I think a lot of it has to do with the way customers act in the first place. A lot of people here act rudely and (I don't know if you've ever worked in a service job), it's upsetting when people do that (why should I treat people well when they treat me like crap?). I routinely see people ignore FAs instructions (stuff they told the passenger - like turn off the cell phone/computer/cd player) and they don't pay attention to their kids running around. I know someone who works checkin for UA and I was told that when Japanese and other asians come to checkin, they have everything ready and hand it to you right away. Half of the elites (1K, Premiers, and Premier Execs) will walk up to you and hand you their MP card (they'll have it ready), knowing full well that they need to show photo ID (which takes them a minute to get out).

I have to say, I rarely am treated poorly (except at restaurants where service takes forever) because I know "please" and "thank you," whereas most people don't bother. My personal experience is that if you treat people decently, you get treated decently.