People are funny, chapter XXVIII
 

So today I was assigned to do random screening upstairs at our #2 checkpoint. During the morning rush, a passenger left behind a bowl containing a cellphone, car keys, and other typical pocket detritus. I turned it in at the supervisor's podium as per SOP, then (noticing the tram below had not yet departed, and supes didn't seem to be paying attention) took it upon myself to sprint down the escalator in hopes of finding the absent-minded PAX.

I managed to locate the gentleman, a businessman-type, and verify that the items were his. Since it's a rather long walk (around the tram stop and up a flight of stairs) back to the podium, and he was, frankly, rather old and fat, I kindly offered to go back up and bring the items down to him.

To my surprise, instead of saying "Please," (or even "No thank you,") he snapped, "My plane leaves in seven minutes!" Whereupon I informed him that he was welcome to retrieve them himself! And led him to the stairs (actually an escalator, but they don't turn it on, as we're generally the only ones who use it) and sprinted up it, leaving him huffing and puffing in my wake. Hmph!

I suppose gratitude was too much to expect, but his surliness took me rather by surprise. I'm sure if he missed his flight, he'll find a way to blame it on the TSA ... :rolleyes:

People, when stressed, do get very focussed on what is the source of their stress. I'm sure when he had a moment to reconsider, he'd have been grateful for what you did, but at that precise moment in time, it was probably something he really didn't need when trying to make a flight.

Of course, even worse would be getting to the other end and discovering he didn't have things like his car keys!

The guy was clearly a muppet anyways - if his plane left in "7 minutes", he never had a chance of making it given the 10 minute cutoff pretty much every airline has.

That's screwed up. :( Sorry to hear that happened.

Did he ever apologize or thank you once he retrieved his items?

But if he didn't, he can at least blame the pesky TSO who stopped him just as he was getting on the tram! :p

NOPE!

Now, for the record, I don't expect a huge show of gratitude ... but for someone to act as if I were INCONVENIENCING him by attempting to reunite him with his lost property is sorta beyond the pale.

Not all "ugly Americans" work at the checkpoint!

That really was rotten behavior on the part of the pax. I'm sorry you had to suffer such boorishness. You deserved as least the simple courtesy of a sincere, "Thank you."

Maybe he got held up in a ridiculously long security line, or maybe he was haraSSSSed for no good reason, or maybe he was just disgusted at the foolishness of the checkpoint. Either way, he projected his anger on you.

However, since you were good enough to chase after him, his response was certainly over the top.

No ... there were no lines this morning. It's been unusually slow the past month. The newspaper reported a 10 percent decrease in passenger traffic since last year, but at least on the a.m. shift (the only time I work) it appears to be closer to 25-30 percent IMO.

I think people are finally starting to run outta money ... :eek:

When things like these happen I always like to believe that the guy had been having such a bad day and you were the innocent with the bad timing to talk to him; and when he realized what a jerk he was, it was already too late to say sorry.

I have been that jerk a couple of times...

Sometimes you can fix it when you don't get down to his level and wish a sincere good day/luck/flight with a smile... it has worked for me several times

OK, then I'll shift the blame from the TSA to the airline! That is enough to bring out the old grumpy in me every time I fly...:p

That may have been, but I didn't have time to stick around, either ... I was running the risk of getting in trouble for chasing him down in the first place. We're not supposed to go AWOL from the checkpoint like that, but since I wasn't assigned to a lane, and was just doing random screening, I figured I could prolly get away with it ... best not to push my luck toooo far, though! ;)

Another thing I WON'T do is take the item in question with me when I go to chase 'em down! Nope, I turn it in first ... they can retrieve it from the supervisor. It would be too easy to end up being accused of stealing were I to be caught leaving the checkpoint with a passenger's phone, PDA, laptop, etc. It's called C.Y.A., baby! :p

I have dealt with a lot of upset passengers as a screener, and more as a BDO. The best advice I could give is to remember that the passenger is not upset with you, the person. He is upset with the uniform and the agency you represent. Don't let it ruin your day, or stop you from doing what you can to make everyone's travel experience a little better.

You assume that people are smart enough to make the distinction between the person, uniform and agency.

It's because of all the change they accidently leave behind at the checkpoint :D

Not really. In my experience, such people are not capable of recognizing me as a person. They just see uniform/agency. It doesn't really bother me either way.