Originally Posted by
pindi
This is truly pathetic... I feel for these passengers. I would have gladly joined this elite crowd had my schedule permitted it. Some things matter a lot more to me than reaching my destination on time - standing up for what I believe is right is at the top of that list. Yes, I realize that the consequence of doing so may be bad, but after going through the mental agony and self-flagellation I am going through for not standing up for myself, I believe the choice is very easy for me.
Unfortunately for me, there is just too much at stake, and too many people relying on me, when I fly internationally for business, and I have no choice but to suck it up and submit to capricious behavior by the "little people with big power" in order to get to my destinations on time. Once a FA has behaved poorly to me, I go so far as to cease all communication with them for the entire flight so as to not risk a possible confrontation.
Originally Posted by
Kacee
It's just plain foolishness to pick a fight with an FA, just as it's foolishness to mouth off to TSA or CBP. Especially AFTER the issue has already been resolved in your favor.
It's easy to talk big on line. We get this foolish bravado every time one of these threads crops up.
Concerning CBP, I would bet that most travelers don't know that you aren't considered to be on US soil until you've cleared immigration and customs and thus have none of the constitutional "unreasonable search and seizure" protections afforded citizens. I had an associate of mine detained incognito (i.e. they wouldn't let him call anyone, including his lawyer, so his wife was really freaked out) for 24 hours once until he gave up the passwords to his computer and phone so they could do some sort of data search. He never found out what they were looking for but, according to his lawyer, they were within their rights to do this.