What a crappy and stupid comment.
I have run national tours for musicians and it is a nightmare to deal with the destructive and vicious attitude of TSA and the airlines. I had to deal with a valuable acoustic instrument that doesn’t even exist in this country getting seriously damaged enroute to San Francisco. I have seen a classical violinist with a $50,000 instrument be told that her violin wouldn’t fit in the overhead (Jet Blue) and that it had to be sent as luggage. I didn’t even know her, but I intervened to save her violin (she was Japanese).
While some musicians might be jerks, they are earning a living by bringing enjoyment - and sometimes much more - to some people somewhere. It can take several years to earn enough to purchase a good instrument, and it represents the musician’s livelihood. There is no reason to threaten, torment and abuse professional musicians who must travel with their instruments. I have found that American is consistently kind and welcoming to artists, so that’s the airlines I use almost exclusively. I have had terrible experiences with Delta and Jet Blue - even before 9/11.
This is absolutely true. I’m wasting my retirement as an aspiring freelance jazz trombonist. Went to visit my daughter and I take my horn as to keep my chops up. It fits quite nicely in the overhead. We were coming home and I thought my wife had thrown my travel bag in the car but arrived at the airport with no ID. I was quite convinced that my daughter would have to make the hour drive back to the airport and I would have to fly out the next day and pay extra. I had my boarding pass on my cell and thought what the hell. Went through the long TSA line and when I got to the checkpoint tried explaining my problem to the guy at the desk. He just rolled his eyes and called his supervisor and I retold my story. The guy just stared at me then asked, “How long have you been playing the trombone?” I replied that I have played for 40 years or so. He then said his mom made him play it as a kid and he would go out by their pasture as a kid to practice. Said it made the cows moo like crazy and let me through.
You know the stage is level when the drummer is drooling from both corners of his mouth....