airport etiquette

Currently sitting in the Detroit airport, en route from Columbus, OH back home to Salt Lake City. For as often as I fly, you'd think I'd have earned myself some free flights by now, right? Negative ghostwriter (it took me a while to get down with frequent flyer miles, and by a while, I mean until like 8 months ago). But in the past seven (7) years of regularly flying back and forth between the east and west coasts (and subsequently north and south regions of this beautiful country of ours), I have learned a thing or two about airport etiquette. Allow me to expand upon my acquired knowledge...

1. Always take your coat off before you get to security. It takes 2 seconds in line, saves about 5-7 seconds at the security table and makes the people behind you much happier!
2. Wear shoes that are easy to take off/put on. Again, this makes security checks a much smoother process and who wants to wait in those lines any longer than actually necessary?
3. Never sit next to someone in the terminal when there are open seats. Seriously, who does this?! Give space and keep space.
4. Help other passengers put their crap in overhead bins. If you're a capable young person, always help the old people, those vertically challenged among us and, the people carting around multiple children put their stuff in the overhead bins before take off and out after landing. Not only will this help with boarding/deplaning speeds, but it makes for happy and grateful co-passengers!
5. If you know someone tall is sitting behind you, don't recline your seat. I'm only 5'7", but as a female, my legs are as long as my brother's who is 6'4". I understand minimal leg room as well as the next tall dude. You may or may not have minimal space yourself, but stop being a selfish jerk and keep your seat upright.
6. Don't turn your headphones/earbuds/laptop up so loud that the person sitting next to you can hear it. This is both an etiquette tip and for your own personal health and safety. Do you want to be able to hear by the time you're 40? Yeah, I thought so.
7. If you're sitting in a window seat, hold it. You got a window seat for the view or the wall to sleep against or some selfish reason, right? So there's your one point to be selfish. If you have to pee, hold it, especially if the people in the middle and aisle seats are asleep. Don't be a jerk, you're not 7 years old or a preggo lady with a bladder problem. Use your hands if you have to but, hold it.
8. Don't leave trash in the seat pocket in front of you. You wouldn't leave that crap in your friends car - ok, on second thought, maybe you would - but don't leave it on the plane. Disposing if your cups, magazines, newspapers, bottles, wrappers, etc. in the little bags the flight attendants so dutifully walk up and down the aisle with helps to maximize efficiency and speed up the process of turning over the plane from an arriving flight to a departing flight.
9. If you've reached your final destination, sit tight. I've definitely had to run through the airport to catch a connecting flight and let me tell you, it's not fun. Just stay put in your seat and let those passengers who have yet to reach their final destintations deplane first, even if their connecting flight doesn't leave for an hour or more. It takes a few minutes for your luggage to get to baggage claim anyway, so sit tight and you'll be off soon enough.
10. Upon deplaning, always always always thank the flight attendants and pilots. Not only did they just get you from one place to another a heck of a lot faster than you could have yourself, but you were just at 30,000 feet and lived to tell about it. Be vocally grateful.

I've got my Starbucks in hand (always the first stop when i get through security, no matter what) and I'm about to board. Goodbye Detroit!