Sometimes it doesn't pay to be nice...

Posted by Rachel Vincent at 5/28/2010 02:51:00 PM
So... I'm a pretty nice person. I try to live my life so as to inconvenience as few people as possible. Which is why I didn't get any lunch today.

On my flight from NYC to my connection in Dallas, I sat about four rows from the end of the plane. When they started preparing the food and drink cart, the lady next to me threw a fit and annoyed the flight attendant. So she got her sandwich at the beginning of the three hour flight. I decided to be polite and wait my turn. So I waited an hour for a chance to buy my sandwich because my connecting flight boards 20 minutes after landing. But when the cart got to the back of the plane, they were all out of sandwiches.

So I got no lunch. And the flight attendant joked with the woman next to me about how lucky she was to have gotten hers early!

Then we landed and the gate attendant gave me the wrong gate number. So I got off of the elevated train thing at the wrong stop. Then I had to backtrack and get back on. Only the up escalator was broken. And my carryon is full of books from BEA.

Grrr... American airlines/DFW, I am not pleased. Why on earth is one half of A Terminal inaccessible from the other half without getting on the Skytrack? And AA, why wouldn't you bring enough food for everyone? And why can't you assign a flight to a certain gate and leave it there?

I know there are no answers, and I know myself well enough to know that I won't throw a fit to be fed early next time either. I was raised with manners. But I swear, sometimes it truly does not pay to be nice. Oh well. I'll be home soon...

Anyone else out there paying for having manners?
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13 comments:

Irene
Fri May 28, 03:42:00 PM 2010

Yep, I'm with you on that, unfortunately. It's so annoying! I know when I should say something, but I don't, because I don't want to upset/inconvenience someone, and then, as a result, I pay for my 'politeness'. I also can't make a decision to save my life, and I always question myself before anyone else when something goes wrong. The only good thing (modesty aside) is that I get described as a lovely person... :)

 
Lena
Fri May 28, 03:44:00 PM 2010

:O! That doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they have enough food for everyone? Epic fail!

 
Tere Kirkland
Fri May 28, 03:56:00 PM 2010

Poor dear! I do hope that bag of galleys was enough to console you once you got home. ;)

I hate flying. Okay, not the actual flying part, mostly the airports and the people, and the smell...

 
Petra
Fri May 28, 04:09:00 PM 2010

The first situation that comes to mind is when I'm on a bus I always try and sit in the back because the front is meant for the elderly. There have been more than one time that when the bus was full and I get up to offer my seat that they just give me this deadly glare, something at the bottom of their shoe gets a nicer look then me. Then when the seat across from where I was sitting become available, they sit and let out this exhausted sound like finally. All I wanted was to do the right thing and I ending up feeling worse than I would if I didn't give up my seat.

 
Ines
Fri May 28, 04:10:00 PM 2010

I feel really bad about your experience. I also try not as inconvenience people (as I'd prefer not to be) but it seems most people don't think like that. and I get the idea that most time it's not good to be nice because people give more attention to those "others".
I hope your next flight is the exact opposite of this one. :)

 
Cem
Fri May 28, 04:38:00 PM 2010

That sucks. I'm the same way though. Was raised with manners and I'll sooner inconvinience myself than someone else. I'll get worked up, and frustrated about it, but if I found myself in the same situation the next day I'd do exactly the same thing. Being nice is not always a good thing, but it's how I was raised to be. Takes a lot of effort to step out of that. Hope the rest of your day goes better!!

 
loreleimarsh
Fri May 28, 04:43:00 PM 2010

"I was raised with manners."

As everyone should be. Sorry about that, but at least you're at home now. Bad airlines!!

 
Cinnamon (A Journey of Books)
Fri May 28, 05:00:00 PM 2010

At work. Every single day. That's why I read books that resemble real life as little as possible because real life stinks sometimes. ;)

My only hope is that my manners and positive attitude give me a better sense of happiness and love for myself than the person who throws a fit and gets what she wants.

 
HCross9820
Fri May 28, 06:05:00 PM 2010

I work in the restaurant business, and I see it every day. What do they always say, "It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased." That is so true.

It makes me crazy, I always hold the door for people, let older people go ahead of me in line, and say please and thank you. Guess, I was just lucky to have parents that raised me the right way. I also believe in karma ; ), and it's a bitch.

 
Mardel
Sat May 29, 12:39:00 AM 2010

I hate when rude people are rewarded for their behavior.

I also hate frustrating days like your flight day.

At least it's over now.

 
Meaghan
Sat May 29, 12:12:00 PM 2010

That stuff happens to me all the time, you try to be nice to people and end up getting the short end of the stick. I am not good at being assertive, so I try to bring people with me who are and have them do it for me :)

 
EVA SB
Sun May 30, 12:16:00 AM 2010

I think this quote about sums it up
"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.” Life stinks sometimes.

Although I have inherited an explosive short fuse I was also brought up to be polite. However
if people ignored me or gave me less than my due because of that my mother would get annoyed.... at me!

Since moving to a country where frequently if you don't make a fuss, you don't exist I have learnt to 'explode' when necessary but I still feel a little ill afterwards and try to avoid such situations.

 
Jennifer Armintrout
Tue Jun 01, 09:01:00 AM 2010

Oh, Rachel, you need to bring someone like me on flights with you. I'll be your assertiveness! I once almost got arrested at O'Hare for causing a big fuss on behalf of a friend, so I have no shame whatsoever.

 

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