Traveller

I am a BALACT

Canarsie

Well, at least nobody can accuse JS of not having the BALs to launch a thread such as this one...

-------------------

JS, I am disappointed in you.

Surely you are intelligent and creative enough to have instead come up with the acronym BAWL (which makes more sense than BAL, in my opinion), where the W represents the word whole...

JRF

I am not a BAL (I like the reff to Friendship Airport above... I remember watching the planes there as a child).

My question is, what is the total and complete opposite of a BAL? The person who is in total denial and wears rose colored glasses. The person who lives in a fantasy world and believes what ever Leo or DL management tells them is the way it is? The person that can not think for themself... the cult DL brain washed employee or pax.

Hmmm, BALWASH... nope, too much like Baltimore Washington... any ideas, as we have a slew of them on this board (although most have stopped posting or changed their user names since DL changed the FF program).

yknot

The opposite of BAL is DEHAC (doesn't even have a clue)

Pointfreak!

BAL: I am being screwed by Delta. I am entitled to more. My glass is half empty. I am bitter. I pound the desk, yell and demand compensation when things dont go my way. Who moved my cheese? I hold grudges. I will get even with Delta for being wronged. I will post my bad feelings until I die. My blood pressure is high. Negativity rules my life.


DEHAC: I may be dissappointed but I will not let it ruin my travel life. I roll with the changes. I learn to work the system. My glass is half full. I smile, ask for assistance and request compensation when things dont go my way. If I am that unhappy, I move on & dont look back. My blood pressure is low. I don't let negativity rule my life.

I guess I am clueless.

PF

Cholula

Pointfreak...very well done summary. I'm impressed!

BertBamboo

Best summary I've seen. Thanks PF!

JS

Sorry, limit three characters.

For example, "DAL closed the DAL CRC when they ended ERJ service from ATL."

What you don't see is "KATL to KSFO on a B733? Is that possible?"


[This message has been edited by JS (edited Mar 11, 2004).]

Canarsie

I suppose it may be possible if one deals with radio stations or television stations west of the Mississippi River.

neverhome

It's possible on a 737-800. See Delta flight 523.

JS

B733

neverhome

I bet it would be. Delta lists the 737-300 range at 2280 miles.

Canarsie

Does this mean that someone who complains excessively about Delta Air Lines could be “upgraded” from a BAL to a BALtimore?!?

mowgliboy

Any number of times, I have seen JS state (paraphrased), "If you don't like it here, then leave!" and "If you're gone, stay gone." Both valid and reasonable positions given the non-binding nature of the FF/Delta "contract".

My impression is that technically the arrangement we all have with Delta is a "by choice" non-binding contract. This means an "at will" buyer accepting a product from an "at will" seller at a price that is mutually perceived as reasonable.

When the terms of the "contract" are changed, the scales of that contract tip, one way or the other, we (the buyer) perceive either an extra value, or a diminished (de-enhanced) value. Again, being "at will", we can walk away at this point as JS suggests, taking our business elsewhere.

While all that looks good on paper, it's not the whole story in the real world. At least, not for real people, with real feelings (e.g. sense of loyalty vs sense of betrayal).

In the real world, when the arrangement extends over years or decades (some of you flew with Eisenhower, I think), this situation becomes a deeply emotional relationship rather than a mere contract.

Because of this more intimate status, unsolicited changes to the contract that benefit the buyer are perceived as a "gift". When this happens (however rarely ), you see posts saying "Thanks Delta!" We get warm and fuzzy feeling towards Delta, and we tend to stick around, enjoying the benefits of the relationship.

However, when unsolicited changes to the contract that detriment the value of the product (from the buyer's perspective) occur, the buyer perceives "betrayal" or "theft" or "being screwed".

This is only "enhanced" by the fact that we have not control over the terms of the contract. No line item veto here.

So, I can finally get to the point (thanks for sticking aound this long). It is as simple as this:

JS, other people on this board feel a deeper emotional relationship regarding Delta than you do.

If they and you are balanced individuals (I'll give us all the benefit of the doubt here), they are likely to be more joyful than you when the scales tip their way (whether they post about it or not), and they will feel more intensely in the opposite direction as well, and thus they BAL.

Personally, though I do not BAL (do I?), I do tend to have a more cynical slant on things in general. When Delta does right by me, I feel positively, and when they do the opposite, I feel saddened.

That, in of itself is an interesting perspective. A question to all:

When Delta de-enhances your experience/product, what do you feel most? Mad, sad, betrayed, alienated, ignored, invisible, unappreciated?

What say you?

For me, I feel saddened and somewhat betrayed (though that is a strong word). I have inconvenienced myself many, many times over the past 13 years to stay with Delta (benefiting both myself and Delta), so I feel I have held firm to my side of the relationship.

It hurts when that loyalty and effort is slighted or trivialized.

BAL, no. Yearn for the warmer, fuzzier feeling days of Delta past. Oh, yeah.

Open a thread on the "good old days" and it'll have 50 posts within an hour. I guarantee it.

Best regards,
MB

(forgive any spelling errors)

RSSrsvp

How about a ZOMBIE?

zom·bie [ zómbee ] or zom·bi [ zómbee ]

noun

1 usually zombi a : the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body b : a will-less and speechless human in the West Indies capable only of automatic movement who is held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated
2 a : a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead; especially : AUTOMATON b : a person markedly strange in appearance or behavior
3 somebody unresponsive or unthinking: somebody who lacks energy, enthusiasm, or the ability to think independently.