Apparently,
flying s discount carrier does not entitle one to a straight answer or, for
that matter, any common courtesies. I
was recently on a Southwest flight. We
had had just taken off and the "Fasten Seat Belt While Seated" sign
was still on. However, the plane had
already leveled off. I needed to use the
restroom. I waited for the Flight
Attendant to walk by and I said to her, politely, "pardon me, it is ok if
I use the restroom." She, with the
look of, "why are you bothering me", replied, "the ‘fasten your
seat belt sign’ is still on." She
pointed to the sign just above my head for added emphasis. So I said, "Does that mean
no?" To which she snapped back, "I
didn't say that." Charming.
I
should have known my flight was going to be a problem when our departure was
delayed forty-five minutes. When I
boarded, a Flight Attendant, a different one, equally a little too long in the
tooth as the first to be acting like this, began to re-positioned my carry-on
bag to make room for another passenger's bag in the same overhead bin. She did this by employing what can only be
described as the “pound and slam” method.
It appeared as though this technique was an attempt to reduce my bag
into a space nearly half the size of the bag.
I asked her to please be careful as I had my cell phone and my iPad in
the end compartments of the bag – the compartments she was repeatedly ramming
intro the bulkhead. She said, with a practiced
arrogance "I've been doing this for thirty-one years. Give me some credit."
Credit? I was giving her credit. What I meant to say was, "Look Fool, I
got here early and placed my appropriately-sized bag in the overhead myself
specifically to avoid this type of mistreatment."
While
I will doubtlessly continue to patronize Southwest because they are the
cheapest fares to where I generally fly, it is unfortunate (and unnecessary),
that I have to give up common courtesies to do so.
