“Hey mister, are you a pirate? Your shorts kinda look like a pirate but not really. Do you have a tail? Can you bite your tail? I can bite my tail and I smelled my own butt once. When we fly into the clouds, will I see angels? I hope I see my Grandpa, he played ‘got your nose’ with me but he forgot to give it back. Do fish get thirsty?”
Well, do they, Faye?
I might fly more if there were puppies on every flight..
I got to sit next to a chihuahua on my flight last week!!
The human opened it a little so I could see the pupper’s face. The owner wouldn’t take the pupper out of the bag, though :-(.
I’d much prefer puppies on a flight than what I’ve experienced. Like flying across the Pacific with a toddler kicking the back of my seat the *entire* way. And the family had no language in common with anyone else on the plane, so we couldn’t even find a way to ask them to make him stop it!
Anyway, I’m sure pupper’s questions are far more interesting and will help a flight go by much faster!
My last flight involved 2 young kids sitting behind me kicking my seat the whole way, throwing toys around, fighting with each other loudly – soooo annoying. Their 2 parents were sitting in another row, several rows back and on the other side of the plane, asleep. I’m not a parent and I really do try not to judge, but I would have thought that if you were a family of 4 with divided plane seats that each parent might take one kid…..or else the flight attendant might have suggested some people switch around so the family could sit together. Believe me – I would have gladly given up my seat in front of Pele and Ronaldo.
Pele and Ronaldo — snerk!
“Snerks on a Plane!”
Ha!
I don’t know why you would need to have a language in common. I would think they know very well that it is inappropriate but aren’t willing to discipline the child.
Oh, I’d much rather have a pup nearby. We had to sit next to a woman – 30-something, slim blonde, business -type – who was in the aisle seat and was watching a football game and would shout at the team every time they either made a mistake or did something good. I’d be dozing off and this woman would literally jump out of her seat and yell – one time she said WHAT THE F……” and caught herself just in time before the bomb went off. Then I’d jump out of my skin.
Definitely angels. Fish thirst? Got me?
I would love to have pupper passenger looking at me!
(Mike, I knew you could do this pic proud!)
Adorable photo and intro! I’d fly more often too!
I’ll take doggies and kitties and duckies and even snakes (the non-venomous kind of course) on a plane before unruly screaming kids.
Someone post real snake on real plane here. Maybe not?
You mean like this?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/08/snake-on-a-plane-passengers-flight-mexico-city
That’s it, I’m never flying again, even with puppers and kitties on planes.
That. Is. It.
If everybody runs to the opposite side of the plane does it start to rotate?
Fly the Friendly Puppers
TSA-Approved Furlines
Love this post tons, then clicked back to the Starter Cat post and laughed myself silly all over again. Cutetropolis and The Onion are beacons of light on the intertubes.
This pup is adorable. Ricky, cute as he is, has to take tranquilizers to make it through a flight in order not to become That Dog with That Terrible Owner.
I’m very fond of children, and have had good luck on most flights with little ones. Parents used to love me, because I’d entertain the kids by making the only two origami things I can remember how to make—a fortune teller/cootie catcher/candy dish and a cube balloon. Now, of course, they have all kinds of entertainment on flights, and as long as the beepers and buzzers are off, it’s A-OK with me. Most parents with screaming babies are mortified and more upset than the other passengers, so I cut them some slack. (If I were pre-language and couldn’t understand why my ears felt like they were going to blow my head off, I’d scream, too.)
I was on one flight in which the parents let their toddlers and older children run all over the plane yelling their heads off and making terrible nuisances of themselves to everyone, throughout a pretty long flight. I caught the eye of one flight attendant, could see how stressed *she* was by this, and quietly said to her, “This, too, shall pass.” She was so grateful that I didn’t give her a hard time about the kids that I took what comfort I could from that. As it was, I had to rescue the toddler from being run over by a lot of adults when the time came to deplane. *Those* parents I could cheerfully have spanked.
By and large I find adults on planes more annoying than children; but mostly I find people are okay. Whenever I’m tempted to lose my temper with annoying fellow passengers, I try to remember that everyone has a story, and I don’t know what theirs it. (Sadly, my enlightened attitude disappears when people talk in the quiet car on trains. I never said I was perfect. In fact, I’m rarely truly enlightened, but I do try very hard to act more tolerant than I often feel.)
Ricky’s mom, what a beautiful post!
What Skimpy said. You’re inspiring me to be a better person when I travel.
Thank you for sharing your sweet soul:-)
Aww, shucks, you guys!
Also, Mike, bless you for this: “Do you have a tail? Can you bite your tail? I can bite my tail and I smelled my own butt once.”
I believe this absolutely accurate dialogue for a puppy. In fact, I believe that puppies go around saying this to everyone, over and over. 🙂
That was the exact set of questions Millie asked me when we met. When we got home. When we woke up. When we went to bed. Etc.
And she does catch her tail and spin in circles!
I would probably be annoying to this pupper’s owner, bugging them to let me give pettings and skritches to the fuzzy passenger.
I was on a flight a few years ago involving a dog. It was not long after take-off when I noticed something moving at my feet. A little white maltese crawled out from under the seat in front of me. I picked him up and put him on my lap and marveled at my luck that I got a little lap dog to play with on the flight. He was a confident and friendly little guy and had no problem settling on my lap. The flight attendant came by and told me I had to put my dog back in his carrier. I told her, “He’s not my dog. I just found him.” The flight attendant looked around, alarmed, like there might be an infestation of Malteses on the plane. The lady in front of me turned around and said, “He’s mine. I don’t know how he got out of his carrier!” And so I had to give the little dog back. It was an extra-special flight for a couple minutes!
I think “finders keepers” rules should apply in that situation!
‘infestation of Malteses’ 😀 and of course this bit: https://youtu.be/Ue0fZfwHfzo
Aviation Law: Dog 100% on your lap counts as ownership. Forfeit without complaint required. And new owner gets the carrier too.
That would be the BEST FLIGHT EVER!!!!!!!
Great story, BananaBreadHead!
Ricky is a Maltese. Three-quarters through every flight, he wakes up and makes noises he never makes except under the influence of flying meds, while trying to escape by scratching through the mesh on his carrier. He’s never succeeded, though. That must have been a very smart little puppers. I would have cuddled him, too!
Also, “infestation of Malteses”—hee-hee!
Doctor to patient: I’m sorry Mr. Frinkler but you have an infestation of Malteses.
The cuckoo clock at the end of that scene is additionally hilarious.
I once saw a guy get on with a GINORMOUS German Sherpherd. The GSD was trained to lay down in front of the owner so that his back end fit under the seat in front just like carry on luggage and then the dog’s head and front end were in the area where you would put your feet.
But the funniest part was that the passenger next to the human/dog combo was clearly afraid of dogs and was shaking and visibly stressed out. The dog hadn’t yet assumed his flight position, so he was just sitting there staring at the terrified passenger with his tongue out like he was thinking about getting ready to eat him.
I kept getting up during the flight to walk by them so I could be amused.
Was the frightened passenger played by William Shatner?
I would have immediately volunteered to switch seats with the passenger next to him. It’s a win win win; I get a dog to pet during the flight, he gets to get away from the dog, and the super-sized pup gets and additional person to supply ear skritches.
I wish I had thought of that!!!