Sherre Hirsch

Have you ever noticed how much people are quick to criticize and slow to compliment? The other day I was on stand by for a flight home to LAX. The flight is overbooked. So what’s new? I let the attendant know my circumstance and I sit down to wait.

A young bully comes to the desk. He is a premier flyer  - whatever that means - and not only does he want to be first on the standby list but he also wants first class. He lets the attendant know and then stands in front of the attendant and stares at him for the next half hour. Every 2-3 minutes he reminds the attendant of his status and his needs. He is like that kid in the back of the car who keeps asking  “Are we there yet?”   So annoying.

After about a half hour the guy at the desk motions me forward. I turned to the bully and let him know that really need to catch this flight - my mother is being honored at a dinner tonight. He responds, “like I care”. I was shocked. Who says that outloud?  I wanted to respond - your mother would be ashamed of you. Instead, I hold my tongue; I do not want to get in a verbal match with this brat.

Time for the flight, the attendant hands the bully a first class ticket and he humphs, “finally!”  As if?  I know I am not getting on. I wonder if I had been ruder and more agressive, I would  have gotten on the flight.  I start to walk away. The attendant shouts out, HIRSCH. I look back at him and he holds a ticket high into the air.

I approach the desk and he smiles and tells me that I had it the entire time, that good behavior should be rewarded. He is right. Good behavior should be rewarded. I write down his name and position and tell him that US Airways will hear from me very soon and I board the plane.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.