Air-Rage Granny Gets 10-Year Flight Ban

 A 58-year-old grandmother has been banned from flying with Australia's national carrier Qantas after she got drunk and punched a man in the face on a flight from Australia to New Zealand. Courts also ordered the granny (Mrs M) to pay the airline nearly US$18,000 for having to return to Melbourne Airport. She also received a 4-month jail sentence suspended for two years. Mrs M had a history of anti-social behaviour on airplanes. She was involved in an incident on a Virgin Airlines flight on last year and was fined for using bad language and smoking on the flight. If she is found guilty again of such behaviour, she will end up in prison. Qantas has banned her from its flights for at least ten years.

Mrs M, a former nurse, was flying to New Zealand to see her children. She got drunk on the flight and began verbally abusing other passengers and the flight attendants. She then started punching and headbutting the seat in front of her. A male passenger then asked her to be quiet. At this, she stood up, flew into a rage and punched him hard in the face. He required stitches on his 6cm cut. Court judge Luisa Bazzani said Mrs M's behaviour was "appalling". She said: "Those passengers affected by your…behaviour were unable to remove themselves from the situation." She added: "The assault by you of a fellow passenger without any provocation is particularly concerning."

On the topic of rage, do you ever get angry at people walking slowly in front of you? 

If you do, you might be suffering from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). A University of Hawaii professor, Leon James, has studied people’s emotions as they walk along busy streets in New York City.

He discovered that many people have “serious problems” when someone walking at a snail’s pace in front of them impedes their progress. 

Dr James, a psychology professor, called the condition “sidewalk rage”.James is developing a Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale (PASS)to measure the different levels of sidewalk rage. 

It measures 15 different behaviors that indicate sidewalk rage. These include muttering to yourself, bumping into other pedestrians on purpose, glaring, and walking too closely to other people.Dr James’ research found that tourists are those most likely to cause IED. 

They are the slowest walkers, at an average of 1.16 metres per second. IED sufferers should easily be able to spot tourists and change course to avoid any chances of getting angry. Next slowest are smokers, cellphone users, and people with bags. 

These walk between 1.27 and 1.3 metres per second. 

The fastest walkers, at 1.4 metres per second, are those who listen to music. New York resident Jim Redman said he was shocked when he found out about the research.

 “That’s me!” he said. “I get sidewalk rage every day. I can’t stand it when people walk so slow in the city.

 I have no patience with them,” he added. Mr Redman confessed that he also showed signs of IED in his home when his children slow down his journey to the bathroom.

1. RAGE: Complete this table. 

Kinds of rage	What is it?	Why does it happen?	How do you react to it?
Air rage
Road rage
Office rage
Classroom rage
Sidewalk rage
Admin rage Other kinds?

2. BANNED: Students A strongly believe passengers guilty of air rage should be banned from flying for life; Students B strongly believe not. 

3. PASSENGERS: What bothers you most about other passengers (on airplanes, trains, Buses, etc.? 

their existence taking up too much space wanting to chat the sound from music players

falling asleep on your shoulder their smell their mannerisms food and/or drink

4. RAGE: What sends you in a rage? Rank these with the one that gets you angriest at the top.

Your own mistakes English Politicians The news

Traffic Money Shopping Other people

4. SYNONYM MATCH A: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	banned	a.	insulting
2.	ordered	b.	happening
3.	suspended	c.	needed
4.	incident	d.	commanded
5.	bad	e.	terrible
6.	abusing	f.	put off
7.	rage	g.	prohibited
8.	required	h.	cause
9.	appalling	i.	foul
10.	provocation	j.	tantrum

 

SYNONYM MATCH B:

1.	in front of	a.	trip
2	discovered	b.	obstructs
3.	pace	c.	see
4.	impedes	d.	probable
5.	glaring	e.	speed
6.	likely	f.	direction
7.	spot	g.	ahead of
8.	course	h.	admitted
9.	confessed	i.	staring
10.	journey	j.	found

 

5. RAGE DISCUSSION

a)	Have you ever experienced air rage (or road rage)?
b)	What do you think about Mrs M's behaviour?
c)	Do you think Qantas' ten-year ban is fair?
d)	Do you think the jail sentence should have been suspended?
e)	What's your experience of badly-behaved passengers (on airplanes, buses, trains....)?
f)	Would you ask a loud passenger to be quiet?
g)	What anti-social behavior do you see in your country?

h)	Should airlines do more to stop people getting drunk on airplanes?
i)	Should airports ban alcohol?
j)	What would you do if a passenger started verbally abusing you?
k)	What advice do you think the male passenger might have for Mrs M?
l)	What would you do if another passenger punched you?
m)	Should airlines make a list of passengers who commit air rage and ban them from flying altogether? n) What do you think of IED? o) What emotions do you have when you walk through the streets? p) When do you mutter to yourself? q) When do you glare at people ?
s)	What questions would you like to ask Mrs M? t) Why are tourists the slowest walkers?