IF YOU WANT TO USE THE TOILETS, STAY AWAY FROM AIR FRANCE

IF YOU WANT TO USE THE TOILETS, STAY AWAY FROM AIR FRANCE

My wife and I took an evening flight from JFK to Paris. She got up in the middle of the night and encountered another passenger who was had just used the toilet. In the darkened plane, the passenger held a curtain open so that my wife could follow. Then, as she was returning to her seat, a member of the flight crew threw open the door and started shouting "This is a restricted area"! He pointed to a "minus" sign, which the French know (but my wife did not) means "Do not enter." The sign, however, was covering the words "Restricted Area" so there was no way she could have read the warning.

My wife apologized profusely, and explained that another passenger had used the toilet and held the curtain for her. This apparently infuriated the flight crewman, who apparently had failed to notice the first passenger (though video cameras were everywhere). He shouted that no one had used the toilet, essentially accusing my wife of lying.

Escalating the non-event, he threatened to call the police, though there was obviously no need for the police to subdue a terrified woman who accidentally opened a curtain with the words "Restricted Area" obscured by a Minus Sign.

The unnecessary episode from badge happy flight crewman left her shaking for the remainder of the trip. My advice: Use the toilet before your fly Air France, and go easy on the liquids.