Hope you don't mind a story from a relative newbie. I've trolled these forums for awhile but never really had any good stories to share. I have one now. This will be therapeutic for me because I need to share it with people that can relate. I'll be as brief as possible because frankly there's no huge payoff at the end - no punches were thrown (though they
were threatened).
Quick background: I fly AA pretty exclusively, and as an ExecPlat I get upgraded most of the time. I've noticed that seat-changing goes on far more in the first class cabin than it does in coach - I figure because by the time upgrades clear at the gate there are often no longer two seats together, so people get split up. I get asked quite a lot to change seats to accommodate people that want to sit together - it happens about once every three flights (seems like it anyway - it's probably more like one in ten).
Now, here's my thing about changing seats when asked. Like most people I prefer aisle seats. If someone asks me to change to another aisle - glad to do it. If someone asks me to change to a window, I'll still do it though I'd rather not. But I'm 6'2", and as such I hate sitting in the bulkhead because of the lack of legroom (plus I like to keep stuff under my seat and of course you can't do that in the front row). So if someone asks me to change to a bulkhead seat, what I'll do first is try to see if the
other person in the bulkhead will come move next to me, then the folks asking me to move can sit together in the bulkhead. Usually this works with no problem. Usually. [And if the other bulkhead person
won't move, I'll do it. I wouldn't keep people from sitting together just for a little extra convenience for myself.]
There are two families I'll be discussing in the story. I don't know their names so I'll call one the NW Family (NW = Nice Woman) and the other the DB family (the B stands for Bag, the D can stand for "Dirt" or anything else you might think of
).
I was flying home from Dallas to LA this past Friday night, ticketed in seat 4E in First Class (2nd row aisle). I was the first one seated. People are filtering in. NW comes on with her mom and teenage daughter and very nicely lets me know she's in the window (4F), so I get up and let her in. She thanks me profusely, and I crack my usual joke about how she's a horrible person for having the audacity to ask to be let into her seat
. After she gets settled in, she turns around and starts talking to her mom, who's seated directly behind me in 5E. Figuring the two probably want to sit together, I ask her if she'd like me to switch seats with her mom. I can barely finish the sentence when she says "oh that would be so nice, thank you so much," etc. I switch and am now in 5E. NW turns around again and thanks me profusely for changing. I tell her I'm glad to do it, I'll always change unless someone asks me to move to the bulkhead (oops) ...
... almost as if on cue, about a minute later the DB family comes on board (parents & two little kids). Mrs. DB comes back to me and says "excuse me, would you mind changing seats and sitting up there?" (pointing to 3E - the dreaded bulkhead). Now, let me say right now that
I NEVER SAID NO. I mean, there's no way I was going to make a little kid sit far from one of their parents, so if I HAD to move I would have. All I did was make a distressed face and say "well I'd really rather not, but ..." at which point Mrs. DB cuts me off and says "well it's that or listen to little kids cry for three hours, your choice." Now I'm trying to
help the DBs, so I stand up and say to NW "maybe she (pointing to NW's daughter, who's in 3F) can move back here?" NW asks her daughter if she'll do it and of course she said yes. So she gets up to move back next to me. End of story, right? Uhhh, no.
As Mrs. DB passes by me with her daughter (on her way back to Coach) she starts giving me grief about not moving, saying things like "Mr. spoiled FIRST CLASS won't move to help out little kids" - she used the term "first class" a few more times, as if I'm supposed to feel guilty about sitting there. I turn back around; NW was watching this in shock and I turn back around and say to her "I think I just got some attitude!" Now, Mr. DB hears this (he's sitting in 3F - just to paint the picture, imagine a Jeff Foxworthy-looking guy with more facial hair and no sense of humor) and turns around to say something to me. I don't remember what it was but it made me think that he thought I was talking about him. So I say, "no, not you, her (pointing behind me in Mrs. DB's direction)." Mr. DB then points angrily at me and says "hey, that's my WIFE!" (he says it as if I've just insulted her lineage). He then starts jawing at me like she was, saying "we offer you a perfectly good seat and you won't take it", etc. I'm not interested in engaging in an argument across the cabin so I mostly just let him vent. But the whole time I'm thinking "what did I DO?!?"
[Now in fairness, clearly the family was having issues. It was an 11 p.m. flight, the kids were NOT in a good mood, and at one point before we took off Mrs. DB comes up to talk to her husband and she's crying hysterically. So they were not having a good night. They were frustrated, they needed someone to take it out on, there I was.]
The rest of the flight was uneventful. Even after the flight landed Mr. DB was waiting with his son while I passed. He didn't say a word. It was only at baggage claim that things got interesting. I was waiting a long time for my bag to come out. At one point I looked to my right and caught the eye of Mr. DB. About two minutes later I'm tooling around on my iPhone and suddenly hear his voice to my left:
"Hey, [gay slur beginning with F]!"
(Wow, you teach your kids that kind of language? I ignore him)
"Hey, chowd!"
(What makes this guy think I'm from Boston? And what was with that F-slur anyway? Are we back in the 80's when that word was borderline acceptable as an insult?)
"Hey you f***ing [same gay slur]! You, the guy playing with your phone! I know you can hear me!"
So now I figure this guy isn't going to leave it alone so I turn to him. He starts going off on me.
"Way to treat little kids in first class!"
(Again with the "first class" thing. I guess if I sat in Coach it wouldn't have been a big deal).
As he's walking away from me with his bags he goes "you should watch your back - we're in L.A. now, things get taken care of here!"
(Huh? So now you're going to put a hit out on me? This is L.A., so maybe a drive-by or something??)
"Maybe I'll take care of it myself outside!" (So now it's come down to "let's take this outside"? Do people still do that? What exactly is "this" anyway??).
I just smiled at him and said "Have a nice night", not wanting to deal with this DB any further. If I'd been in more of a confrontational mood, I'd have given him kudos for taking the First Class seat while sending his wife back to Coach (I mean does it
get any classier than that?)
So ... that's the end of the story, really. To recapitulate (or "recap", as the kids say these days): because I didn't immediately comply with the request of these lovely people, I was (a) chewed out repeatedly, (b) my life was threatened, and (c) I was challenged to a fight.
If you've read this far - thanks for listening! I certainly feel better.