Barbershop Quartet Sings During Flight Delay

Is there anything more infuriatingly irritating than being stuck on an airplane? I realize that, in a world plagued by terrorism, disease, and global warming, the inconveniences of airline travel are pretty small beans (in fact, they are the tiniest of beans). And yet commercial flying seems to exert a special, supernatural crazy-making power over people who might otherwise be completely nice, reasonable folks. If you want to see what the post-apocalyptic future will be like, just put 200 upstanding citizens in a stuffy metal tube, let them stew in the metallic airplane-filtered air for a while, and wait to see what happens. Within 3 hours, everyone will have devolved to a state of pre-civilization. Who knew that all you need is a little a capella to cheer everyone right up?

In a recent YouTube post, flight attendant Kari Mann describes working on a January 7 flight from Indianapolis to New Orleans, which experienced maintenance delays after the passengers had already boarded. The situation was ripe for passenger squabbling and crying babies, but instead Mann found a wonderful way to pass the time. She writes, “I started talking to the passengers and realized we had a barbershop quartet in our presence. I asked them to sing and most of the passengers began video taping!” The obliging quartet is based in Maine and goes by the name of Port City Sound. The group—made up of the most adorable old dudes ever—regaled passengers with The Drifters’ classic “Under the Boardwalk.” Mann says that the impromptu concert saved the flight from a passenger meltdown: “The mood changed and our passengers were awesome for the whole 5 hours they were on the plane!” Hooray for everyone!

You can show these fine gentlemen some love on their Facebook page.

Images: Port City Sound/Facebook