I know there are lots of Sheena sightings that are discussed on this board, so I felt compelled to share mine - here it goes - accompanied with a note on an over zealous flight attendant.

I'll start with Sheena. On Wednesday, December 7th, I was on DL2433 PHX-MEM. Once the upgrade list closed I was number 1 of 11 or so still waiting for an upgrade. Accepting that the upgrade wouldn't happen, I boarded with zone 1. The boarding process continued and once completed I noticed that seat 4D was empty (I was sitting in 8B). I also noticed that a flight attendant was sitting in 6B (she was wearing her flight attendant garb).

Just before the boarding door was to close, the gate agent came aboard and started making his way to coach. I thought he was coming to my seat, but he stopped short and approached the FA in 6B and told her that she could move up to 4D. I don't know the exact rules in this situation - I believe the rule is that once you board the plane you give up your right to an upgrade - but in this situation where all of the passengers have boarded and a seat up front remains empty, doesn't it make the most sense to reward the loyal Delta customers and move them up front? Is this Sheena at work?

On to the over zealous flight attendant. On that same flight there was an older gentleman (somewhat large) serving as the flight attendant in coach. During the boarding process he was being overly helpful to all of the boarding passengers. For starters - he stood in the middle of the aisle and asked each passenger where they were seated and then tried to show them to their aisle. All was ok with this until his "helpfulness" began to back up the boarding process - people were standing in the aisle unable to get past him as he helped people to their seats. At one point on of the passengers - visibly frustrated - let out a "just get out of the way" to no avail.

Once everyone was on board, the FA went through the cabin to check seat belts. He made every passenger show him that their seat belt was buckled. For example - the guy across the aisle from me had a jacket in his lap - the FA asked him to move his jacket to verify that the seat belt was buckled. Also - seat 8A (next to me) ended up being empty, so I moved over to that seat. I had my ipad sitting in seat 8B - the same FA came by and told me that I had to stow my ipad - it couldn't be sitting in a seat and I couldn't hold it. Is that true?

All in - I found the handling of the upgrade situation poor and the FA's passion for his job to be off putting - and before anyone flames me - I'm not complaining for attention or freebies - I just wanted to share my story with the other road warriors on this board who can relate to some of the trials, tribulations and oddities that are experienced while fighting the good fight.

With that said - I'll end on a high note. On my onward flight from MEM the same situation arose - I was number 1 on the upgrade list after the list closed - boarded with zone 1 and after boarding was complete there was an empty seat up front. This time the situation was handled differently, and in my opinion, correctly. The very friendly gate agent - who thanked every passenger who boarded by name and recognized their medallion status - came on board and asked me if I'd like to move up to first. ^ Memphis!