Was I a Jerk? (1 Viewer)

[Rick James]

Wanted to see what others of you would have done in the same situation.

I was travelling back home from a client meeting yesterday evening. I had to change planes in Atlanta to get on the last flight to Asheville. The flight to Asheville began boarding at 9:37pm per my boarding pass. This flight only has 50 seats, so it's a quick boarding procedure.

My flight from Baltimore was wheels down at ATL at 9:02pm. But then the pilot parks the plane on an active taxiway for 15 minutes. When a gate clears, there's an announcement that everyone must be in their seat with their belts fastened before the plane can move. The reason - there's someone in the bathroom. And it takes another 5 minutes for that person to get back to her seat. So, now it's 9:22pm. I'm in the back 1/3 of the plane. By the time I'm in the aisle moving toward the exit, it's 9:30. Coming the other way toward me down the aisle is a Delta agent with a portable wheelchair. She asks me if I could wait a moment so that she could assist a passenger who has a tight schedule.

My response - 'I'm sure she has a tight schedule, but so do I'. And with that, I kept walking and made the agent wait. I got a dirty look.

What would the rest of you have done?

BTW - by the time I went from concourse B to D and then all the way to the end of D, my flight was boarding and I was the third from the last one on board.

 

[EYLive]

:(

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Yes

 

[ChiefD]

The store called, and they are out of you.

 

[johnnycakes]

Did you delay the handicrapper at all with your rudeness? If not, then forget about it. If so... well, too late now.

 

[Parrothead]

should have went all in and thrown a couple of catcalls her way too

 

[Uwe Blab]

 

[arrow1]

no

 

[Ditka Butkus]

Always give way to the legitimately disabled......Obviously you could have run to your next flight, the wheelchair person couldn't.

 

[jamny]

What did it take, all of 3 seconds to slip past the agent? Otherwise you might have missed your flight?

Don't see the issue.

 

[SkyRattlers]

I don't really see an issue here.

 

[StrikeS2k]

So it's 7 minutes before your connecting flight even BEGINS boarding and you're worried about missing the flight? How long of a walk was it between gates?

 

[glumpy]

You could have worded it better. "I'm sorry ma'am but that last delay may have cost me my connection too..."

 

[Scoresman]

Not a jerk. By letting you by, the handicapped person is delayed maybe 10 seconds. By holding you up, it could be a few minutes.

 

[jon_mx]

I would feel bad if the airlines were polite and understanding. But when you get to the gate 9 minutes before takeoff and they tell you that you can't board because they close the gate 10 minutes prior to take off and don't let you on. Or when you go to check-in 29 minutes before takeoff and they tell you sorry but we gave your seat away because you weren't here 30 minutes before takeoff, I say screw them.

BTW, I had bot these actually happen to me.

 

[jonessed]

Not given the circumstances. I would have mentioned I was late for a flight though..

 

[eoMMan]

You could have worded it better. "I'm sorry ma'am but that last delay may have cost me my connection too..."

This.

And punching the flight attendant was a bit overboard, imo.

 

[fdas2]

So it's 7 minutes before your connecting flight even BEGINS boarding and you're worried about missing the flight? How long of a walk was it between gates?

Never connected in Atlanta, have you?

 

[comfortably numb]

I would have walked by but said

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/31/31a16a12039e356dbaee994a895e47bf8558eb94c9eefea33acd0a2c097e9cf3.jpg

 

[StrikeS2k]

So it's 7 minutes before your connecting flight even BEGINS boarding and you're worried about missing the flight? How long of a walk was it between gates?

Never connected in Atlanta, have you?

Nope. Flown to Atlanta but never connected. But the gates could still be right next to each other.

 

[urbanhack]

IT'S YOUR ####### WORLD CHIEF!

 

[R Dizzle]

Super Jerk

 

[trogg78]

Not at all

 

[Ignoramus]

You were a jerk for not booking a direct flight.

 

[NCCommish]

So it's 7 minutes before your connecting flight even BEGINS boarding and you're worried about missing the flight? How long of a walk was it between gates?

Never connected in Atlanta, have you?

Nope. Flown to Atlanta but never connected. But the gates could still be right next to each other.

The gates in Atlanta are never close. I have had to take shuttle buses across the airport to make a connection.

 

[NCCommish]

As for the OP I have no problem with it. Everyone has somewhere to be. And you weren't getting the special escort which also means they were going to hold the handicapped persons flight so he/she could board.

 

[Cjw_55106]

As for the OP I have no problem with it. Everyone has somewhere to be. And you weren't getting the special escort which also means they were going to hold the handicapped persons flight so he/she could board.

This was going to be my exact thought.

 

[Pipes]

What did it take, all of 3 seconds to slip past the agent? Otherwise you might have missed your flight?

Don't see the issue.

This

 

[gianmarco]

You were a jerk for starting this thread.

 

[Pipes]

You were a jerk for not booking a direct flight.

I'm sure there are a ton of direct flights to Asheville.

 

[T Bell]

What did it take, all of 3 seconds to slip past the agent? Otherwise you might have missed your flight?

Don't see the issue.

Frankly, you should also have yelled at the disabled person as you went past, "You should be euthanized!"

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

You were a jerk for not booking a direct flight.

I'm sure there are a ton of direct flights to Asheville.

He's a jerk for not living in a major hub city.

 

[Donsmith753]

If she was in that much of a hurry she'd have legs.

 

[NCCommish]

As for the OP I have no problem with it. Everyone has somewhere to be. And you weren't getting the special escort which also means they were going to hold the handicapped persons flight so he/she could board.

This was going to be my exact thought.

They do the same for unaccompanied minors. Once you are with the escort they are in radio contact with the gate agent to make sure you get on board,

 

[Dan Lambskin]

What Would Kanye Do

 

[Workhorse]

Going from B to D at Hartsfield can take upwards of 15 minutes depending on gate locations, train delays, etc... I have no problem with what you did.

 

[Cjw_55106]

If I was a betting man, Id say the OP was on his flight in plenty of time and now feels bad about it. I did notice that he posted the boarding start time, but not the flight time and he hasnt said how far it was to the next gate. This being said, I dont have an issue with what was done.

 

[Don Quixote]

I would not have done it, but I wouldn't say a jerk either. Not trying to get special treatment, but just denying special treatment to someone else.

A jerk is someone like the person on my last flight who decided to try to exit in front of me despite being in the row behind me. I gave him a good shove as he tried to walk past me in the aisle, and he gave some lame "trying to catch a flight" excuse.

 

[Mr. Ected]

As for the OP I have no problem with it. Everyone has somewhere to be. And you weren't getting the special escort which also means they were going to hold the handicapped persons flight so he/she could board.

This was going to be my exact thought.

 

[badmojo1006]

So you didn't miss your flight?

What are you #####ing about?

 

[Mr. Ected]

I would not have done it, but I wouldn't say a jerk either. Not trying to get special treatment, but just denying delaying special treatment to someone else.

A jerk is someone like the person on my last flight who decided to try to exit in front of me despite being in the row behind me. I gave him a good shove as he tried to walk past me in the aisle, and he gave some lame "trying to catch a flight" excuse.

minor edit...the agent would have been able to send a message to the plane to hold it up.

 

[Scoresman]

handicapped people tend to have a huge sense of entitlement. everyday on my bus ride home, there's a lady in a wheelchair who usually shows up for the bus a minute or two after it left and misses it, and on the days she does catch it she accuses the driver of leaving early so he didnt have to accommodate her. the lady is a total #####.

 

[Kanil]

I would have made them aware of my next flight while we were waiting for a gate. They probably would have made you a priority to get off and you wouldn't have been in that position.

 

[IC FBGCav]

I just wish you both were on the same connecting flight and she rolled up behind you while you were waiting to board.

 

[Chemical X]

i think common courtesy is to let the chair go, BUT, an airport makes all bets off IMO. ATL is simply brutal to go from gate to gate, heck, its a small metropolis in there. it was late and everyone at that point is inconvenienced. if somehow they could've contacted your next gate to let them know your situation, that may have helped.........but i dont think airlines have this capability.

the other thing is this......and i'm trying not to be rude, i find that many people, not all, getting rides and wheelchairs and such in airports don't seem handicapped. some seem fat, some seem old, some seem other. i am not asking you to ascertain each person's disability, but air flight is a priveledge, not a right and i don't think its fair that the greater good is inconvenienced for any one person.

i took a flight last month and they announced no peanuts because someone had an allergy. well, i don't like sitting next to someone that reeks, but i don't get special treatment.

long story short......you do your best and make a call. i hardly think anyone else would give a second thought to being rude in an airport though.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Seems to me that the handicap have it pretty good in this country...choice parking spots, spacious bathrooms and priority seating at sporting and music events. You delayed them a lot less than they would have delayed you...you made the right call.

 

[Scoresman]

i think common courtesy is to let the chair go, BUT, an airport makes all bets off IMO. ATL is simply brutal to go from gate to gate, heck, its a small metropolis in there. it was late and everyone at that point is inconvenienced. if somehow they could've contacted your next gate to let them know your situation, that may have helped.........but i dont think airlines have this capability.

the other thing is this......and i'm trying not to be rude, i find that many people, not all, getting rides and wheelchairs and such in airports don't seem handicapped. some seem fat, some seem old, some seem other. i am not asking you to ascertain each person's disability, but air flight is a priveledge, not a right and i don't think its fair that the greater good is inconvenienced for any one person.

i took a flight last month and they announced no peanuts because someone had an allergy. well, i don't like sitting next to someone that reeks, but i don't get special treatment.

long story short......you do your best and make a call. i hardly think anyone else would give a second thought to being rude in an airport though.

This is insane and makes zero sense. why cant the guy who is allergic to peanuts just refuse the bag of peanuts? Novel idea there. I'd be demanding my ####### peanuts.

 

[James Daulton]

As long as you got yours, who cares about anybody else.

 

[Cjw_55106]

i think common courtesy is to let the chair go, BUT, an airport makes all bets off IMO. ATL is simply brutal to go from gate to gate, heck, its a small metropolis in there. it was late and everyone at that point is inconvenienced. if somehow they could've contacted your next gate to let them know your situation, that may have helped.........but i dont think airlines have this capability.

the other thing is this......and i'm trying not to be rude, i find that many people, not all, getting rides and wheelchairs and such in airports don't seem handicapped. some seem fat, some seem old, some seem other. i am not asking you to ascertain each person's disability, but air flight is a priveledge, not a right and i don't think its fair that the greater good is inconvenienced for any one person.

i took a flight last month and they announced no peanuts because someone had an allergy. well, i don't like sitting next to someone that reeks, but i don't get special treatment.

long story short......you do your best and make a call. i hardly think anyone else would give a second thought to being rude in an airport though.

This is insane and makes zero sense. why cant the guy who is allergic to peanuts just refuse the bag of peanuts? Novel idea there. I'd be demanding my ####### peanuts.

Clearly you are an expert on allergies.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

We are all jerks. Airports bring out the jerkiness in everyone even more. That's all I have.