Helpful Passenger Upsets The Queen

December 5, 2007

in Attendant & Pilot Stories

I was flying from London to San Francisco on United recently. The British guy next to me was, I’ll admit, a little “tipsy.” Our flight attendant was a fairly scowly and very grouchy somewhat queeny guy in his late forties. On one of the flight attendant’s trips around to offer water, the tipsy British guy knocked a few cups to the ground. Though I obviously had no cause in the incident, I silently helped pick up some of the scattered cups. Rather than a smile and a courteous “thanks” or even a nod, I was scolded. The flight attendant shouted, as though I was a bad school kid, “Thanks a lot! Now I can’t tell which cups are clean and which are dirty!” YIPES.

I said, “Ya know, I had nothing to do with the cups falling. I know you work hard and was just trying to help. Why don’t you try to be a little professional?”
He nearly shouted back “I AM professional!”

REALLY?(!)

I got scowls for the rest of the flight, but thankfully no other upsetting treatment. It’s just too bad I had to sit next to the lavatory, which had an unberable STENCH. Blegh. United sucks. Even British Airways is better. Note to United flight attendants: If you hate your job, quit.

[Note: Mature content in comments]

{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }

I hate United July 15, 2008 at 9:05 am

On our most recent and probably LAST flight on United from IAD to SFO with our 2 year old and an enormous car seat…my husband scored one minor victory for the weary passenger: A NASTY flight attendant hit my husband, who was almost asleep, in the elbow with her rear end–she repremanded him and said, "watch your arm." To which he relpied, "no, you watch your ass." I love my husband. I HATE all United Attendants–there is no need to treat grown adults like children.

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Jennifer July 18, 2008 at 9:22 am

There is absolutely no reason, other than being ignorant, to refer to the flight attendant as a "queeny" guy. It had absolutely nothing to do with his treatment of you.

The headline to the post is just as disgusting.

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Anonymous October 9, 2008 at 11:55 am

why is it digusting?he was rude!most of them are queens,why the airlines hire them is baffling?

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anonymous October 14, 2008 at 12:45 pm

why is it digusting?he was rude!most of them are queens,why the airlines hire them is baffling?

Anonymous | 10.09.08 – 4:55 pm | #

What is bafflings is that you can think that airlines should not hire QUEENS.

Being a flight attendant myself I find the QUEENS as you put it. Are the most caring and hardest working crew workers.

For you to say airlines should not hire Queens is like saying they should not hire Blacks-Mexicans or any other race.

Too Bad the KKK does not have an airline for closed minded people like yourself.

It is a big world my friend you need to learn to treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.

P.S

You should be nice to those Queens.

You never want to make a queen mad that will be touching your food.

They do not get mad…

They get even

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Anonymous October 16, 2008 at 10:57 am

im glad you enjoyed my comment!its a big world,we all have a right to our opinions!im not disrespectful to them at all,if you are a man then act and talk and look like one!maybe if they started hiring some real men they might have a little less trouble on board!as far as food goes,i bring my own.

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Anon November 21, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Real men know how to write in the English language. You do not. Ergo, you're not a real man. See, I make up my own rules.

The term queen is offensive except to homophobes and bigots.

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Anonymous November 24, 2008 at 1:52 pm

you certainly are a true one!

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Anonymous February 14, 2009 at 3:24 pm

Just for the recored everyone- Flight attendants arent there to suck your dicks and stroke your hair. We are there to save your ungrateful asses. We serve food and drinks to keep us busy so we dont kill us or you.

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Anonymous March 3, 2009 at 3:07 pm

just for the record-you suck!flight attendants suck ,not worth the cost of hauling you around,im sure the hair dye companies love you!

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fjackie April 2, 2009 at 5:42 am

Hey Geniuses. You knew the job would suck before you took it. Just do us all a favor and leave.

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jaymoney April 2, 2009 at 10:40 am

I for one have had it with disrespectful "attendants" queens or not. Just tell us the safety features, bring us drinks/food and shut the F#$@ up. (or quit) Any questions?

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Anonymous April 2, 2009 at 11:54 am

Wow, reading these comments it is amusing to see what some flight attendants think their job is. If you don't know anything about customer service, you shouldn't be serving customers.

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Dan April 2, 2009 at 12:49 pm

disgusting.. absolutely disgusting… the bigotry and hate…

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Mike April 2, 2009 at 3:12 pm

We all know that the service industry which includes attendants have gone way down hill. I miss the days when the attendants were all polite women with nice looks. I would like to see the ticket price go up so that we can get better service by better attendants. I can only happen if we take the extra time to report these job robbers. I always report the best and the worst flight attendant on every trip I take!

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fjackie April 2, 2009 at 6:00 pm

PS: It's always the pissy old queens. Ease up on the attitude, queens.

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BJ April 2, 2009 at 10:32 pm

US flight attendants are the oldest and meanest group I have ever experienced. The international flights are the worst of the worst. That's where you'll beg some "should have retired" battle axe for a cup of water.

Come fly in Asia. Lots of young, friendly, attractive flight attendants. It's very nice!

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rachael April 3, 2009 at 3:01 am

I have been a flight attendant for 5 years and feel obligated to state that it was not that passenger's job to pick up the cups. I'm sure if the "queen" wanted help picking them up, he would have asked. Our job is to provide service, but only up to a point. We will try to be polite, but only up to a point. The best thing you can do to return the favor is to shut up, don't move, don't complain, and act like a fly on the wall. We dislike passengers as much as they dislike us, so the feeling is mutual. Deal with it.

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Jimmy April 3, 2009 at 5:17 am

Rachael, you are what is wrong with the airline industy, and why your entire industry is going down the drain. Yes, your job is to ensure passenger safety, but if you think showing us how to buckle a seat belt and showing us where the exits are is your only job, you are sorely mistaken. You are paid to provide a service to customers, "service with a smile" if you want to put it that way. Yes it wasn't their job to pick up the cups, but a simple "thank you" and a smile would have been sufficient instead of lambasting them.

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jaymoney April 3, 2009 at 6:07 am

Safety at 35,000 ft and 500+ MPH?? No fucking chance. Let's eliminate the attendants and make buffet tables in the back and front of the plane.

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Abe April 3, 2009 at 7:47 am

This is FUNNY.. Just made my morning! Bring on the Queens and the Butches!

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Abe April 3, 2009 at 7:48 am

Hmm… buffets on planes is a VERY interesting idea…

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last boyscout April 3, 2009 at 8:53 am

rachael, where did you work before- the DMV. What a shit-ass attitude you have. Do the world a favor and just shoot yourself or go on welfare so we don't have to see your ragged ass at any workplace. And stop beating your children.

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Dr Ed April 3, 2009 at 9:55 am

That 'queen' controls your alcohol and food on your flight. Before you make homophobic descriptions look in the mirror jackass!

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Yuripides April 3, 2009 at 12:22 pm

I gotta second that idea of buffet tables on planes. Are you listening airlines??? That is a FANTASTIC idea.

And I must say, I really wish for the old days, when flight attendants were all women, attractive, and friendly.

How many other folks are completely ignored by these bitch attendants as they walk off the plane? Disgusting.

Get rid of them. Bring on the buffets.

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Jean H Ely April 3, 2009 at 8:50 pm

I know service is service, and that hired help should provide good service, but I've been reading the posts on this entire site. It does make me wonder what these poor folks have to hear when they roll the scotch cart down the plane aisle:

"Hey, remember when the stewerdesses were good looking?"

"Yeah, like somebody I'd wanta fuck!"

"Now all we get is old bags and queers."

Gosh, equal opportunity has its glory moments, doesn't it? Sad.

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Anonymous April 4, 2009 at 1:05 pm

if safety were the only reason for the job then anyone should be hired?why do the airlines make such a fuss with the hiring process,so picky .you arent there to stand around with your arms folded thinking you are hot shit because you are a flight attendant.i see that all the time.airlines need to start hiring people who really want to make a difference.if rachel dislikes passengers so much then why are you there?the fare paying passenger is what its all about!without them you are out of a job fool!

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nobody April 5, 2009 at 9:34 am

what?

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Julie April 5, 2009 at 3:33 pm

Rachael, I am also a flight attendant and have been one for quite a bit longer than you have. You have one of the most appalling attitudes I have ever heard of, and obviously you have reached your shelf life for this profession. Seriously, you need to move on to a profession better suited for you, though I don't know what that would be. You give our entire profession a bad image. To the rest of the people who are posting here, I sincerely apologize for her attitude. The majority of us will bend over backwards to give you the safest, most friendly and comfortable flight experience possible. Please don't let this stuck up bitc* color your opinion of us or our profession. Rest assured if I ever run into her or someone like her, they will be in for one serious attitude adjustment and soon be looking for work elsewhere.

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Anonymous April 6, 2009 at 1:53 pm

get her julie!

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Joe Mama April 7, 2009 at 5:17 am

You should be nice to those Queens.

You never want to make a queen mad that will be touching your food.

They do not get mad…

They get even

————————-

So you're saying that if an FA doesn't like us they'll tamper with our food? Yet another reason to not fly if at all possible. BTW, food tampering is a crime in the U.S.

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rolf April 22, 2009 at 2:46 pm

They dont hate their jobs. Some are girls with bad parents who are trying to get far from home. Due to past experience they have a horribly mean protective shell, deep inside they have not really grown up and cant handle the world. They are commonly called not so nice names.

I know its not your problem, but it sadens me. Maybe with a different education these girls could have been decent, sweet girls, which they are deep, deep, deep inside

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Anonymous April 25, 2009 at 5:45 am

he probably didnt get the big one the night before!

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Atari May 30, 2009 at 7:29 pm

The word 'queen' doesn't offend ME, so I don't think it's offensive.

The word 'gay' does, though, even though I'm not a homosexual. People have taken a good, joviality-inducing word and made it into something – and I'll say it outright – disgusting.

If they're going to twist happy words for themselves, then we can twist unhappy words for them. Or just plain words.

Also, I don't have a problem with homosexuals so much as fags. "Queens," as the writer states.

There is NO gene that makes a man act like a queer moron.

That has everything to do with CHOICE, and I call their choices stupid.

Agh. We have too many people defending this fake, obnoxious persona. Even many homosexuals will tell you that it's a stereotypical ACT disseminated by media. (Movies, et cetera)

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Kevin October 27, 2009 at 7:48 am

For all of you "real men" who would rather not deal with male flight attendants, or for those of you who think flight attendants are little more than "waiters or waitresses in the sky", you will BEG for a flight attendant's help should the plane you're on have an emergency that threatens your life. I know. I've seen it happen.

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Mack October 27, 2009 at 7:51 am

jag, you ARE a jag!

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ps October 27, 2009 at 8:04 am

Domestically I've never had a real issue with UAL. Intl is another story, both transatlantic and transpacific. the attendants are usually grizzled veterans, not very friendly and prominent in all classes. the attendants that were the best deal with and the most pleasant were usually male attendants and their orientation, i dont know nor care. you may have been dealing with a headcase but referring to him as a queen destroys your credibility in terms of calling someone out for bad behavior.

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bmw October 28, 2009 at 9:28 am

The OP described him as somewhat queeny while providing a description of the incident. It was relative to providing you a picture of the attitude and persona of the FA. He avoided outright declaration/accusation of the man's sexuality and did not negatively harp on the subject.

I've told off people for being rude to an attendant and I've corrected and reported rude attendants, but it helps that I am a Marshal. Give each other the benefit of the doubt and a little common courtesy and life will go much smoother.

He was being nice and the FA was an ass in return. FA's like Rachael are saddening. High school lifeguards can deliver the Heimlich maneuver, the escape hatches have pictures and instructions on them the illiterate could follow, and people can bring their own chips and (well now days buy it in the terminal) soda. You are not doctors, safety or aerospace engineers, and if you were waitresses, many of you would be looking for new employment. The FA training is in a combination of these fields to provide a service to airline passengers. Doesn't mean passengers should be disrespectful, but it also doesn't entitle you to act like the ultimate authority. Rachael, without these passengers, you would have no job.

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life can suck, live February 4, 2010 at 2:02 am

P.S DURING MY MANY TRIPS TO THE USA I HVAE NOT BEEN ON A DECENT FLIGHT !!

BA, and Cathey are way better

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