Curley: See something, say something policy is forcing people to hold it in

Flying has many woes for the traveler. Checking baggage. Sitting next to overly-chatty passengers. Crying babies. And as KIRO Radio’s John Curley discovered: bathrooms.

Curley is used to the luxury provided by first class travel, but due to a recent mishap, he was in coach on a recent flight. And he was seated near the bathroom, a situation that lead to a new pet peeve.

There were three bathrooms: one near Curley’s seat, one behind his seat, and another one further back.

“What I did while sitting there, I did a little counting because I got tired of my book,” Curley said. “And 86 people used the toilet in a one hour and 45 minute flight. Why, in an hour and a half, are so many of you relieving yourself 18 inches from my face?”

He thought about it and came to this conclusion.

“Here’s the problem. People carry bags and they get to the gate,” Curley said. “Once people plop down, they don’t want to move because they don’t want to take their bags with them. But when they get on a plane, they think, ‘here’s my time to go crazy like a lawn sprinkler.'”

“You have to realize this folks: don’t let the government make us scared of each other,” he said. “Do what I do. When you sit down at your gate, you can turn to your fellow traveler, and say, ‘could you look after my bag? I have to use the bathroom.’ But everybody is so afraid and are thinking, ‘See something, say something.'”

It’s something Curley hopes can curtail the ridiculous number of in-flight bathroom breaks.