Friends with Mr. X
A fellow passenger across the aisle pretty much thought he was flying private instead of being on a commercial carrier.
Always pressing the overhead button and making demands…no “pleases”…not a “thank you”, just a constant barrage of orders.
The end came when he pressed the button and shouted, “Get me a drink now! I want a scotch with a splash of soda and not too much ice!” The FA was very accommodating in spite of this person being a total jerk.
She brings the drink, hands it to him and he bellows, “there is too much ice in this drink make me another!”. She was dumbfounded and at this point very flustered.
She turned around and headed to the galley at the front of the plane. The lead FA comes back and proceeds to tell this “man” that he needs to behave etc…
Well, that just made him amp it up. Wait for it….”do you know who I am?!?” “I am a very good long time friend of Mr. X…
You know him, one of executives at your airline. He’s a personal friend whom I’ve know for years. Give me your name and the name of the idiot who can’t make a decent scotch and soda!”
I chime in at this point. “Sir, if Mr. X is a long time personal friend, what is his nickname? His very good friends address him with his nick name, not his surname.” He looks perplexed and then tells me to “mind my business”. The FA tells me very nicely to not involve myself and she will handle this.
I reached into my wallet and pulled out a picture taken on my wedding day that had me in my suit….the new wife in her wedding dress…and my new in-laws, one of whom is Mr. X.
I handed it to the FA and said that I will call the office when we land and let him know that one of his very good friends is dropping his name and treating members of flight crew in a very unprofessional manner.
“Sir, may I have your name so I can tell my father-in-law that you are going to make a formal complaint against members of the cabin crew?” Crickets…nay but a peep.
The lead FA hands me back my picture and tells the guy if he touches the button again or even speaks to any of the FAs, the police will be waiting for him when we land.
I called the father-in-law after we landed to fill him in, just in case. I found out much later that he pulled the passenger manifest and wrote the guy a letter banning him from traveling on the airline. powerandbulk