“Right lads,” says the barman, “We are all thirstier than we expected, and we have run out of beer. Four of you had better hand over your drinks.”
There is a stunned silence.
The barman narrows his eyes and tries
again. “I’ll give you two pounds in compensation,
and you can come back to pick up the beer you have paid for tomorrow.”
The little group are all thinking, “But we’ve
already paid for our beers. How can you
demand them back? And we don’t want to
drink beer tomorrow. We have made plans
for tonight!”
The barman is getting exasperated. “I don’t know how you can all be so
selfish! I’ll give you four pounds in
compensation then. It’s my final
offer. Any takers? No?
All right. You, you, you, and
you.” He angrily jabs his fingers
at four paying customers. “Take the four
pounds voluntarily, or I’ll get these bouncers to drag you out
violently. I’m perfectly within my
rights, you know.”
*
The above situation in a bar is entirely made
up. But it is of course very similar
to what happened on an American United Airlines flight a few days ago. The flight was overbooked, and the airline
wanted to seat four of their crew members.
So they forced four passengers to leave the aircraft, paying them a
little money in compensation. One
passenger resisted leaving the seat he had paid for, and was violently dragged
off the plane.
I’m sure most people will have seen the video
by now.
I just can’t believe that this was all
perfectly legal and within the rules for airlines. Airlines often deliberately overbook their
flights, expecting that some passengers probably won’t turn up. And if everyone does turn up, you get problems
like the one United Airlines faced this week.
But perhaps the most disappointing thing is
that customers seem increasingly content to put up with awful service and
treatment on planes, as long as the tickets are cheap. But how much more expensive would the tickets
really be if the airlines were banned from deliberately overbooking their
flights? Isn’t it worth paying just a
little bit more in order to avoid the risk of being physically dragged off a
flight by security staff who should instead be looking for terrorists?
We wouldn’t accept such an awful level of
service in a bar. Why should it be
considered acceptable when flying?
Vocabulary:
heavy-set – of a person, broad and strong
a bouncer – someone employed at a bar,
night club etc. to prevent trouble or deal with violent customers
to saunter – to walk in a slow, relaxed
manner
lads – a slang term for young men
stunned – astonished or shocked into
inaction
compensation – money paid to someone
because of injury, damage, inconvenience etc. that they have suffered
exasperated – extremely irritated or
annoyed
to jab – to poke roughly, especially with
something pointed
to drag – to pull roughly along the ground
made up - fictional
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