Actually, I really don't think so. Luck doesn't go that far, and receiving everything I want/need on a flight seems pretty reasonable as an assessment of service. I'd have no reason to say that service was good if it wasn't. I attribute it to the idea that you get back what you give out. Of course, everyone here is so nice to the staff all the time and has no idea why they don't always get good service. No, that couldn't be it. I must be ridiculously lucky or willing to settle for substandard service after all.
For me, this has nothing to do with being "nice". I have no issue with the notion that if you're rude and unpleasant to people, it's probable that they will be rude and unpleasant back. That's not the point or the issue.
Does the FA return my greeting as I board? If I'm sitting in F, does the FA hang my jacket for me with appropriate promptness, depending on what's happening in the boarding process? Do they serve pre-departure drinks (as I understand they are supposed to) if appropriate for the time of day and local liquor laws? Are they attentive to customers throughout the flight and provide drink refills etc without prompting?
None of these things have anything to do with how "nice" I'm being to them. They have everything to do with the service the FAs are supposed to be providing in the F cabin of AA flights. Have you
never been on a flight where the FAs stood there chatting and obviously couldn't be bothered to serve pre-departure drinks, even though boarding was finished? Have you
never had FAs that 'disappeared' as quick as they could? I guess you've never encountered the galley curtains drawn and a handwritten note pinned to them saying "Do not enter"? Even I was taken aback by that one (at the rear galley on a JFK-LHR flight). Have you
never had FAs (almost) literally climbing over the seats and dodging around boarding passengers to hang jackets and get the drinks out? Have you
never had FAs who clearly seem to enjoy their job and go out of there way to look after you and make sure you enjoy the flight?
Between black and white there are a thousand shades of grey. On AA, the service can be stellar - and sometimes it can be mediocre and sometimes downright awful. Most of the time, it's pretty good on AA and not much to complain about. However, I know good service when I see it and I know poor, disinterested, mediocre service when I receive it. I don't think I have ever equated how "nice" I'm being (or felt the need to try to equate it) with the level of service I receive. The real issue is AA's ability to deliver good service, consistently. None of us expect the service will be "10 out of 10" every time - but I have no difficulty distinguishing the 8-9-10 end of the service spectrum from the 1-2-3 end of the scale. If you've always had the 8-9-10 end of the scale on every AA flight you've taken, then all I can say is may your luck continue. In 20+ years of flying AA, I've had a lot of service at the 8-9-10 end of the scale - but I've also had my fair share at the other end of the scale and it's pretty easy to tell the difference. As I said at the beginning of this thread, the real issue is AA's ability to deliver good service, consistently. On the whole, they do a pretty good job, all things considered - but it's the non-performers, about whom they seem powerless to do anything, that drag down the otherwise great efforts of most AA staff. What better example of the issue - stellar service on one flight followed by awful service on the next - than the OP's post?