An Open Letter

I loved this in the Strib:

Dear Mr. 8C:

I'm sorry your Silver Elite status on Northwest Airlines didn't qualify you for a first-class upgrade on your recent flight from New York to Minneapolis. All of us, your fellow passengers, shared in the incredulity you expressed so vocally to the gate agent when informed that you would be flying coach.

The subsequent announcement that our departure would be delayed clearly inconvenienced you alone. Your expletive-laden denouncement of the airlines, while unsettling to many of those standing near to you, was an opinion that you obviously deemed necessary to share with all within earshot. It is shocking that the airlines would let a little thing like a mechanical problem with the plane interfere with your very important schedule. Trust me, we all heard you when you said how (expletive omitted) upset you were.

The whole thing is worth reading. Now most seasoned travelers are nice, of course. They understand the vagaries of air travel when it comes to things like delays and sold out upgraded class seating. But the bad ones? Holy cats, they're awful! There is something about assumed privilege that turns full grown adults into the worst possible children.