Canadian influencer Caleb Friesen, who has been living in India for more than eight years, recently shared an in-flight experience that left him surprised. In a video posted on X, Friesen recounted a moment he said he had never witnessed before on an Indian flight.
Sharing the clip, he wrote, “Every flight has an Eager Uncle. The guy who can’t wait until the seatbelt sign turns off. He stands, and someone from the flight crew shouts at him from the other side of the plane. ‘Sir, please sir down! Sir!’ Every flight has an Eager Uncle. Today, I became that uncle.”
In the video, Friesen explained that on most flights, passengers tend to stand up even before the seatbelt sign is switched off, prompting repeated announcements from the flight crew. Once the sign finally turns off, travellers usually rush into the aisle and stand awkwardly until the aircraft doors open.
However, during a recent flight from Mizoram to Kolkata, Friesen said the usual scene did not play out. When the seatbelt sign was turned off, none of the passengers stood up, not even the familiar “eager uncle”.
“Everybody just sat there by their own free will,” he said, adding that no one rushed to crowd the aisle.
{{/usCountry}}“Everybody just sat there by their own free will,” he said, adding that no one rushed to crowd the aisle.
{{/usCountry}}Friesen described the moment as a rare one, where nearly 186 passengers on an IndiGo flight quietly chose to remain seated instead of hurrying to the front. He admitted that the calm eventually made him uncomfortable. “2017 me would have loved this, but 2026 me? I just found it unnatural,” he said, joking that his legs were begging him to stand. He said that he eventually got up himself, declaring, “I became the uncle. I am the uncle.”
Reflecting on the experience, Friesen said the moment made him feel that India may be changing, with people becoming more patient over time. “The scarcity mindset will fade as the economy grows and matures,” he said, adding that civic sense could become more common in the future.
However, he ended the video on a familiar note. His next flight, from Kolkata to Bengaluru, returned to what he described as a “typical” experience, with passengers standing up before taxiing was complete and rushing into the aisle as soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off.
(Also Read: Founder complains of ‘uncle’ watching Reels in full volume on his flight: ‘Should I just accept that’)
Social media reactions
Several users shared similar experiences in the comments.
One user wrote, “it happened to my flight from kolkata to bangalore recently too. no one stood up until the gates were open. even when the queue started building up to leave, it was eerily quiet in a 200+ seater aircraft. first time in a long time I was like ‘nice’”
“It’s great to see this! Hopefully as a country we improve our civic sense more!” commented another.
“Lets just hope this only gets better from here on ! Nice to see fellow Indians with a mature behaviour in public places,” wrote a third user.
“This even doesn’t happen in USA ever. Ppl from eastern states in india are totally different. Love their civic sense,” said another.