Flying the not so friendly skys

This late night post finds me at gate #9 at the Atlanta airport....delayed an hour of course. I looked long and hard to find a glimpse of happiness on at least one face in the line of passengers at the Delta help desk. Didn't happen. I find it so hard to believe that an industry that on the edge of total collapse, an industry that absolutely thrives on customer service, is the home of such incredibly bad service. On my last flight....a flight that was of course delayed as well, I simply pointed out to the stewardess....sorry, flight attendant, (whatever) that the reading light didn't work at my seat. This was done without an attitude on my part as I was just simply trying to inform her as to make the seat a better place for the next passenger. I also informed her that its kinda funny because it was actually the 4th flight in a row that it work. Her quick snide response was "you mean on any carrier". "Actually, that's not really what I said, but if you must know, it is the 4th Delta flight in a row". Kind of ironic as I am a lighting designer, but anyway. Her next response was classic. In fact, as I type this, I still find it hard to believe that I was told this. Her response was "maybe this is just a good chance to chill out......" Jaw drop, eyebrows up, awkward pause...."excuse me?" "Ya, just tune out and relax a bit." I was really kind of expecting a "I'm so sorry sir, I will have to jot that down and get a note to maintenance." Just chill out....hmmmmm, that's nice. Perhaps the book I was going to read with the light was a good way to accomplish that. All I have to say is pick up a spatula on the way home and start practicing your burger flipping technique, because your career might be about to change really soon!

Just a little add on. After arriving at 3AM and after 4 hours sleep, I'd like to report that the reading light on my last flight actually worked. They did have a nice in flight individual TV setup, however the audio on mine didn't work! Just looked at my itinerary for tomorrow morning. I fly Delta thru Atlanta again......oh, let the fun begin!