Woman 'Infuriated' by Passenger's Ponytail on Flight Blasted Online

The internet has slammed a woman who complained about the passenger in the chair in front of theirs having their ponytail hanging over, saying she should ask them to remove it rather than complain about it online. In a post shared Thursday on Reddit the passenger, who goes by the username u/Smelli24u, shared a picture of the ponytail hanging over her tray table lock, with a caption that read: "OC Why are people like this???" According to data by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in 2022, as of August 23, there have been a total of 1,838 reports of unruly passengers, 633 of which have caused investigations to be initiated—though it must be noted that, as far as Newsweek is aware, no unruliness was reported due to the hanging ponytail.

Security violations are excluded because those cases are handled by the Transportation Security Administration. The repercussions for unruly passengers can be substantial, they can be fined by the FAA or prosecuted on criminal charges, and these fines can go up to $37,000 per violation. In 2021, a much higher number of investigation were launched: 1,099. And nearly 3 out of 4 unruly passenger reports were related to mask compliance due to COVID-19 regulations. From 2010 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the number of investigations initiated surpassed 150 twice. The post, which was first shared on Thursday on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, has gone viral, receiving over 22,300 upvotes and almost 4,000 comments. "Could it be appropriate to just be mildly infuriated at 6 am on a flight about it? Or is raging the only option?" asked the original poster. Most people agreed the poster should have just asked the passenger to move their hair, while some provided more unconventional suggestions. One user, Cassiopeia78 said: "Just tell her. I had to tell a woman the same thing the other day and she was very apologetic." And DinoRue added: "Half of Reddit advice and venting posts revolve around trying to avoid real-life interaction with people." Baronofcream commented: "Why are people like this? You mean non-confrontational to the point where it ruins their entire day, when simply letting the person know that their hair is in the way would solve the problem instantly in most cases? I don't know, dude. I don't know." Another user, ADHDK said: "To be fair this one at least is actually taller than the seat and that's just where the ponytail goes, it's nowhere near as obnoxious as the people who take effort to flick their hair over. Maybe let them know you're about to eat and drink and don't want to get any on their hair politely?"

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And Shnazzberry suggested: "Whisper to them, 'your hair smells nice.' Problem solved. (Obligatory disclaimer that I'm kidding, please don't)." And DiscombobulatedLuck8 added: "Or sniff loudly and whisper 'If I didn't have covid I bet this would smell good...'" AphoticTide wrote: "Don't kid about an obvious solution. This will literally teach them to not do this as often. In fact, most people actually do recommend doing this. Start by playing with their hair like a cat and then if they don't move it start sniffing it loudly. Works 110% of the time. 01% then you'll end up getting a date." Newsweek reached out to u/Smelli24u for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.