I do not understand why people feel entitled to mistreat service staff. 1.They are people who are deserving of basic decency. 2. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

I’m not saying I’ve never gotten to the salty stage. But that people lead with that approach boggles the mind.

A story:

Wife and I were taking our first big international vacation. When we got to the airport we were informed that the plane incoming was delayed and we wouldn’t make our connecting flight to our destination, causing us to lose a day from our vacation. There were people working with other ticketing agents who were yelling and getting angry.

I talked to the woman there and explained the situation and I ended it with something akin to this.

“I understand that you may be unable to do anything but if you can I’d be really grateful.”

She made two calls, rebooked us to another airline and we ended up arriving 4 hours ahead of our original plan. Also on an airline I had some status on, so bonus!

When you have a choice, lead with kindness. It pays dividends.

@AI78 Conversely, I was once two back of a guy absolutely laying into an airline desk agent; he was swearing at her, calling her an incompetent bitch, it was ugly. When she directed him to a flight all the way across DFW that "he just might make if he hurried" (I think that was BS), he yelled at her "make sure my bag gets on that flight" and left it there running off.

@AI78 The guy in front of me smiled at her, handed her several folded bills (the outer one at least was $100), showed her his Executive platinum card and said, gesturing to the other guy's bag, "Please see that this bag gets to Mongolia as soon as possible." She smiled, took the money and I'll warrant the bag left DFW promptly.