With Northwest I use the First Class/Priority line, and I expect the agent to call me next, ahead of people waiting in the coach line. It sounds like the USAir agent didn't handle it too well. She should have made it perfectly clear to the other customers that you were next. You didn't do anything wrong, and as long as you could document you were flying First Class, you owed no one a long explanation. The people from coach who tried to bully you to the back of the line were in the wrong, and who cares if bullies are upset. Being a short female, I encounter any number of people who want to yell at me and send me to the back of the line, even though I'm in First and they're not. As far as I'm concerned, it's music to my ears when a bully is embarrassed and left sputtering in shame. It should happen more often.