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Influencers often get a bum rap. As a person who engages with a lot of influencer content, I get why people have reservations, but I think it comes down to the individual. I've learned a lot of genuinely cool and useful things from people that would be considered travel "influencers" but are smart, informative, and willing to think through their messaging rather than just sensationalizing stuff for the sake of getting clicks.
But let's be honest, there's a lot of travel influencers out there who get big for all the wrong reasons, otherwise this stereotype wouldn't exist. After Drew Muxlow had seen one too many clueless influencers share their completely bonkers travel stories on his "For You" page, he finally roasted them all as a group in a rough (but completely) fair "influencer" parody.
LOL! OK, first things first, @drewmuxlow 's allusion to traveling for a best friend's wedding is a very pointed reference to a TikToker who recently missed her flight out on the day of her best friend's wedding. I won't name names, because the internet's already put her through the ringer, but she blamed Delta Airlines for locking her out of her flight when she showed up "early" (even though she'd actually only shown up a few minutes before departure, after boarding doors had already shut). Take that story, embellish it with a lot of the weird entitled tropes common among awful TikTok travel influencers, and that's Drew's parody in a nutshell.
Related: Flight Attendant's Speech About Rude & Entitled Passengers Has People Applauding
If you don't engage with travel content on social media much, Drew's parody might seem like a gross exaggeration. Surely people aren't hopping online and pretending to be the good guy after abusing their gate agents , putting their flight attendants through the wringer, and making comically clueless errors that could have been avoided with one Google search... right?
Ha! Believe me, as over-the-top as Drew's caricature seems, I've seen worse. The only thing in this vein I haven't seen was someone actually eating peanut butter with their hands on board, but after watching a guy (supposedly) cook garlic shrimp in an airplane lavatory , that wouldn't even faze me anymore...
The Trials and Tribulations of Travel Drama
Others in the comments agreed that Drew hit the nail on the head, referencing some of the ridiculous travel stories they'd seen from online content creators- or even encountered in real life.
"I saw a video yesterday of a couple crying in the airport because they missed their flight BY A WHOLE DAY. They were over 24 hours late!" said @missphancypants.
"As a flight attendant this was a perfect example of how every conversation I have at work goes," agreed @kaylamhorn. "'OMG I'm going to miss my connection, what are you going to do?! Let me sit in first class, I have a 15-minute connection!' Um, we are early, you did that to yourself."
"I once had a lady show up to check in for her flight at 4 pm... it was 3:57 pm and she thought she could check a bag, get through security, and get on her plane... in three minutes," recounted @ottokajiiiii. "She RAGED at me because she was 'on time.' And I had to explain to this woman that her plane LEFT at 4, and that she couldn't just stroll in whenever she wanted. It was nearing the end of day too, so we had no other flights for her to get on lol. That was a fun conversation. She was probably 30, too."
Don't Be a Bad Traveler
People make honest mistakes, and even the best laid-plans can go awry. I am a meticulously prepared and cautious air traveler , and even I've nearly missed international connections before due to massive unexpected flight delays (just skated by, though, thank goodness). Being clueless or even just unlucky isn't a crime- but taking your problems out on people not at fault is a rotten way to behave, especially in front of an online audience.
So what can we learn from bad influencers like the ones Drew is parodying? Do your research: be careful when booking flights , figure out the difference between boarding and departure times, etc. Don't play fast and loose with security wait times; show up early early. And most importantly of all, don't put anyone through the ringer over something that's out of their hands. And if you're still going to ignore this advice, at least don't film yourself talking about it online! Trust me, it's not a good look.
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