This was published 1 year ago
Why do people go barefoot on planes? It's gross
By Lee Tulloch
What possesses people to take their shoes and socks off on planes?Credit: Alamy
Recently, there was a conversation on Twitter about people's sanitary behaviour on planes. (Warning – the following may be disturbing.)
It's not a topic we usually talk about openly. But Twitter is for oversharing and the writer felt compelled to comment on the number of people on her flight going to the airline toilet in bare feet. She was grossed out by it.
I would be too. I'm not a germaphobe especially and I've nothing against bare feet, particularly on soft grass or silky sand, but the idea of exposing your soles to the lasagna of germs that must exist on an the toilet floor of an aircraft is repulsive.
I've rarely encountered one that isn't sticky under foot, especially after a few hours in the air. I don't want to point the finger at men but really, guys, it gets a bit bumpy up there sometimes and you could at least brace yourselves.
And then there was the man who didn't lock the toilet door and I walked in on him joining the Mile High Club by himself.
I'm not going in there in bare feet. In fact, these days I don't enter an airline toilet without a pack of antiseptic wipes. It's something I started doing a few years ago after decades of trusting toilet cleanliness to flight attendants, who have become increasingly overworked in recent years.
I had a moment when I actually stopped and thought about the toilet seat and once I did, I couldn't unthink it.
I've noticed the number of toilets on planes seem to be diminishing by the year. It's especially irksome in premium economy class if the airline has decided not to give this section a devoted toilet.
The only smorgasbord of toilets I've ever experienced is at the front of the downstairs economy on some A380s. Even so, at peak times, such as after a meal, the crowd outside waiting for a seat would rival a disco, although crowds congregating is not usually encouraged by airlines. But I get the feeling that these days the flight attendants are so exhausted by other battles on board that the prospect that a family group with small kids is gathered by the loos in order to carry out a diabolical terrorist plot is the last thing on their minds.
As for what to wear on your feet to the toilet, Twitter wondered if it was OK to wear your compression socks or did you need to put on shoes? I have a compromise. I put the cheap airline socks over my compression socks and then dispose of them at the end of the flight sector. Or I take some of those disposable hotel slippers and do the same.
Flying shoulder to shoulder with strangers is challenging most times. Human beings are odd. All of us are weird in our own ways and when we're thrown together for long periods, doing intimate things like sleeping and eating, the differences can turn into irritants.
Attitudes to hygiene really set us apart.
More than once I've been seated behind a woman with very long hair who plopped it over her headrest so that it dangled over my tray table, depositing hairs and dandruff on my food or reading matter. I've had very long hair at times in my life and I know it's nice to get it off your neck – but in someone else's dinner?
Then there was the time the person in the row behind me decided he would be much more comfortable if he stretched his legs out and put his bare feet on my arm rest. When I asked nicely if he'd keep his feet to himself, he seemed quite bemused that I would have a problem with it. So bemused he did it a second time when the lights were out, as if I wouldn't notice.
After take-off another time, the woman across the aisle, having three seats to herself, set up a mini nail parlour, putting her feet on the armrest, brutally filing her toenails (which is like chalk on a blackboard for me) and painting them with stinky layers of polish.
On an internal flight in Hawaii a passenger started to do the same thing, but the flight attendant thankfully hopped on the intercom and asked them to stop.
I've applied a sheet face mask on a flight but I'd never think to doing a mani-pedi in the air. Aren't people inventive?
lee.tulloch@traveller.com.au
Sign up for the Traveller newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.