To be a louse, or not to be a louse? Photo / 123rf
They cluster, they clog, they are everywhere. And these determined critters drive airline staff crazy. Are you one of them?
Airports can be stressful at the best of times. People beginning to queue at the gate too early is, perhaps, a telltale sign that the cortisol is rising. And airline workers don’t want a bar of it.
According to the Washington Post, infuriated airline staff have a salty name for this kind of traveller; ‘gate lice’. Yeesh.
The most well known definition of gate lice is probably the one provided by Urban Dictionary:
“Passengers, often inexperienced flyers in [economy] class, who crowd around or line up at a gate at an airport completely blocking the boarding area and preventing First and Business Class passengers from being able to get on the plane when they’re allowed to.
“They can also cause delays and confusion if a passenger in a wheelchair needs to board as the chair has to plough through the mass of gate lice hovering around the gate.
“When it’s time to board, they have to be shooed from the front boarding area to the back of the line, delaying the flight for everyone.”
Gate lice queue when they don’t need to. They make the conscious choice to spend their spare time in a line. But why the eagerness? While the reward is unclear, we may have some insight into their motives.
For some, it could simply be a case of monkey see, monkey do.
Talking to the Washington Post, psychology professor at the University of Buffalo Shira Gabriel said: “People will do any weird thing if they think that’s the way to behave. When you see people lining up, getting ready, it makes you feel there’s a benefit for that”.
For anxious travellers, it may also just be a means to relieve nerves. Psychologist Dr Audrey Tang explains how the desire to feel in control can be a factor.
“Queueing for boarding as soon as we are able to can help us to feel in control, which in turn makes us feel less stressed,” she told Metro.co.uk.
She added: “Maybe some people just like to be first, but it’s largely to do with keeping ourselves calm”.
Though the action isn’t hurting anyone - technically - it still peeves many others, as expressed online by several social media users.
“Our flight is delayed another 20 minutes and the #gatelice still can’t help themselves. The most frustrating part of flying for me by far,” one person wrote on Instagram.
Another wrote: “It never ceases to amaze me the hurry some people are in to get inside a long, germ-infested metal tube.”
The question remains: To be a louse or not to be a louse? Whether you agree with the actions of gate lice or not, one thing is for sure - the savage nickname is yet to deter their gate-side lingering.
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