Time and again I run into male passengers with what I coin the "Sudden Spokesperson Syndrome" (SSS -or 'Asses'). The subjects are typically white Caucasian, middle-aged, almost always unmistakably American, and traveling alone on business. As implied by its name, the syndrome does not occur frequently; it is triggered only when an attractive, young, Asian single female traveler is involved.
The first symptoms of SSS are immediately apparent starting at boarding. On a recent Bangkok flight, I showed a Thai passenger to her seat at the exit row. Decently outfitted in business casual attire, softly pretty in the face but downright sexy, she instantly lit up the white man - gray-haired and nearly two decades her senior - seated adjacent to her. Eyes observing her closely behind his glasses, he simultaneously sat up straight, adjusted his collar, and stashed away his newspapers. Not long after, he tried engaging her in small talk - kicking it off with a sarcastic joke, as always. Such a straight American bar thing to do.
Next thing I know, as I was on my way to answer call lights, Mr. SSS stopped me on my track and said with a stern face and his head cocked, "the lady sitting next to me would like to have a blanket." And so I guess he has suddenly become his new Asian female friend's spokesperson. There is nothing wrong about impressing a lady - it's just the certain condescending tone and patronizing attitude mixed with his trying-too-hard gentleman demeanor that makes me roll my eyes. Puh-lease. The lady can perfectly speak for herself, and maybe that's why she embarrassingly smiled at me.
And so I played along with it when I distributed meals. I purposefully made eye contact only with the Thai lady as I recited the entree options. Once again, as expected, Mr. SSS turned to her before I finished and asked, "which one would you like?" Then after that, "We would like to have two glasses of red wine." As if he's already hooked her up at a bar. She speaks English, let the lady speak for herself!
