The peril of our 'me first, me first' culture

We Indonesians are not much for rules. We learn from an early age that the only rule is there are no rules, especially if one has the money to bend them to one's wishes.

So it's not surprising that most Indonesians don't care much about etiquette, either. I'm not talking about line cutters or kickers and loudmouths in movie theaters (not yet, anyway). But in light of the recent Lion Air tragedy, I would like to review how airborne Indonesians behave.

Indonesians are heavy shoppers so you can spot a fellow Indonesian by their so-called carry-on luggage. Even though most carriers limit the size and weight of hand luggage, a typical Indonesian will usually carry overstuffed bags the weight of a healthy five-year-old and therefore hog the whole overhead compartment.

A friend who works as a flight attendant on a Middle Eastern- based airline reported that most of her Indonesian passengers are slobs, especially in the toilets. We're talking about water and tissue papers everywhere.

I've also had the pleasure of sitting between two compulsive Indonesian nose-pickers -- one woman, one man -- in a flight home from a Middle Eastern country. After spending the first two hours trying to ignore the two diggers, I noticed a row of empty seats right behind us and bolted to the nearest one. A Malaysian woman later joined me and whispered to me that she could not stand the boogerman herself.

But the most mind-boggling and irritating violation of all is the refusal of Indonesians to acknowledge take-off and landing rules.

Even rich, well-traveled Indonesians violate them.

Your plane just landed somewhat smoothly and is taxing down the runway, the seat belt sign is still on, and the pilot is reminding passengers to keep to their seats and not turn on their mobile phones just yet.

But suddenly your fellow passengers quickly unfasten their seatbelts and practically jump up, open the overhead compartment and unload their things. It's as if there is an undeclared race and the pilot will award the first passenger to get hold of their luggage!

Then they will make a mad dash across the aisle toward the exit, in a bid for a head start in the queue. The flight attendants' plea for those errant passengers to sit down and fasten their seat belts falls on deaf ears.

Instead, the familiar SMS tone starts to fill out the plane. The sight of a passenger furiously punching in numbers on his/her mobile phone right after the plane touches the runway is not uncommon. Some even start to talk very loudly on the phone, presumably to see into some pressing matter that will develop into some sort of world catastrophe if not attended to in the next two minutes.

I don't understand how people can be that inconsiderate to others. It has been communicated repeatedly that operating a mobile phone during take-off and landing is very dangerous as it can interfere with signals from the tower. And what is this urge to get off the plane as quickly as possible?

It's not like we can jump off the plane at that instant.

Imagine what will happen if the plane accidentally slips while several mad passengers were already standing and unloading their bags? A few more minutes won't make that much difference in your schedule, people. But it may make a difference to the safety of other passengers.

-- Krabbe K. Piting