Airports are stressful enough without one person making them a living nightmare, but that’s exactly what happened the day I encountered the most entitled traveler I’ve ever seen. From the moment I spotted her at JFK, she acted like the entire terminal was her personal kingdom. She let her little puffball dog poop on the floor, refused to clean it up, yelled into her FaceTime call without headphones, barked at employees, and blasted music for everyone to hear.
It all started near Hudson News when her shrill voice cut through the usual airport noise. She was on a loud video call, ignoring everyone around her, while her dog squatted and left a mess on the tile. An older man politely pointed it out, and instead of apologizing, she snapped, calling him rude and telling him to mind his own business. The crowd gasped, a mom even covered her kid’s eyes as if it was a crime scene, and when someone else asked her to clean it, she waved them off, saying, “They have people for that,” before walking away like nothing happened. Things only got worse at TSA. She shoved to the front of the line, claiming she had PreCheck, even though it was the wrong line. When agents told her to wait her turn, she ignored them, saying her dog was anxious.
She argued about taking off her boots, threatened to sue TSA, and grumbled the whole way through. Her dog barked non-stop, startling people with strollers, canes, and suitcases, but she didn’t care. Later, at the coffee kiosk, she screamed about almond milk, berating the staff when they only had oat or soy. She snatched her drink, insulted the workers, and stomped off, music blaring from her phone speakers. By the time I reached Gate 22 for my Rome flight, there she was again, FaceTiming loudly, her dog barking at every passerby, while she hogged three chairs—one for herself, one for her purse, and one for her dog.
Passengers whispered in disbelief, hoping she wasn’t on their flight. A toddler cried after her dog lunged toward it, and the parents quietly moved away. Everyone else avoided her, exhausted and defeated. But I decided to do something about it. I sat right next to her, smiling like we were old friends. She glared at me but said nothing.
Her dog barked at my shoe, and I just said, “Cute little guy,” pretending to be friendly. I could feel the other passengers watching, waiting, silently rooting for me. My mom used to say, “The only way to deal with a bully is to smile and outsmart them,” and that advice popped into my head at the perfect time. I waited until she was deep into another angry phone rant, shouting about a missing bracelet and threatening legal action. Then I casually got up, walked toward the gate window, stood there long enough for her to think I’d left, and came back with my plan ready. Sitting down beside her again, I glanced at the gate sign and asked, “Flying to Paris for fun?”
She looked confused, said she was going to Rome. I pretended to check my phone, acting surprised, and said, “Weird, they must have changed it. Says Paris now. You better hurry, 14B’s far.” Without hesitation, she cursed under her breath, shoved everything in her bag, yanked the dog’s leash, and stormed off, yelling about how “nobody knows what they’re doing in this stupid airport.” Nobody stopped her. The gate agents stayed quiet. The crowd just watched as she disappeared into the distance.
Then, slowly, the tension broke. No barking. No yelling. Just the soft hum of a normal airport again. A little girl hugged her teddy bear and whispered “yay.” A mom mouthed “thank you” to me while her toddler played calmly. Someone gave me a thumbs-up, another man tipped his invisible hat, and a few people even clapped softly, not like a celebration but as a shared sigh of relief. The gate agent returned, looking a bit surprised and maybe grateful. For the first time all day, everyone could breathe. We still had a flight to Rome ahead of us, but at least now, it felt like we were finally free from the chaos one person had created.
