2-Year-Old Boy Wins Plane Passengers’ Hearts With His ‘Crowd-Pleasing’ Move

Illustration - Shutterstock

A lot of people don’t like flying. It’s not as novel as it used to be, and no amount of complementary tiny packets of peanuts can quite make up for the lack of leg room, the snoring neighbor, or the turbulence that makes you fling your hot beverage skywards. Add to these grievances a child passenger under the age of 5, and the audible groans quickly multiply.

But not on this occasion.

A pint-sized passenger massively changed the mood for people aboard a Southwest aircraft flying from Kansas City to Chicago in the summer of 2017. His tactic was simple but effective, and even the grumpiest of commuters couldn’t help but crack a smile.

As he made his way down the aisle, dragging his comfort blanket behind him, 2-year-old Guy Jakubowitz greeted every single person in his eye line with a cheeky fist-bump. His mom, Alya, filmed the whole thing.

Throughout the minute-long clip, Guy walks slowly and patiently down the aircraft aisle, waiting for each passenger to acknowledge him before extending a tiny, balled fist and requesting a fist-bump. To some, he waves first, but as passengers get wind of the little guy’s crowd-pleasing tactic, some even lean forward with balled fists at the ready, waiting for their turn to say hello to the tiniest plane passenger.

Alya posted her adorable video on Instagram, proving her own delightful sense of humor by writing the caption: “My son on the campaign trail, attempting to win the hearts of airline passengers in the hopes of becoming the next Southwest ambassador. He is making flying the friendly skies even friendlier,“ she wrote, ”with one fist bump at a time!”

Some passengers were a little harder to please than others, but Guy’s patient approach elicited a smile from every single person he encountered. “It’s his signature move,” Guy’s proud mom told ABC News. “He’s a little politician. He’s very funny, not shy at all.”

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Little Guy, gregarious from the get-go, allegedly learned to fist-bump when he was only 18 months old. Today, he’s unstoppable. “We just got back from the library and he fist-bumped everyone there,“ Alya regaled. ”We just dropped off his sister at school,“ she continued, ”and he fist-bumped everyone in the administration office.”

Every interstate flight should get their own Guy in the future Illustration - Shutterstock | Skycolors

Since Southwest Airlines shared the video themselves on Facebook, the adorable clip has received over 6.3 million views. Clearly, everybody wishes they could be greeted by a fist-bumping toddler at the start of an interstate flight.

“Grown men were chuckling and laughing, saying how great he was,“ Alya shared. ”He even encouraged those with their heads in a screen to look up and interact in a positive way. He actually waited until they did.”

Kudos to the little guy. Here’s hoping every interstate flight gets their own Guy in the future. Stress levels would plummet, viral videos would rule the world, and fist-bumping might even become the international symbol for “enjoy your flight!”