I see there are 815 comments on the CNN story at the moment. I read the first several and they pretty much covered it, but I won't let that stop me. For me, smell would outrank (unintentional pun!) fat folks, ill-trained brats, pretty much anything--whether it's b.o. or overwhelming perfume.

Take any trait you dislike in your neighboring passenger and add nasty body or breath odor, multiply by the number of hours you are going to have to sit by him/her and marvel at how suddenly you can hate a stranger.

Amy,

Right on!

Truffles, anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXtMEfbGjY

Mitt Romney should travel with Epic Beard Guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfnm3nvBe4&feature=browch

He must have been damn stinky. Most people don't smell so fresh while travelling, especially if they've just connected from an intercontinental flight... he musta really reeked!!!

Love Epic Beard Guy!!!! Love it, love it, fucking love it!!! The internet has given the black guy the monicker "Pinky, the Thug". I wonder how much the taxpayer had to pay for his ambulance ride for a bloody nose. grrrr.....

PS- does anyone know where this fight occurred?

This man must have smelled remarkably foul. Usually after a short period of exposure to an unpleasant odor the nose adjusts and tunes it out, for lack of a better expression. I experienced this with a group of people in a dorm TV room containing a fridge with very spoiled milk in it. The first few minutes--Pee-yoo!! Yet it was the only place we could watch a movie so we stayed. (A bit pathetic as I look back on it.) About 15 minutes into the movie we were no longer aware of the smell. It was only when other people came in the room and remarked on the odor that we consciously smelled it again.

I've always found breathing through my mouth a very easy way to keep from smelling nasty things--do that whenever I have to use a latrine, for example. But I feel like a lot of people don't do this--true?

I still think the airline was correct to escort the man off the plane in this situation. Was just wondering...

Debra,

Have you never had this misfortune to run across a smell so bad you could taste it as well when you breathed through your mouth? I used to drive by a turkey farm - no amount of mouth-breathing would provide relief.

Ya know, when I had my horses I loved the smell of the manure, the barn, the hay, everything! I still do like it somewhat, but yeah, I think that sometimes you just get used to it. But with people, not so much. I had to tell my younger brother I don't know how many times to tone it down with his cologne, because he way over-used it. I finally came right out and told him he smelled like a french bordello before he finally got it. And dialed it waaaay back. But if this guy was just too stinky to be around people, the airline did the right thing. Kinda reminds me of the bug guy in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near the guy!
(Now that I think about it, I wonder how many people avoided me back in the day because I smelled like a horse! o.O)

smelly is probably a good filter for crazy as well.

This isn't the first time this has happened... I have a vague memory of someone being kicked off of, I think it was, a United flight back in the '80s because he smelled so bad. He sued the airline, and lost.

Eric, did you see his interview? He's hilarious - "I was happy to ride in the front of a squad car instead of the back!" The dude is a little out there, but you just want to give him a hug when he starts crying over the death of his mama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq4IYYQungM

No, Flynne. You're the self-described hippie with your own rifle. I can state with some certainty that smelling like your horses is seriously attractive for a bunch of us guys, because it means you are by no means a "beautiful invalid".

Those guys who might have been offended? Not real men. You didn't miss anything.

Thanks, Raddy, for saying so. Love you, too!

Sounds right to me, Rad, if I understand you. A woman who does not smell clean really turns men off, but a horse smell implies a strong, healthy woman who likes animals and the outdoors, rather than being dirty as such.

I personally don't especially like horses, but would not view a woman who smelled like horses as unattractive or dirty.

And, if she liked horses, this is self-selecting. Men who don't like horses will save a lot of time if they are not attracted to her.

Good one.

I dunno -- was this guy stinky or was he really, really stinky? In the comments to the CNN story, some folks were wondering if the fellow was sick. If so, that by itself might have been enough to keep him off the plane.

The thing that worries me just a little bit is that the threshold for ejecting somebody from a flight might descend from "safety of the other passengers" to "comfort of the other passengers" to "convenience of the other passengers." I'm not saying that this happened here, but could it? Would other passengers have any say in whether an exceptionally ugly or disfigured (but otherwise acceptable) person could be on a flight? Would you want to sit next to that person?

Loved the guy in the vid - so sweet when this guy, who'd thwarted some thug by doing his Ali imitation, started crying about his dead momma.

Old RPM Daddy brings up a good point.

First, I recognize [and support] that "management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone."

Second, I agree with policies that require the extra-large to purchase multiple seats or the stinky to bathe before forcing fellow human beings to spend hours trapped with them in a hermetically sealed aluminum tube.

But before we cheer too loudly, let's recognize that this trend of kicking the socially undesirable off of planes has the potential to get out of hand.

Thanks Pirate Jo- I did not see that. This old guy is a phenom, though it sound like he's a taco short of the combination plate.

You'd be more interested in flying, yes, but would you purchase more tickets?

Frankly, if I gotta get somewhere I gotta get there. Being seated next to fat, tall, smelly, loud, crying otherwise unpleasant seatmates isn't going to change that. I'm not gonna swim across the pond.

I work in an eye clinic as a physician, and while HIPAA rules dictate that the door of the examining room be closed when one is with a patient, occasionally a patient will come in with BO so bad that I have to keep the door open and then have my assistants spray the room with air freshener after the patient leaves.

There is no reason to put up with other people's horrible stench.

If they stink, tell them to take a shower and come back later.

It might be unpleasant...but not worse than the smell.

In my previous job I flew a lot. I learned the art of asking to be reseated after boarding a flight and discovering the other two people in my row were literally stinking drunk. I could smell them as I came down the aisle and since I don't drink, I really didn't want to spend the next 6 hours next to that. I kept going to the back of the plane and found an attendant and said unless she wanted to deal with me barfing the whole flight from the smell, I needed another seat. I ended up in the very back of the plane but that was fine with me. Sadly, the two women I originally was next to continued to drink throughout the flight (I can't believe the served them--even 15 years ago it would seem to be an issue) and neither were able to walk off the plane without assistance. I guess it was somewhat lucky for the staff at the Cincinnati airport that we deplaned on the tarmac and walked to the terminal because one of them threw up as soon as she was down the steps.

rpm writes: "Would other passengers have any say in whether an exceptionally ugly or disfigured (but otherwise acceptable) person could be on a flight?"

I don't know that it's a good analogy. If someone's appearance offends you, you can avoid the offense by looking the other way. But if you're stuck in a confined space with a person who smells bad, you can't get away from it. Worse, after several hours on the plane, you will smell like them. That could be seriously bad if you have to go from the plane straight to, say, a business meeting.

Worse, after several hours on the plane, you will smell like them. That could be seriously bad if you have to go from the plane straight to, say, a business meeting.

It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the valet with the horrible BO parks Jerry's car...and the smell keeps going from person to person as they get in Jerry's car. Eventually Jerry ends up selling the car because nothing can get the smell out.

-Julie

Acctually he pulled up in front of a homeless guy, and while looking at him in the eyes tosses his keys thru the open window.

The homeless guy hopped in and couldnt stand the smell either

irlandes,

I love horse smell and dog smell.

*******************************************
irlandes,

You like truffles?

Actually, Conan, I don't think it does (have the potential to get out of hand). Airlines need all the business they can get. They aren't going to start drop-kicking customers right and left....

Let's see. One airline just dropkicked a somewhat famous Hollywood director. That same airline earlier dropkicked an "inappropriately dressed" woman. Another airline dropkicked a smelly guy. Obviously, these airlines think they have enough business and are able to cull their passenger lists of at least some undesirables.

I happen to agree with their choices so far and am cheering them on (although I will admit to being on the fence about allowing young women in skimpy clothing to fly).

@Conan: "...I will admit to being on the fence about allowing young women in skimpy clothing to fly"

Where one stands depends, as they say, on where one sits.

LOL!! Coupla ol' horn dogs, you two! o.O

I once sat on an LA-NY flight (in business class) next to a very nicely dressed (and otherwise polite) gentleman who *reeked* of urine. I had to pretend I had a cold and hold a handful of tissues over my nose for the entire flight. I don't know if he had a medical condition (seemed too young for that) or just hadn't bathed in a while, but it was very uncomfortable.

I once sat on an LA-NY flight (in business class) next to a very nicely dressed (and otherwise polite) gentleman who *reeked* of urine.

So, if you had to do it again, would it be "deja pu?"