Originally Posted by dilanesp

I thank you for posting this because I absolutely think it gets to the nub of our disagreement.

So you are upset that the FA's might be spending time on their iPad rather than serving you. Why? The world is absolutely filled with people who sometimes goof off a little bit on their jobs, or do something other than pay 100% to serving the needs of others at all times while at work. And you know what? That is absolutely none of my business. It's not harming me, and if anything I'm glad that people who are doing an important and sometimes stressful job might be able to stop for a moment and enjoy a little pleasure.

Why do I need them to be at my beck and call on such a short flight, rather than on an iPad? It's not as though I will starve if I don't get served a pack of pretzels on a one hour flight. It's not as though I'll go into delirium tremens and die if I am not served a cocktail in that time period. I realize that's sort of an in extremis point, but it's illustrative of the whole thing- the desire to have these people serve me rather than be on their iPads is symbolic. I own their time. They are there to serve ME. It is offensive that someone who is supposed to be at my beck and call is doing something else, something that is valuable to her, instead.

These people are here primarily for our safety. The airline even tells us this in their safety announcement. They are there so that if the plane has to be evacuated, it happens quickly and yours and mine and everyone else's lives will be saved. And they receive extensive training to ensure that happens. They are not servants. They are not like hiring a person to serve us food in our homes. They have a service role, but it is secondary to the safety role. Heck, they aren't even like waiters in a restaurant.

If a FA is on an iPad rather than waiting on me, I assume she has some good reason that she either needs to be on that iPad, or that being on that iPad is good for her well being in what has to be a stressful existence. I am not offended she isn't serving me, and it isn't the end of the world if I take off and land safety, get to my destination, but don't receive subservient service on the airplane. I don't need to feel like a stereotypical rich man with all of his supplicants waiting on him, when I get on an airplane. That's not what I am paying for- I am paying for transportation.