8 Tips for Dealing with Annoying Passengers ...

You don’t even have to be listening to anything at all. Sometimes the sight of a pair of headphones on someone’s head will deter contact of any type. You can tap your foot if you need to be more convincing with this one too. Of course, there can also be a need for headphones if the annoying passenger is snoring or making other odd noises you wish to drown out.

This tactic might bide you some time away from interacting with an annoying person, but only if the irritation is caused by conversing with this particular person. I’ve used this tactic on an airplane, even if I wasn’t sure if the other person next to me was going to be annoying during the trip. There are times when I feel like conversing with someone and times I don’t. When I have to take a plane someone and don’t want to talk to anyone, I turn towards the window and ‘snooze’ away.

I’ve used this method when driving my own vehicle. The hard part is trying to be at least somewhat tactful about it, so as to not offend the person. It also depends on how well you know the passenger in your car. My kids know they are being annoying when I turn the radio up to drown out their bickering. This usually puts a stop to it, since my asking nicely doesn’t seem to work all the time!

Unfortunately, this isn’t always an option. However, when it is, I take it.

Maybe you can distract the person next to you by offering him/her a book or magazine to read. I carry a variety of puzzle books with me when I travel, for myself and for others to enjoy. I find that people who are preoccupied with a puzzle have very little time to become annoying.

If you take time to talk to the person next to you, it might be to the benefit of both of you. Getting to know the person might make him/her a lot less annoying. You know how you have that one friend who is a complete pain, but since he/she is your friend you tolerate their behavior? Sometimes learning a bit about a complete stranger can help you cope with some of his/her quirky mannerisms as well.

This works when my kids grate on my last nerve and I’ve found it to work when dealing with strangers too. Take a deep breath and go to your happy place for a moment.

You can have a bad day without dragging others down with you. Try tolerating a particular behavior for a bit and see if it passes. Most annoying passengers will move on to something (or someone) else after some time. Try to show a little tolerance and see how things go. This annoying individual might turn out to be the person who cheers you up and makes your day turn out to be much better!

The 8 tips for dealing with annoying passengers, which I mentioned above, are by no means the only methods used. What techniques do you use on passengers who you find to be particularly annoying?

Top Photo Credit: Roby1kenobi