"I didn't stick my finger in it" (FA response to type of pasta)- Recent AA Experience
Sep 12, 2017, 1:40 pm
#76
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: AA, DL, Avis, Enterprise, National, IHG, HH, SPG/MR
Posts: 1,852
Is asking a question about sauce consistency really "inconveniencing everyone?"
There are those with unreasonable expectations who will ask "is this cage-free, organic, non-GMO, commune-grown, free-range chicken?" However, that is a huge minority.
I guess I'm not on the "let's just accept rude service and hope they feel like being nice to us today" bandwagon, especially when it comes to health-related questions. When an FA yells at me to get my lunch order because I haven't had enough time to look at the menu, am I "inconveniencing everyone?"
There are those with unreasonable expectations who will ask "is this cage-free, organic, non-GMO, commune-grown, free-range chicken?" However, that is a huge minority.
I guess I'm not on the "let's just accept rude service and hope they feel like being nice to us today" bandwagon, especially when it comes to health-related questions. When an FA yells at me to get my lunch order because I haven't had enough time to look at the menu, am I "inconveniencing everyone?"
Sep 12, 2017, 1:54 pm
#77
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,038
What people consider yelling these days is usually anything but that. And nobody is saying you should accept rude service. But you already know the sauce is not going to be good, regardless of what type of sauce it is. A lot of the posts here supporting seemingly ridiculous questions about various qualities of the food are just indicative of the sense of entitlement flyers have these days. It's an airplane, not fine dining at a Michelin star restaurant. Pick a meal and let everyone get on with their lives.
Sep 12, 2017, 2:10 pm
#78
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,314
Should someone who is inconvenienced in a movie theater by someone else talking on the phone simply leave the theater and pay for another ticket to a later show time? Or should the real problem be fixed and the person talking on the phone be asked to leave?
In any case, most of the time I do bring my own food or I'm in F and waiting isn't really an issue. But for someone sitting in the last few rows of Y seats, an extra 30 seconds at every row is a long time. Because of course the people in the next row don't listen to the FAs response to the same question from the previous row.
In any case, most of the time I do bring my own food or I'm in F and waiting isn't really an issue. But for someone sitting in the last few rows of Y seats, an extra 30 seconds at every row is a long time. Because of course the people in the next row don't listen to the FAs response to the same question from the previous row.
Sep 12, 2017, 3:27 pm
#79
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 355
What people consider yelling these days is usually anything but that. And nobody is saying you should accept rude service. But you already know the sauce is not going to be good, regardless of what type of sauce it is. A lot of the posts here supporting seemingly ridiculous questions about various qualities of the food are just indicative of the sense of entitlement flyers have these days. It's an airplane, not fine dining at a Michelin star restaurant. Pick a meal and let everyone get on with their lives.
Sep 12, 2017, 3:31 pm
#80
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
We are currently house guesting a good friend who is also the house guest from Hell.
She is vegetarian by choice and militant by nature. Dining out with her is impossible. No place where meat/fish served. Then a protracted discussion of the geneology of our potential meal when we finally do find a place. (Last night, I left the restaurant and came back with a Big Mac. When I got back, Big Mac in bag, they still hadn't ordered). She couldn't eat at our house until she bought some pans, dishes, and flatware that had never touched meat/fish and were for her use only.
She is vegetarian by choice and militant by nature. Dining out with her is impossible. No place where meat/fish served. Then a protracted discussion of the geneology of our potential meal when we finally do find a place. (Last night, I left the restaurant and came back with a Big Mac. When I got back, Big Mac in bag, they still hadn't ordered). She couldn't eat at our house until she bought some pans, dishes, and flatware that had never touched meat/fish and were for her use only.
Sep 12, 2017, 3:47 pm
#81
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 355
I think it's an inconvenience having to wait longer because someone wants to be awkward and make a scene (happens sometimes, not a reference to OP). It's an inconvenience to then have staff hurry through a service because they feel it is 'eating' into their break time otherwise. It's an inconvenience when the staff look irritated, frustrated and downtrodden and can't offer you the same attention to detail because they're in a foul mood having answered every question under the sun and instead they just slam your food down missing your outstretched hand..... sorry this is the norm on BA flights but I can see how this could dissipate to other airlines. And while you can question how these can relate to one another in terms of cause and effect, I've seen staff get more and more flustered and annoyed as people take advantage and want what the previous person had got and more, and so on, where the first person had got a little bit more than they should have but staff were too polite to say no.
Sep 12, 2017, 3:50 pm
#82
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 355
It's not about entitlement. It's about asking a simple question about what you are about to ingest. If you think taking 10 seconds out of an FA's time to do that is too much, maybe you are the one who has an issue with entitlement by thinking the FA should come to you more quickly and thinking screw anyone else who may want to ask the FA a simple question.
Sep 12, 2017, 3:53 pm
#83
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: AA LT PLT 3 MM+, BA (very) Blue, CO nobody
Posts: 2,640
Is asking what kind of pasta it is really that picky and that time consuming? It would take the FA about 2 seconds (if that) to say - "It's tomato sauce, Sir". Then I would know for sure what to choose. Period.
For you to argue just for the sake of arguing is silly at best. Your opinion is outnumbered by a 100:2.
Last edited by Paulchili; Sep 12, 2017 at 4:09 pm
Sep 12, 2017, 4:15 pm
#84
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,372
I agree - staff are trying to do a job and they're being bothered by every third person asking if it's fusilli or farfalle. For two-thirds of the plane, I can see why that would be annoying. I have no issue with people and their specific dietary needs, but the sense of entitlement besides this is too much. It's like the guy in the fast food place where that keeps the server in conversation while the rest of us are lined up (10 of us) behind waiting to be served - wishing he'd just let the server do his job - and find that two minutes later the server has still served no one else because all the guy wants to do is talk to him about pokemon figurines.
Sep 12, 2017, 4:21 pm
#85
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,038
That's BS. That's like saying if you check into a hotel, you shouldn't ask the front desk where the elevator is or what time breakfast is because it may slow down the front desk clerk from getting to the next customer. The FA has a job to do, and part of that is answering simple questions from customers. Let's not forget, each person on the plane is a customer that is paying for the travel and service on the plane (as limited as that service may be). If you really have a problem with someone asking a question of the proper representative of a business that takes all of 2 seconds to answer, I think the problem may be on your end.
Sep 12, 2017, 4:31 pm
#86
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: AA LT PLT 3 MM+, BA (very) Blue, CO nobody
Posts: 2,640
That's BS. That's like saying if you check into a hotel, you shouldn't ask the front desk where the elevator is or what time breakfast is because it may slow down the front desk clerk from getting to the next customer. The FA has a job to do, and part of that is answering simple questions from customers. Let's not forget, each person on the plane is a customer that is paying for the travel and service on the plane (as limited as that service may be). If you really have a problem with someone asking a question of the proper representative of a business that takes all of 2 seconds to answer, I think the problem may be on your end.
Sep 12, 2017, 4:34 pm
#87
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: AA, DL, Avis, Enterprise, National, IHG, HH, SPG/MR
Posts: 1,852
Sep 12, 2017, 6:46 pm
#89
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Over the North Atlantic
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 494
Jesus I can't believe there certain flyers in this thread seriously arguing that people shouldn't ask what they are being served on an airplane. And people wonder why there is a general dissatisfaction with US-based airlines. 
Sep 12, 2017, 7:06 pm
#90
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 355
That's BS. That's like saying if you check into a hotel, you shouldn't ask the front desk where the elevator is or what time breakfast is because it may slow down the front desk clerk from getting to the next customer. The FA has a job to do, and part of that is answering simple questions from customers. Let's not forget, each person on the plane is a customer that is paying for the travel and service on the plane (as limited as that service may be). If you really have a problem with someone asking a question of the proper representative of a business that takes all of 2 seconds to answer, I think the problem may be on your end.
People make the assumption that these things are answered on the spot. Ever noticed a FA disappear for half an hour based on one person's request? You can be sure this annoyed all the other FA and made their jobs more challenging.