Sometimes the only way to put a stop to snoring, that involuntary yet endlessly annoying to others activity, is for the snorer to wake the heck up. But one Southwest Airlines passenger is accused of crossing the boundary between a polite tap and roaming into the land where rudeness to your fellow traveler — snoring loudly or no — means getting booted off your flight.

A flight from Chicago Midway to Manchester, NH was delayed after a passenger was taken off the plane, accused of poking her seatmate with a fountain pen in an attempt to get him to stop producing his sleepy symphony of snores, reports WMUR.com.

Airline officials said the incident took place before the plane left Chicago, on a flight that was already running late. As the plane taxied toward takeoff, a man says he was awoken from his slumber by his seatmate, who apparently had “had enough” of his nose flute.

“Imagine being asleep and then being stung by bees and waking up and going ‘Ouch!’” he said.

Witnesses nearby confirmed that his snoring was pretty loud, as was his reaction to the pen poke, with his friend describing the incident as only a friend can.

“Chucklehead here fell asleep on the taxi on the runway. His arm brushed onto her… she went nuts…. started stabbing him with a pen and he screamed really loud like a little girl,” he explained.

Friend-of-the-snorer also Tweeted about the incident, posting a photo of a shirt sleeve adorned with ink:

He says they were treated to free gin and tonics and passengers cheered after hearing the woman had been booted from the flight.

“Everyone on the plane was happy afterward,” he said. “They were glad to get rid of her.”

Southwest Airlines classified the incident as a “poking” rather than a “stabbing” in a statement.

“The passenger in question will be accommodated on a later flight,” a Southwest spokeswoman told CNN. “No injuries were reported.”

The plane eventually took off and arrived in Manchester two hours late.

Passenger removed from flight after poking seatmate with pen [WMUR]
Passenger kicked off flight for poking fellow flier with pen [CNN]

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