Originally Posted by Jack Burton

I won't speak for anti_ice, or how he/she actually feels,...

...But your blanket statement seems to be way off base. Are you saying that you believe every FA automatically deserves everyone's respect, simply because they chose that given profession? Or that every FA deserves a certain level of respect, just as any other living sole on this planet? There is a difference here.

If you are taking the position in the first premise, then it's a case by case basis, as far as I'm concerned. I'll always give everyone the benefit of the doubt in all facets of life,...and from the word go, I treat everyone with the utmost respect, again, regardless of who they are or what they do. I certainly do not give a FA more respect than anyone else in this world,...usually the same amount, but not more. Why would I? Even so, once that person, any person, proves me wrong in giving that respect, then sorry, all bets are off.

In a service industry, actual performance, not implied performance, is all that matters. If a given FA does their job, then great, all good, with me and everyone else. But when I'm ignored for 90% of my flight because that FA is flirting with the guy 2 rows ahead of me for most of the flight, well, not so good.

Again, the entire service industry is based upon actual performance. Sorry now to go a bit off-topic,...but this point reminds me of several restaurant encounters, only one in which I'll mention.

When I sit down to have dinner, I assume I'll be tipping 20%,...but that may change, higher or lower, based upon performance. One unfortunate night out, I had a waitress take my order without writing any of it down, but figured that she must have a perfect memory. Turns out she did not, and got every bit of the order wrong,...every bit,...even down to bringing coffee instead of the tea, which I ordered. Ordered soup, got salad,...ordered steak, received chicken,...ordered one side, got another, etc, etc. Ok, mistakes happen, so be it. I send back the entire order, start again, and hope that she now gets it correct. While waiting an extra long time for the food to arrive, I noticed that my waitress runs outside for a cigarette break. Being a smoker myself, no problem there, go for it. But,...she doesn't return for at least 15 minutes,...then finally brings out my food, which is now completely cold and inedible. After wasting much more than an hour at this point, I didn't have the time to send it back and wait again, nor should I be expected to, so I had to leave. I attempted to get the charges reversed with the manager, but had no luck, unfortunately. So, not to cause a scene, I simply paid my bill and went on my way.

To close,...did this waitress deserve that 20% gratuity I had planned to give her when I walked in? How about 10%? Maybe 5%? How about nothing? Well, I left her 7 cents, since it rounded off my bill to the nearest dollar. Not only did she cost me $70, but wasted my time and I didn't even get to eat. Did this waitress deserve my respect and/or common courtesy when she chose to show me none? Not a chance.

Ok,...now, back on topic,...