It's one thing to deal with crazy customers, but crazy co-workers is sometimes worse. My friend who works for United Airlines recalled an incident with a fellow flight attendant who had a reputation for being a bit on the "loony" side. She had to make a decision to listen to Ms. Loony or Mr. Jerk (Her words, not mine) Passenger.
Mr. Jerk Passenger sitting in first class decided to take out his needle and give himself a shot. He then asks for an alcoholic drink. People were a little put-off by it, including Ms. Loony.
"Ok, I'm cutting you off!" she yells at the man. She goes back to the galley and went ballistic. "I am NOT serving that man alcohol after he just injected himself with medicine!"
"Are you sure that it's dangerous to his health? I think it'll be ok to give him the drink." my friend tells Ms. Loony.
"Well, I'm going to write this down in my report!!" Ms. Loony answers back. My friend just wanted to go and give the guy his drink and get the whole thing over with, but being the flight attendant in charge, she told everyone at the beginning of the flight that she would back up anything the others had to say regarding passengers. This left her in a bind because of course, she had to honor what Ms. Loony said to the guy.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jerk Passenger was still waiting for his drink.
My friend tries to talk to Mr Passenger. "I'm sorry that you had to wait. We were just concerned for your health and safety, sir. Are you sure it's ok to drink after you just took a shot? I'm going to have to talk with the other flight attendants about this." She didn't want to go back on her word to the other flight attendants, but she felt that it was safe to give the guy a drink.
"I am a doctor and I know what I'm doing! I don't even want the drink anymore!" Mr. Passenger replies back in frusteration.
I know in the past that I've had to go against what another coworker said to a customer. It's not a fun situation to be in. What would you have done?
Comment Preview