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Woman’s Rude Act Sparks Controversial Plane Etiquette Debate

Planes are pressure cookers. Literally. You step in, the doors swing shut, the cabin gets pressurised. And don’t get us started on the smell that emanates when they are opened (think lentils reek? Try 200 sweaty humans).Speaking of human nature… one American comedian has recently taken to the airwaves with a gripe that will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced a ‘window shade’ dispute.Francis Ellis, co-host of Oops The Podcast, recently shared (on episode 223) how he was tempted to make a “declaration of war” on a recent flight, after the passenger behind him shut ‘his’ plane window.

Watch ‘the great window sovereignty debate’ in the video below…

Francis explains: “On the plane home we are taxiing for takeoff… I like to be able to look out the window because I feel like if something is going to go wrong… I’d rather die… staring at the land below me than the inner shade of some plane window.”“So I have a window [shade] open, my seat is kind of splitting windows. The window in front of me is fully before the start of the next row – no one would claim it other than me – but the window behind me is kind of lined up with my seat.”“Now – I was very careful to look at this – at least 75% of the window was in front of my seat, if my seat was the diving line. 75% is in front, 25% belongs to the very extreme front of the row behind me.”Here begins the problem.

“That window was shut, I opened it; the woman behind me shuts it.”

When asked by co-host Giulio Gallarotti how long later she shut it (after Francis opened it) Francis responded: “a minute later.”The story then continued.“[The window is] next to my head. I look back at her and I look back at the window and I think: ‘if I open this again that’s an act of war.”

“That’s a declaration of war.”

Francis explains that the passenger behind him was in her late 40s or early 50s, when Giulio asks how old she was, suggesting that if she had been 75 Francis might have felt obliged to let it go.“I was baffled by the audacity to shut it so quickly after I opened it,” Francis said.He then asked Giulio: “Who has sovereignty?”“You [do] absolutely,” Giulio said. He then qualified: “I think you still do technically… but as you have two [windows] it shouldn’t be the end of the world.”“I just think because it was so much more in my space than hers I would agree,” Francis responded.

“I kept turning around and looking at the window.”

“Finally, I did it enough times that she goes: ‘I just shut it for takeoff. I was getting hot but you can open it once when we’re up in the air.’ I said: ‘Ok, no problem.'”RELATED: The Gentleman’s Guide To Airplane Conversation Etiquette “It was an impressive peace offering on a very quickly escalating, soon to be emergency landing viral video: ‘Man Gets Dragged Off Plane For Fist Fighting Woman Over Window Shade’ story,” Francis joked.This is far from the first time passengers have gone to war (or almost gone to war) at 40,000ft. Recent incidents show there are a lot of unwritten rules many people disagree on – from the man who was filmed last year punching a woman’s seat after she reclined it on a short domestic flight, to this passenger who was shamed for putting their feet up on the bulkhead.There also seems to be a discrepancy between what many airline employees think is acceptable for a passenger to wear on a flight, and what many passengers find acceptable to wear on a flight, with many scuffles making headlines in recent times (see: American Airlines’ War On Midriffs…).Oh, and, of course, there is the burgeoning business class ‘slammertime’ trend heating up the pointy end of the plane.Lizzie Post, etiquette expert and co-president of The Emily Post Institute has previously told DMARGE things like putting your feet up on the bulk head is a “big no no,” but that “if you do it, make sure to do it in the least invasive way possible.”Flight attendants recently sent a rather stronger message to unruly customers. Not only have they said they are sick and tired of playing babysitter for adults but they are now also being trained to kick your sorry ass.Better get that peace offering ready.

Watch Lionel Messi sign his PSG contract

Doing something extreme puts previous obstacles in perspective

Though some people poke fun at Goggins’ outrageous level of commitment (see below), doing something (for me) outlandish has made everyday tasks (like running 2km) seem easy. Though I actually failed to run the whole 20km (I walked a lot of the way back home) it felt good to have set a goal (completing the whole distance on my own two legs) and to have achieved it. It also felt good to run the whole 10km there – a distance I haven’t run for a long time.

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Having a goal (and a reward) motivates you more than you think

Having a specific task, and a specific destination (the beach) in mind made the slog more bearable.

The halfway point… Now for a swim, a coffee and a Chicken Souvlaki. Image: DMARGE.

When you run further than usual your toes take a punishing

My toes are generally fine after running 2 kilometres. After 20km, they were quite sore. On that note: if you really wanted to better yourself at running in a sustainable way you would want to build up to something like this. Ultimately though, although you could criticise Goggins for encouraging people to push themselves too hard, and though doing things radically outside your comfort zone comes with risks, given where our society is at, given cardio-vascular disease is one of Australia’s largest health problems, we probably need more people encouraging each other to get up and at it, not less.A lot more people are suffering from never getting out of their comfort zone.Also, realistically, for me, going out and jump-starting my fitness routine with a challenge a physio probably wouldn’t recommend you do without building up to is something I don’t regret at all (though the answer to that question may have been different had I straight out done a marathon, and caused myself some kind of injury).

Running gives you a completely different perspective on a city than driving

From Redfern to Alexandria to Centennial Park to Bondi Junction to Bondi, I saw many sides of Sydney.This also helped me maintain my interest and took my mind off my feet.

Any other weekend plan you may have tastes all the better after completing 20km

Replacing essential minerals… Image: DMARGE.

Food, beer, wine, you name it. While I may not have scaled Everest or run across a desert, for me this was quite a feat. It felt good.

The only problem is; your next challenge has to be a little harder

50km ultra-marathon here I come…

FC Barcelona Home 2021/2022

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Much of the recent media attention surrounding Barça has been about Lionel Messi’s departure from the club. Which is a shame, because besides detracting from their current on-field performance, it’s distracted from the unveiling of their new home kit, which might be one of the best in the club’s 121-year history.The offbeat design is effectively a minimal rendering of the club’s crest, with a section on the top right of the torso mimicking the St George’s flag while the top left features thin vertical stripes. It’s a clever idea and a big departure from the basic vertical stripes of the 2020/2021 kit.

Chelsea Home 2021/2022

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The new Chelsea kit kicks it up a notch. The English side has always had an eye for clever details, and their 2021/2022 home colours are no exception. While the left shoulder has a reasonably simple blue-on-blue checkerboard motif, the rest of the shirt features a wavy, helical zig-zag that really breaks up the silhouette of the jersey.As an added bonus, the kit – like virtually all modern Nike football kits – is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Good stuff.

Inter Milan Fourth 2021/2022

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Inter’s new fourth kit, however, takes the cake for the most out-there design in professional football right now. A 90s fever dream of bright colours, geometric designs, varied textures and oversized logos, you could be mistaken for thinking this was some sort of FIFA ’21 fantasy kit if not for the blue and black stripes under the Nike logo.Inter’s home and away kits are also fairly out there, although not as out there as this one. They feature a scaly snake design; a reference to the team’s nickname Il Biscione (“The Big Grass Snake”).

Paris Saint-Germain Home 2021/2022

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Somewhat more sedate than some of these other designs, PSG’s new kit is notable for two main reasons: firstly, because it’s once again done away with tradition and omitted the classic maillots Hechter red horizontal bar motif, but also because it’s their first kit actually produced by Jordan Brand.Nike’s basketball imprint made waves when it first penned a deal with the French team back in 2018 – a seemingly bizarre combination – but until now, PSG’s Jordan-branded kits have just been Nike kits with a logo swap. Now, Jordan itself is producing the shirts (one might think it’s a fairly academic difference, but there you are).Speaking of interesting sportswear brand deals, read how luxury brands are increasingly chasing international athletes, including Olympic athletes, for endorsements.

Case in point: the car market. Prices of second-hand cars have risen dramatically over the last 18-24 months, thanks to a variety of factors that all lead back to The Spicy Cough. It’s a phenomenon DMARGE has covered extensively: much of it has to do with simple supply and demand, but it’s also been fuelled by speculators wanting to make a quick buck flipping cars (no judgements here, that’s just a fact).

But the heat in the car market has nothing on what’s happening in the heritage number plates market – which might just be one of the best places a budding automotive Warren Buffett could hope to play right now.

A Lamborghini Gallardo convertible with NSW #206. You tend to see heritage plates attached to rather expensive cars, as is the nature of the beast. Image: numberplates.com.au

But what are heritage plates? Simply put, they’re Australian car number plates (or license plates if you prefer) that were introduced or issued before plate formats were (somewhat) standardised across the country in the 50s. They’re not to be confused with personalised plates, which is a whole other kettle of fish entirely.

Some examples of heritage plates include numeric plates in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, which are white on a black background and can have less than six digits; or ‘Q plates’ in Queensland, which feature a Q prefix area painted black on white, with digits painted white on black.

Australia and all its states and territories have had a long, complicated and inconsistent history of number plates, but the bottom line is this: plates that don’t fit the normal format, especially if they’re short or contain special number/letter combinations, can be worth quite a lot. It’s not hard to see the attraction: who wouldn’t want license plate #1?

The buying and selling of heritage plates isn’t a new phenomenon. Savvy dealers have been plying a quiet trade for them for years, with some very rare plates occasionally making headlines every now and again – for example, take this CarAdvice article detailing how NSW #4 sold at auction for over $2.4 million back in 2017.

Of course, a single-digit plate such as #4 or #1, no matter which state or territory you’re in, will always be worth a packet. But over the last two years, heritage plates have seen a dramatic rise in value across the board – and it’s not hard to see why.

A Porsche Taycan with NSW #88, easily one of the most desirable plates in the state: 88 is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture. Image: The Motor Tailor

“Heritage plates have certainly become an appreciating asset to own,” Ian Davies, director of leading Sydney luxury car dealership Prestige Connex shared exclusively with DMARGE.

“It’s a tax-free profit opportunity versus shares and property – they seem to have proven to be a safe bet for investment.”

“I personally brokered the sale of a two-digit plate for in excess of $600k… Just bonkers!”
Ian Davies

Heritage Plates, Australia’s largest heritage plate trading platform, concurs: “it is actually quite incredible the growth of heritage plates during these times. Good combinations have shown increases of 20-50%.”

“Demand for 3 & 4 digit plates has outweighed the supply as it is becoming extremely difficult to find any for sale.”
Heritage Plates

Chris Bowden, founder of Ecurie Bowden, co-founder of Bowden’s Own and Q-plate aficionado, also spoke with DMARGE about how compelling an investment heritage plates can be.

“How many other asset classes do you know that are theft-proof? If someone steals the plate off my car, they don’t own it. I just go with my little folder down to the service centre and I’m good.”

“If you could turn owning heritage plates into an ETF, it would be the perfect investment.”
Chris Bowden

Theft-proof, rapidly appreciating, and something you can enjoy rather than just sitting in a safe somewhere? Sounds good to us. So how do you pick a winner when it comes to heritage plates?

An Aston Martin DB4 with Victoria #44 444: the perfect car for the number combination. Image: @heritageplates

Davies relates that obviously, the fewer digits, the more valuable a plate is, and “anything with an 8 or a 1 is worth [big] money.”

Plates with repeating digits are also hot properties, as well as numbers that have pop culture significance e.g. 666, 69, 42, 420, 13, 58008… You get the picture.

Bowden also highlights that Q-plates, in particular, are experiencing quite a dramatic surge in popularity: “it used to be that if you took the price of a NSW or Victoria plate and knocked a zero off it, you’d get the Queensland price, but that’s not the case these days.”

“Q-plate prices have risen over double, close to triple the amount over the last eighteen months.”
Chris Bowden

Bowden attributes this to not only COVID but also due to the slow but steady migration from the southern states that Queensland has been experiencing (when the borders haven’t been locked down, of course).

“Southerners are heading up here in droves and they’re bringing with them a more mature sort of car culture. They’re realising that Q-plates are quite a bargain, especially compared with heritage plates from the southern states,” he suggests.

A Ferrari 458 Italia with Tasmania #1. Image: Hax Photography

Not every heritage plate market is as bullish as the east coast states’ markets, however. For example, the Tasmanian heritage plate market isn’t and hasn’t been as hot, simply down to demographics: it’s a smaller, less populated state, and there’s less competition for desirable plates.

And while there’s potential profit to be made on the heritage plate market, Bowden cautions against jumping into the space without doing your research first – or without having a genuine passion for automotive history:

“Just like how classic cars are not a ‘plug and play’ investment opportunity, heritage plates aren’t for everybody.”

If in doubt, maybe try giving investing in sneakers a go instead…

Watch ‘the great window sovereignty debate’ in the video below…