Malicious Compliance
One time, my flight was cancelled late at night due to an unrepairable problem. I spent 22 hours at Newark. The hotel put us up, but everyone was agitated and tired by the time we boarded the new flight. The flight attendant announced that people with special needs and families with small children would board first, followed by premium economy, first class and then first class.
All of it was pretty standard. It makes sense that people with wheelchairs should board first, as it takes a little longer. This businessman, however, races to the front and yells at the attendant. He says it is already DISGUSTING to have lost a whole day because of their incompetence and now they are making him WAIT.
He’s also looking to others in the crowd for support, as if it were perfectly acceptable to scream and shout at this woman, who was, like us, stranded, had little sleep and was trying to do her best in this stressful situation. She was amazing. She smiled and nodded without missing a beat.
She then made it a point to lean into her microphone and tell the people waiting in line, including mothers with babies and those in wheelchairs, that this gentleman had to board first and they could all wait. The attendant said, “No, No, You made Yourself Quite Clear–Let’s Get You Boarded. The Others Will Have to Wait”. He walks away, humiliated.
