Be nice, until it's time not to be...

When did being nice and polite go out of style? Someone please re-send me the memo...I was clearly left off the distribution list.

:-)


One of my favorite movies in the world is "Roadhouse" with Patrick Swayze. The scene that takes the cake for me is the one where Dalton (P. Swayze's character) is in the bar training the bouncers. He tells them to always be nice until it's time not to be nice. Of course, one of the bouncers asked how will they know when it's time to not be nice. Dalton simply states back, "You won't. I'll tell you".

I love that. Sometimes I get a little "Dalton" in me when I see an injustice occurring in my presence.

Case in point:

I was in the Austin airport waiting for my flight home. My travel arrangements were taking me from Austin to Atlanta, then on to Raleigh. Well, as luck would have it (or KC's luck anyway), there was a storm passing through Atlanta and no flights were allowed to go in or out. The airline announcer said they would get an update from the tower in another 15 minutes or so.

Well, I have been stuck in Atlanta quite a few times, so I make my way to the counter to see if they can divert me through another airport. I have a pleasant wait in line for about 5 minutes chatting with 2 lovely individuals about their travel plans.

I am just about to hand my ticket to the agent and flash him my best smile and ask politely (with some southern twang) what he can do to get me to Raleigh that night. Before I'm able to do so, a gentleman (using that term loosely) from about 20 yards away starts yelling at the agent.

"Hey...Buddy, why haven't you made any announcements about this flight? This is ridiculous!!"

Seriously? Here I am about to try to get a favor and this yahoo decides to yell at MY agent?

Oh, I don't think so.

Good news...I remember Dalton. "Be Nice".

The agent is about to respond when I say to him, "Sweetie, I got your back on this".

I then say to the guy in a very calm and nice manner (he's still 20 yards away, so I raise my voice level to almost meet his): "I'm so sorry that you weren't here a mere 5 minutes ago...he just made the announcement about the Atlanta airport and the tower should have another update in about 10 or so minutes."

I then pause (and give him my best Patrick Swayze stare) to allow said gentleman to respond.

Of course he has nothing left to say.

I turn back to the agent and say, "I'm so sorry for his rudeness, please don't think all travelers are like him."

He then thanks me for standing up for him and asks what he can do for me. I ask if there is anyway to get me back to Raleigh that night. He types on the keyboard for what seemed like an eternity and comes up with a new itinerary on another airline.

Now, I have asked on several past trips to be moved to another airline when there were flight delays and such and have ALWAYS been denied (regardless of my sweet smile). You can imagine my surprise when I see the different airline on my itinerary. I ask how much is that going to cost me and he responds: "I got it. No charge. You were so nice to stand up for me it's the least I could do".

Wow. How nice was that? Not only did I get home, but I also got to be a "cooler". Ok, sort of, not like Patrick Swayze, but you gotta start somewhere.

OMG---am I part of THEM now?

Original post: march 18, 2008

I think the DVR is an amazing thing. It allows me to have a life outside of tv and not have to miss ’must see’ tv. When I have insomnia in the wee hours of the morning, it’s nice to have the option of watching the infomercial on the Bedazzler or an episode of Rock of Love (c’mon, you know you LOVE to watch 80’s hair rock band guys try to find true love).

I had fallen behind on my Dr. Phil episodes (yes, I dig him---don’t judge me) and had several of them queued up. I chose to watch the one about the girls that claimed they were banned from Southwest Airlines for being "too pretty".

At first, I find this mildly amusing. I’m thinking, "oh, how cute, a couple of 20 year old girls trying to get some media attention".

However, as the story comes more to light, you realize that they have missed a couple of facts. Like, the one that Southwest has never ’banned’ anyone from ever flying them. Or, how about the passenger that sat near them---she stated in the report that one of the girls was cursing and getting belligerent. And, of course, there is the fact that one of them outright lied to Dr. Phil. She stated that she had never said anything to the media about getting banned for being too pretty. (This is my favorite part) Dr. Phil then whips out a piece of paper and says that it’s an email from her to one of the media affiliates he’s associated with. Of course, in the email she states they were banned from Southwest...yada, yada, yada, she’s a liar.

It’s infuriating that after everything that’s happened in our country since 2001, people still choose to act like a fool on an airplane.

By this time, it’s about 2 am and I am literally talking to the tv and saying insane things like, "Are you freakin’ kidding me?" My dog, George, is now used to this so he’s sleeping peacefully on the couch next to me.

I travel quite a bit for business and pleasure. I get on a lot of airplanes (as do some of YOU that are reading this) and here’s where I realized I had moved to another generation. Out loud, to the tv, I said:
"You stupid kids. Who the h&*( do you think you are? Your job when you travel on an airplane is to sit down and shut up."

I’m fairly certain that is something similar to what my mother might say (right Mom?).

Dammit.

I am now officially part of the next generation. Not that I am entirely disappointed by this. I just find it interesting.

As I thought about it more and more (since I wasn’t doing anything else at 2 am), my emotions went from rage to thinking about their behavior to an almost sense of relief that SW decided to hold them accountable for their behavior and have them escorted off the plane by law enforcement.

It gives me hope that someone was not afraid to hold them accountable. We have gotten to this place in our society where everyone feels they should be able to say and do whatever they want, whenever they want and it just makes me crazy.

I don’t understand how it’s remotely possible that you get to be in your 20’s and you’ve not learned when it’s appropriate to escalate a situation. For the record, the time is NOT when you have to pee on an airplane and someone is taking longer than you think they should in the lavatory.

When did being polite go out of style? Someone forgot to cc me on the memo.

Skybus, my 1st and only experience

From Feb 2008:

At the end of January, I took a flight to see a friend of mine in Ohio. I had the opportunity to take the "Skybus". By now, I'm sure you've seen the ads for the "$10 flights", etc.
I took a flight from Greensboro, NC to Columbus, OH on Thursday night. That flight was fantastic.

As I arrive at the gate, this brand new, bright orange plane with "Skybus" (and their cute logo) pulled up outside. Immediately, I'm stoked because brand new planes exite me. (Yes, clearly, I need to get a life).

It gets better.

As I step onto the plane, I think, "Oh, it's just a regular plane on the inside".

But alas, I was wrong.

I took my aisle seat and strapped in for the hour or so flight. Here is the amazing part: People were walking down the aisle and NOT bumping into me. Not even that 350 lb ex-football player. OMG. The aisles are huge (well, compared to regular planes).

Ahhhh...it was so nice.

It gets better.

The flight itself was uneventful (exactly what we all like in our air travel).

We landed sooooooo beautifully, that when I stepped off the plane, I looked underneath to see if there were actually 10 tires under there.

Seriously, I'm on a lot of planes and this was the best flight I've taken in 5 years.

So, while in Columbus, I sing the praises of Skybus and how it must be the greatest thing since Hello Kitty or Nachos.

This is where I went wrong. Or, another way to put it: Karma is a bitch.

The flight back from Columbus OH, to Greensboro, NC was a little different. Here is what actually transpired:

This is from an actual note that I sent to a couple folks to keep them informed of my situation. My flight was supposed to leave Columbus at 6 am on Monday so that I could be back in the office by 8ish. Note: This flight did not have the fancy new orange skybus aircraft:

"I am still in ohio...been sitting on the tarmac since 5:30 am...issues w the emergency lights. Some FAA thing about safety...yada, yada, yada...we are still in Columbus.
So...I will be in the office a wee bit later than expected. LOL.
The people are very nice though. And...I am close to the cockpit so I get to hear 5 men stand around talking about the problem, but I don't see anyone with a screwdriver or a lightbulb to fix the problem.

So...i got that going for me...hahaha.

Wait...announcement...

Oh goodie...

This is an old plane..."odd ball aircraft" to quote the captain. They are getting one new aircraft per month, but this one has a configuration they are not familiar with.

I feel very safe right now. (sarcasm)

I am going to use the bathroom near the cockpit (yes, I just like saying that word) so I can hear more.

I'll keep you posted.
Kathy "someday i'll fly" Crowley"

Sometime later:
"Ok...now the flight attendant is re-explaining the issue to 3 new people in suits (again...no one with a screwdriver) and they have pulled the 10 pound binder from the shelf marked "skybus flight attendant manual" to review.

I am sure the answer is in there.

Wait...announcement....

Captain says "meeting of the minds" has occurred and we are getting ready to take off.

I guess the answer really was in the manual.

Wow. Props to the lowest paid employee of Skybus for fixing the issue."

Frankly, I think it just got light enough outside so that we didn't need emergency lights after all.

Moral of the story: Cheaper is not always better.

or

Moral of the story: Never underestimate the lowest paid person in a situation.

hmmmm

Moral of the story: Don't fly with KC, you never know what will happen.