We’ve all experienced the nuisance of a chronic snorer, whether it be your partner, a friend or family member – it’s fine for the one sleeping, but a nightmare for those around them.
Alan Tattersall, from Shepparton in Victoria, Australia, was due to embark on a 32-hour journey to Texas in the USA for a business trip.
His 17-year-old stepdaughter, Grace Smith, had an immediate worry: the other passengers. While her stepdad would no doubt get a good night’s sleep, his fellow travellers would need to deal with his booming snoring.
Grace came up with a genius idea. She and Alan’s wife, Ros, 54, created 10 mini care packages for him to hand out on the flight that included two chocolate bars, a pair of ear buds and handwritten apologies.
The note inside the care package read:
Hi. Enjoy your trip today. We thought you might be in need of a little assistance if Alan falls asleep – so hope this little care package helps.
Love and blessings, Ros and Grace. P.S. the snoring usually only lasts a short time – while he falls asleep.
While Alan initially struggled to grasp the fact that his snoring was so loud it warranted a care package, the 62-year-old eventually took the comments on board.
Alan, commenting on his stepdaughter’s idea, said:
They were very cheeky making the care packages for me. I knew I snored but I didn’t think for a moment it was that bad.
I was flying from Melbourne to Houston – it’s quite a long flight. On the way back it was about 32 hours, including three stopovers, so I thought I’d better give them out.
Grace and Ros gave Alan around 10 care packages, and upon his return they were delighted to see he had only brought a couple of the packs back.
Grace, explaining the idea, said:
At times, Alan’s snoring is pretty loud. It’s when he’s falling asleep – it can be pretty serious. He was in full swing one night before he left [to go to Houston], which is what convinced us the packages would be a great idea.
He was due to take his first international flight a few days later. I’d heard of mums giving out little care packages when they have babies on planes – acknowledging that their infants might be crying.
My friend came with me to buy the supplies and found it hilarious too. She was all for it.
While Alan wanted to share his care packages, he found that his fellow travellers weren’t ‘into communicating very much’, so he had to hand them out before take-off.
Some people didn’t really know how to respond, others ripped open their package straight away, and some simply laughed at the idea.
Alan added:
One of the problems I had is when people get on planes nowadays, they’re immediately watching a film and putting their own headphones on anyway.
I handed a packet to the last person and she opened it up straight away and read the note. The others just thought it was strange and didn’t know what to say, but she chuckled to herself.
Grace added that her stepdad is used to her ‘joking around’, so it was all taken in good spirits. Sleep tight, Alan.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.