At any given time, airports hold a whole lot of humanity. And a whole lot of humanity in one place means a whole lot of weirdness. Wild and wacky things are always going on. Because, you know… humanity.
A few weeks back, someone on Reddit asked, “What’s the craziest thing you’ve witnessed at an airport?” These were the top 10 (from just shy of 500) replies, based on “upvotes”:
#10: “You Can Choose Door #1 or Door #2” submitted by d-zeen (35 votes)
Original poster (OP) says they were boarding a flight from Chongqing, China, to Guangzhou.
They were bused to the plane, which they said was a Boeing 737 or an equivalent Airbus – so a large plane – so they could board. When they got to the plane, they were given the option to use entrances on either the front OR, via a second set of stairs, the back of the plane.
Of course, anyone who has, say, row 30, would choose the back set of stairs, right?
Poster continued that, “I happily waltz up the back stairs and look at the last row number to orient myself and I s**t you not, the last row was #1…. So imagine an ENTIRE plane full of people trying to navigate past one another from opposite ends of the plane as we were boarding, it was the biggest s**t show I have ever seen on a plane. The FAs gave up about 10 minutes in, the biggest problem was they didn’t let you back off the plane once you got on and there was no communication to stop more people getting on… total s**t show.”
#9: “How Did He Not Notice?” submitted by Present_Yak_6169 (45 votes)
“Saw a guy walk away from security, and he left one shoe. I’m like, how do you not realize you’re missing a shoe???”
How do you not notice INDEED!?!?!
#8: “Tell Me You Don’t Understand Airports Without Telling Me You Don’t Understand Airports” submitted by Deity_Free_World (49 votes)
OP admits they didn’t actually SEE this – just heard it from their co-worker, who was apparently very young and had never flown before. Anyway, the co-worker went on vacation with, according to the poster, “her very immature and unworldly childish boyfriend.”
When the co-worker returned from vacation, OP asked her how she enjoyed it. Her reply, according to the poster, was unbelievable:
She said they went to the airport and got through security but didn’t really understand about gates and how to board. Basically they sat in the lounge clueless while their flight left. She said she heard them calling their names and told her boyfriend. He convinced her they didn’t mean them.
#7: “Ma’am, You’ll Have to Remove Your Jacket. No…Wait!” submitted by SigmaSeal66 (72 votes)
OP said that they saw a woman go through the body scanner topless.
Apparently, there had been a language barrier, AND the woman was only wearing the jacket – nothing underneath it. So when the TSA agent insisted that she remove her jacket, well, she did.
#6: “There’s Always One” submitted by Jason_Klass (123 votes)
Well, this is a rarity:
Once, I saw a United flight arrive on time.
Can’t get any more Reddit (or United) than that.
#5: “But Canadians Are Usually So NICE!” submitted by Randyuy (128 votes)
OP said this happened at the Air Canada customer service desk in international departures. Toronto Pearson, January 2023.
They said they overheard a conversation between two young passengers and the Air Canada employee working the service desk. Their flight was cancelled and they were confused about what to do. They had tried to get the correct information, but couldn’t, because they had been passed on from one service counter to another, or told to call a number, only to be told to talk to the customer service counter.
The guy working at the customer service desk apparently blew a gasket. He started yelling at these confused travellers for being mean to him. He made a big scene and told them he wasn’t going to help them, flipped them off, and then moved on to the next customer in a huff. Again… this is at the Air Canada customer service desk meant to help customers.
#4: “Kids Do The Darnedest Things” submitted by cotasen (200 votes)
OP says they were going through security at LGA in the 1990s. There was a family ahead of them, and they were in the midst of putting their bags through the X-ray machine.
OP continues that suddenly everything stopped. Security pulled a bag, opened it up and pulled out a huge butcher knife.
From poster:
The mother turns to the son, who was 11-12, and screams “WHY THE HELL DID YOU PUT THAT IN YOUR BAG!?! THAT’S ONE OF MY GOOD KNIVES! I PAID $80 FOR THOSE KNIVES!!!” All the kid could do was shrug his shoulders and say “I don’t know. I thought I might need it.”
They confiscated the knife (the mom was NOT happy), and let them go on their way.
#3: “Airport Explosion” submitted by keen_observer34130 (233 votes)
OP reported there was a bag fire/explosion at the main TSA checkpoint at DEN airport.
“Flames shot out like 25 feet out of the X-ray machine, and officers/passengers alike just started scrambling for the exits in a full-on evacuation.” They continued, “Bags & luggage just left scattered behind on the checkpoint and everything. It was difficult at first to tell if it was someone playing a prank and bringing a lit firework, or if it was a legit IED detonation attempt.”
Poster continued that TSA officers grabbed nearby fire extinguishers and quickly put out the small blaze, but that the response was, as they called it, “crazy.”
“Every alphabet soup agency you could think of popped up out of nowhere: Denver fire/PD, FBI, ATF, DEA, Air Marshals Service all showed up to investigate, they all got there so fast. They weren’t playin’,” the poster said.
After a short investigation, it was determined that someone’s lithium-ion battery from a vape ignited next to a can of Axe. Once they figured out what had happened, the checkpoint was back up and running again.
#2: “Knock knock, Who’s There?” submitted by GiraffesScareMe (348 votes)
The x-ray thing buzzed on me and during the patdown the agent literally knocked on my dong bulge like he was knocking on a door.
#1: “Guy must’ve been HUNGRY!” submitted by throwaway92778200 (571 votes)
OP said they once saw a guy eating his sandwich, along with the paper it was wrapped in. Think thick, brown paper that sandwiches are sometimes wrapped in.
When I asked him why he ate it, he looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘I paid for it.’ To this day, I don’t understand his thought process.
Poster continued that the guy ate the whole thing, and even when there was no sandwich left. He just bit off pieces of the paper wrapping.
I guess maybe the guy thought it was a good source of fiber? I dunno.
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