United's FAs have long been toxic, rude, and on power trips. Flying to Tokyo once, late at night, I was dozing when the announcement came on to "put on your seatbelt." The male FA came around shining a flashlight and loudly telling everyone to comply. I was groggy and did not obey with sufficient alacrity. When he came to my row, he loudly demanded that I put my seatbelt on. I did so, grumbling under my breath. He leaned over and said "If you want to get arrested, just keep it up." Unbelievable. This happened many years ago and I still remember it.
Now, admittedly, this was in the months after 9/11 when the airlines treated everyone as a potential terrorist. The airlines eventually realized that treating everyone like inmates was not a good business practice. On another flight a few months later, the captain came out, kneeled down at eye level, shook hands with everyone in our cabin, and said "Thanks for flying United." I still think, airlines, can't you just keep the service/attitude needle in the middle, rather than have your service and attitudes wildly swinging from one extreme to another?
Unfortunately, somehow the airlines, the government, and the flying public have allowed airlines to have their way, charging us more and more in fees, cramming us closer together, to the point where flying has become an inhuman experience. I feel like a prisoner flying these days. There's absolutely no enjoyment in the flying experience; it's generally all bad, no good. If you express irritation from the inhumane conditions, an FA's rudeness or made-up rules, or a fellow passenger's bad behavior, you run the very large chance of being arrested, since even raising your voice is a cause for being such. It's absurd.