Just Be Nice...It Might Pay Off

Against all logic and all things of reason, I decided to leave the safe confines of FLA and journey to the North Country for the Christmas holiday.

As with most air travel these days, our flight involved a lay over (in DC), with approximately a 1 hour wait for our connecting flight.
As boarding time approached, it was apparent that our plane was at the gate. The odd part was that the walkway was not pulled up fully to the plane. Hmmm.
There were a few airline employees scurrying around, looking outside, talking on walkie talkies.

Then, suddenly, the dreaded announcement. "Attention please. Flight xxxx has been canceled. Please proceed upstairs to ticketing for assistance."

*Insert mass cattle stampede here*

So, now we're standing in line with a bunch of not-happy people. As you can guess, the negative grumbling continued to grow. Everybody's pissed and more than willing to share their tale of woe.
Yes, it was annoying. Yes it was massively inconvenient. But I decided the lady behind the counter wasn't the cause of the cancellation, and she probably didn't want to see 60 angry people any more than we wanted to be in line, scurrying for a new flight. Making her more angry probably wasn't going to work to my advantage.

I decided to try an unconventional strategy: be polite.

As I approached her station, I greeted her with a "Hi there!". You know, in that subtle tone of voice that says 'We both know neither one of us wants to be here'. We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and I told her "I NEED to get to XXX"

Well, I don't know just what chord I struck with her, but she became the most helpful Customer Service Agent I've ever experienced. She wound up giving me a few options from which to choose, but did get me to my destination the same day.

The icing on the cake? She comped me to First Class, no charge!
Just the way to relax after a frustrating day.

Next time, try NICE. It may just benefit you.