I’m first class…
Long time lurker, first time poster….
TLDR - First Class Karen can’t imagine why a casually dressed family of four is in priority line at SEA, demands to speak to captain to discuss why her plane is delayed.
Family of four, wife, son (10), daughter (8), flew out of Seattle-Tacoma after an epic 30+ day camper van trip starting in San Francisco up 101 to Vancouver and finished in Seattle.
I travel for work, loyal American traveler, and have been Executive Platinum for years.
We’re dressed casually, no where close to the feral state the family was in during the camping portion, first class domestic seats, standing in priority line with the most luggage we have ever traveled with.
Enter Karen, complete with the haircut and all. I see her look at the priority lane signage, look at us, look at signage, and then ask my wife if we know this is priority.
My wife, who was chatting up my daughter and missed her entrance, responds with a smile, “Yes, you are in the right place.” She winces a smile and huffs, mutters something under her breath and I wanted to pull out a bag of popcorn.
Now, we’re checking in, unloading the luggage cart that would make Sisyphus wince, and she walks up to the agent next to us. Now granted, I’m taking up more space than I want with 4 people, carryon, and 6 full-size hardcases. She huffs and asks me to make room, which I do, and then goes into the routine….
“I’m first class. Why is my plane delayed. What is wrong with the plane?” The gate agents look was priceless…. A mix of da fuk + you can’t be this dumb + customer service cool.
“Ma’am, we only know the current timing of flights, I can’t speak to the exact reason for the delay. I’m happy to…”
Karen cuts her off. “I demand to know, please ask the captain to come talk with me. And while you’re doing that, book me on the earliest flight possible.”
Sadly, we were done with checkin, it was 6am, wifey needed a coffee / mimosa combo to get ready for our 5 hr flight home, and I didn’t catch the end of this exchange.
I bet it was interesting as Karen was starting to change to darker shades of red while her husband just stared at his shoes.