Passenger Shaming is a curated account that turns traveler bad behavior into a steady stream of posts, and its curator, Shawn, wants you to know she isn’t the angry one. The account collects photos and videos from people fed up with other passengers, and Shawn, a former flight attendant who also worked as a police officer and paramedic, filters what gets posted.
“One thing that I find really interesting is that all of the content I used to get was from crew members,” she said. “Now 99 percent are from passengers because they don’t want to sit next to these people. They’re like, ‘I’m calling these people out for this bulls**t behavior.'”
Common themes include:
- Filthy toes and feet
- Arguments and fights
- People eating hard-boiled eggs or tuna
- Nail clipping
- Dirty diaper changes
Shawn told Vox that the account receives around 300 submissions a week.
What Gets Screened Out
Not everything makes the cut. Shawn only posts behavior, not personal appearance or weight.
“I never shame anybody based on weight, their appearance, anything of that nature. It’s behaviors only, which I think is a reason why it’s really successful,” she said.
She also vets posts tied to news stories. If she finds something completely off base or incorrect, she removes it or follows up.
The 2021 Photo That Got Pulled
In 2021, Shawn received a photo of a man sleeping on the floor at an airport gate with his hand under his belt. Multiple people sent the same image, each claiming it was taken at a different location.
“I would ask, ‘Oh, did you take this picture?’ One person would be like, ‘Yep,’ and another person’s like, ‘Yeah this is such and such airport,’ and I’m like, ‘Actually, no, it’s in Atlanta, because the person who sent it to me originally gave me all the information,'” she said.
The photo was eventually pulled by Instagram.
Why Behavior Has Surged
Shawn attributes the rise in bad behavior to people being cooped up and wanting to get out.
“Maybe they go to the airport and there are delays and things take longer because now they have to go through all these different processes and wear masks. It was a s**tshow before, and now add everything else on top of it,” she said.
Many flight attendants and pilots were furloughed for 8 or 12 months and are now returning to work.
“I am friends with a lot of flight attendants and pilots, and a lot of them were furloughed for 8 or 12 months and are just going back and dealing with this,” Shawn said.
The Small Percentage
Shawn wants readers to know the bad apples are rare.
“When I was a flight attendant, 99 percent of the people I ran into were awesome. This is just a really small percentage of people that we highlight, but I always like to make sure people know I’m not some angry, horrible person running around hating everybody.”
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