Email War
I was on a flight where a middle-aged gentlemen wound up sitting next to me. Obviously on a business trip from his attire.
He’s late getting to the Southwest flight, and he’s got a roller carry on (in addition to his laptop bag). He starts trying to shove it, forcefully, in to an overhead bin.
He does it in a way that shows a complete disregard for the other items already in the bin. Just trying to smash it against everything to get it in.
The flight attendant comes up, and politely says, sir, I don’t think it’s going to fit, and the flight is rather full, I think I will need to check your bag.
The business man gives him a snooty response, the flight attendant repeats. This goes on for about 5 minutes, with the business man insisting that his bag goes in to the overhead bin. The business guy is getting more agitated.
The FA finally appears to relent, and says ‘Okay, how about you let me try?’. The guy hands him the bag, and as soon as he has it in hand, immediately begins walking away saying ‘I’m sorry sir, we’re going to have to check this’. The business man has a hissy fit, but takes his seat next to me.
I noticed him immediately take out his laptop and get in to his email, and start typing an email to SW customer service, complaining about the rude and abusive behavior of the flight attendant, by name (he’d read his name tape) and about how he had been ‘publicly embarrassed’.
Seeing this happen, and already having my laptop out, I also immediately drafted an email to SW Customer Service.
The guy put his full name in his email, so I had his name. So I sent an email to customer service, saying that I’m watching my seatmate, >insert name< currently sending a very nasty email about >flight attendant<.
I made sure to comment on how polite and professional the flight attendant was, and that >insert name< was far too old to be throwing a hissy fit when we’re trying to get people in the seats to pull back from the gate. I still feel good about it. Kinmuan