The Billiken's Bluff

I probably mentioned this anecdote to just about everyone who reads this site, but at the risk of repeating myself:

Last month, I flew Air France to Mumbai, India. The first leg of the flight from JFK to Paris was ordinary enough a mixed crowd - New Yorkers, Parisians. Predictably, the second leg of the flight from Paris to Mumbai included many more Indian passengers. I took my seat, tired, I closed my eyes...

...I woke up to find two Air France stewardesses pacing up and down the aisles spraying deodorizer into the air, and at the passengers. Full on Lysol cans with the nozzle open, spraying, throwing caution (and cultural sensitivity) to the wind.



The stewardesses sprayed up and down the length of the plane, twice.

I thought a few things. Someone will protest. Some passenger will ask the stewards to stop spraying deodorizer at them. At the very least, someone will acknowledge that something out of the ordinary realm of airplane travel is going on.

As far as I could tell no one was put out. No one was shocked or awed. Maybe I was the only passenger flying this route for the first time. Maybe this is standard practice.

Or maybe, just maybe if we are going to deal in cultural stereotypes, the French stewardesses were deodorizing the plane because they were acknowledging the fact that the French, with their stinky cheese and unkempt body hair, smell pretty damn awful.