The airport chair is not at fault...

A Vietnamese passenger carelessly lay down with his feet up, ignoring other passengers who had no seats at Changi Airport (Singapore) - Photo: NHAT NGUYEN

According to reader Nhat Nguyen, the story of many people turning airport waiting rooms into their living rooms is not something that has happened recently, but has existed for a long time.

This ugly behavior, unfortunately, is not difficult to encounter whenever one has the opportunity to go to public places.

To add more perspective, here is what this reader shared.

Turn public places into private places

Once, my whole family went shopping at a shopping mall in District 7 (HCMC). There were many long benches with cushions, beautifully upholstered, very soft, suitable for resting your feet. However, there were quite a few people lying down, occupying a whole bench.

Some people even put their shoes and food on the chairs and just chat on their phones, with no intention of cleaning them up and letting the elderly or children sit down to rest their tired feet.

Another time, I walked into a coffee shop that had a nice long wooden table for customers to sit at. During peak hours, the shop was crowded, with many customers, and seating was limited, so everyone was willing to share their seats.

Yet there was still a group of three girls who took up all six chairs to display their handbags and… makeup, and took up most of the table (which could have been shared with other guests) to display mirrors and combs, and then just kept putting on makeup for each other, as if no one was there.

Other customers complained, the staff came up to remind them, but after a while, things went back to normal. Many people just let it go.

At the airport, it's not uncommon to see a person occupying an entire bench, with shoes, bags, and anything that can fit on the bench.

Even while lying down, they excitedly extend their legs over to the next row of seats or spread their legs up on the seat, press their phones with their hands, and laugh loudly, making a loud noise in a corner of the airport.

Outside the airport, where passengers are seen off, some families have turned it into a dining room, spreading out tarps, raincoats, and setting out food and drinks as if they were going... camping.

Want to "disappear" at a foreign airport

Not only in the country, but also when abroad, some Vietnamese people also show their unconsciousness.

Seeing people like that, I myself want to "disappear", but I don't understand why they are still carefree.

That is, once at Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok, Thailand), many seats were marked with signs and notes in English and Thai with the content: Priority seats, reserved for monks, pregnant women, women with small children, the elderly, people using crutches, wheelchairs ... But many people still led each other to sit.

Other guests saw this and gently reminded them that this was a priority seat and that they could go sit somewhere else, but the group ignored it and continued to sit in the priority seats, even though they were not on any of the priority lists.

Not long ago, while waiting to board my plane at Terminal 4, Changi Airport (Singapore), I once again witnessed a strange lack of awareness.

In addition to the rows of chairs, there are also many sofa-like chairs for customers to sit and wait. Yet, there are people who calmly lie down as if they were at home. When someone comes to remind them, they give them an unfriendly look, put on a pair of sunglasses, and continue lying there.

Is this how you behave in public?

"Eat and watch the pot, sit and watch the direction"

Vietnamese people have a very good proverb: "Eat and watch the pot, sit and watch the direction" to teach how to adapt to each situation, but unfortunately it is rarely applied in life.

Some people say that the seats are arranged next to each other, or designed as sofas, so comfortable that they create conditions for many people to "occupy" and turn it into a private space. But I think that saying that is no different from blaming the "chair".

The chair in the airport or cafe, shopping mall is completely not at fault!

If anyone has ever had to transit overnight and wait a few hours to continue at the airport, they can understand how meaningful the long, adjacent chairs or sofas are, helping passengers to lie down, rest, and take a nap overnight.

Of course, that was when the airport was extremely empty. During the day, when there were so many people around me who didn't even have a seat, no one with any sense would do that!

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cai-ghe-o-san-bay-khong-co-loi-2024093012045536.htm