Count yourself lucky. Public intoxication is a criminal offense in Panamá. You might have instead enjoyed the hospitality of the 'foreigner's jail' provided by Migración or the more 'authentic' environment of the public lockup provided as a public service by Policía Nacional. I have been known to prepare for my flight with one (or four) strong adult beverages before going to the airport, so one has to be pretty 'lit' to be refused a boarding pass for drunkenness.
COPA has multiple service centers inside the terminals, but you may have missed them due to your inebriated state, or were distracted by the women who dress to impress when they travel. Most (not all) generally try to be helpful, but the plethora of rude foreigners can ruin anyone's enthusiasm.
They probably put you in the back row for safety reasons, such as proximity to toilets in the event of 'airsickness' brought on by too many mojitos.
Last edited by live_in_a_suitcase; Sep 18, 2019 at 9:14 pm
Reason: noticed a missing verb... put it in it's place