Follow the leader

[ameriken]

A funny thing happened when I was with Jie to go to her interview last February. I flew in to Shanghai on Sunday, and the next day we left for Shanghai's old airport to catch an Air China flight to GZ.

 

At the airport, our plane was late and though no announcement was made, we knew we would be leaving late. We waited and waited, the waiting area was full of people sitting and waiting, and there were two airport personnel guarding the gate door.

 

I asked Jie to ask when we will be boarding. I could see her talking to the guard, but you couldnt hear them, as the waiting area noise drowned their voices. She came and told me it would be just a few minutes, and I didnt want to sit anymore, so I figured lets just grab our bags and go wait there by the gate door.

 

Almost instantly everyone...and I do mean everyone...the entire waiting area.....got up and formed a line behind us. There was no announcement, nor was there any other activity that would indicate the plane would be boarding.

 

I have never seen anything like it. Even Jie noticed it. In America, I can see maybe a handful of people come up behind us, but most would wait for the announcement. But in that Chinese airport, I almost felt like I if I started walking somewhere else, they would all just follow me.

 

Does this have something to do with me being American? Is it a cultural thing? Do Chinese follow the leader, so to speak?

Edited June 3, 2006 by ameriken (see edit history)

[LeeFisher3]

This is the normal boarding procedure in China, they don't do boarding by ticket numbers in most airports, everyone just gets on the plane.

 

Usually they wait for an announcement, but when you started the line they assumed you knew that boarding was about to begin and followed your lead.

 

See how important you were, you had inside information and everyone trusted you.

[Dennis143]

I could never understand why they always stood in line to board the airplane as if they were in hurrry to get their seat and gain an extra half hour of sitting, especially on a transcontinental 13 hour flight.

 

I always wait to board last. The less time I am sitting in that cramped aluminum tube the better.

[jim_julian]

But Dennis ... where did you put your carry on???

[whutthapho]

I try to be one of the first to board because I take only a single backpack carry-on when I visit China. The connection time between my flights, especially in-bound, is tight.

 

The cool thing is that the vast majority of people actually wait for the announcement. I just look at the clock and about 2 minutes prior to the expected boarding announcement, go to where the front of the line will form. There are usually 4 or 5 people standing in line at this time.

Edited June 3, 2006 by whutthapho (see edit history)

[Dennis143]

But Dennis ... where did you put your carry on???

221278[/snapback]

My one Eddie Bauer travel bag fits nicely under my seat.

 

http://i5.tinypic.com/11kf31g.jpg

[msmckee]

Humans are herd animals. The more important you look or act, the more people are willing to follow. Just watch the news

[tonado]

I didn't know that Chinese are so orderly. Maybe because it was in the airport. It won't be like that at train station.

[skibum]

You acually saw Chinese people form a line???? Wow.

 

I am with you Dennis, keep the legs limber as long as you can.

[david_dawei]

ok Ken.. enough waiting... did you get to board first or what ??

[ameriken]

ok Ken.. enough waiting... did you get to board first or what ?? 

222159[/snapback]

Of course, afterall, I am an Ameriken leading the way!

[sylinchinastill]

I get annoyed by how people in every country stand up when the plane arrives- then when you are on a middle row and try to get out no one will let you out forever. It just seems like people forget their manners when they try to get off of the plane. I used to think it only happened in China after living there for a few years- but now I am back home and I noticed it happens here just as much.

[yuehan123]

Some of the time when everybody rushes the gate I think it's really a waste of time because then you have to rush to get on the bus first and then hope you picked the door nearest the airplane steps. Then, it still doesn't matter because 10 or 20 people will run and shove and push to be on the steps first, which still doesn't matter because 5 or 6 of them will fight there way to get through the airplane door first.

 

All so you everybody can hear the announcement "so sorry we must wait for one more passenger."

 

How do I really feel about it- try and order something at any fast food restaurant... if somebody doesn't walk right in front of your face and hand the clerk money, and the clerk doesn't take theirs first, you are not in China.

[Dennis143]

All so you everybody can hear the announcement "so sorry we must wait for one more passenger."

 

223539[/snapback]

Hey, that's me coming on late and last.

[mercator]

But Dennis ... where did you put your carry on???

221278[/snapback]

Yeah no kidding. I mean the bumps to first are nice, but the main reason I like elite status on an airline is to board first and get a spot for my carryon bags. I don't check because its too often happened that I dont see my bag for several days. With a laptop and my roll along, its a done deal. The only regret is that my bag is 'soft' and some a*****es will squish my bag to get their bag into the overhead. But I find calling them on it works pretty well. I am the guy that will let the old people and people with children by me, when the other freq flyers will just step over them. When I am especially feisty, I will tell them they are misbehaving, like I would my daughters. I love doing that. They know they are wrong, but have this misconception that they are somehow better than everyone else because their job requires them to park their butt in a plane more than others.

 

I fly alot, but that just means I fly alot. Nothing more.

 

I'd rather the Chinese way where they just all queue up, than the ring of freq flyers that forms near gate time, with people creeping a foot or two a minute thinking noone will notice, until it is a giant CF at the gate.

 

Later this month (I hope) I will go over to Seattle to get my wife, and I won't have any luggage. I'll probably board last or close to it. No reason to board early in that situation.

 

But yeah at Tokyo with the buses there is no point. Everyone just boards and you hope you get the right door. People push and shove alot. One of the worst guys I ever saw was a dutch guy. He pushed people out of the way, made the person sitting next to him move so he could have the seat next to him free, and then was standing at the airplane door with his bags before the plane finished taxiing. I was hoping that he'd get detained, but no such luck. I know he was dutch because I saw his passport. He was so rude, I had half a mind to slip his passport under his seat while he was in the WC But no, I didnt do it

Edited June 12, 2006 by mercator (see edit history)