A Sense of Entitlement...

So I may wear the uniform of an airline. So I may be employed by said airline. Does that give anyone the right to yell, berate, harass, bother, pester me, or impede with my job duties?

Some will say yes. They will say that I am an airline employee, and that they are a customer. They come first.

And they are right. They do come first. After a couple of other things.

First and foremost comes safety. You can have the airline with the greatest customer service in the world. But if you are operating with unsafe conditions all the time, or crashing planes all the time, no amount of customer service will fix that.

Next, security. I can't elaborate much on this subject, but let's just say that part of our job description includes preventing another 9-11.

Those two things come ahead of customer service, and justly so. I'd rather get a miffed person as opposed to a person who receives my help only to get his or her self, or someone else, hurt or killed.

A couple of nights ago, a person came up at the baggage belt, which I was watching over, and noticed after the bags made one lap, his did not make it.

"Can you do something about it?" He asked. I replied that I will as soon as everyone gets their bags, as I cannot leave them unattended. He became upset at this. I wasn't in the mood to tango either, and I told him again, sternly, that when all the bags are picked up, I will go in the office and help him.
"Oh, come on! Don't be like that! DO SOMETHING!", he yelled. I put up my hand to stop him, and I told him again, "For the last time. When the bags are picked up by their respective owners, I will be able to pick up the bags. If you don't want my help, the police will be willing to assist me in helping you." At that point, he backed off.

Was invoking the name of law enforcement necessary? He drew my attention from watching over the bags, and the entry and exit areas in the terminal. I'm not willing to lose my job over that. Especially in this economy, forget it! And I say this for all of my airline customer service brethren around the world.

Working baggage, you learn to expect the worst from the passengers. When I was assigned this position, this is what I feared the most. Prior to this, I would rarely see passengers upset (rare being 2 to 4 times a month). I mean, yes they are upset, but not to the point where they would physically display their anger.

We'll see how things go.