just decided to let it play out rather than cause a possible confrontation by challenging the guy.
We’ve reached out to Air France to see whether they have an official take on this. What’s your opinion?…
