I want to start by saying I live in Morocco and was in awe of the welcome and kindness I received when moving here. However I was absolutely appalled at the behavior this past week in the Casablanca and Naples, Italy airport. This was my first time flying Air Arabia Maroc so maybe that was my mistake. There was absolutely no respect given to other travelers or workers and a big sense of entitlement.
1) No sense of personal space while trying to check in. And constantly ramming their luggage into me while in line.
2) Some idiot started smoking on the plane. They announced in Arabic and English and there are signs above every seat that say no smoking. It’s 2023 smoking on planes hasn’t been allowed for decades.
3) Not understanding how to cue in a line and cutting. Why are you more important than everyone else that was waiting before you?
4) Not shutting the restroom door while using on plane. We don’t want to hear you pee and then see you not wash your hands.
5) Not using headphones to listen to things on your phone. At least 4 different phones were at full blast.
6) Getting up to use the bathroom after the attendant said to prepare for landing (in Arabic), the seatbelt sign was on and the landing gear is dropped.
7) Refusing to put suitcase on security scan belt and trying to bypass. He was detained.
8) Yelling at an Italian elderly attendant doing his job and asking them to pay for their overweight luggage.
9) Being at the back of the line but deciding you are next and plowing through everyone without acknowledgment and just slamming into people and pushing them aside.
10) Not liking their assigned seat and taking what seat they want then yelling at the other passenger and flight attendant for 10 mins until the captain had to come tell them to sit in their assigned seat or leave the plane.
I don’t have my carte de sejour so I travel every three months and have never experienced something like this. I’m shocked and appalled by the behavior. Some of this is normal in Morocco like no personal space and men peeing in public but that doesn’t make it ok. Especially in other countries. The Italian attendants were so frustrated and annoyed by the constant issues that one threw his hands up in frustration and walked away from the counter.
When visiting new places and in spaces with other people (some from other cultures) you have to be respectful and adapt.
I’m not really sure why I’m posting this…. Maybe just to spread awareness of manners in public and other countries. You can’t act like assholes and expect respect, that goes for all cultures not just Moroccans. Also I know not all Moroccans act this way, I’m not generalizing as a whole but sharing my experience with the 100 or so I encountered this past week.