“I don’t know what I would do. I’m fortunate in that I don’t have a job that I have to report to, so I don’t have to travel for business. Back in the day, I felt confident enough to travel alone, but I’m past that point now. Air travel today is one degrading experience after another.”
I did travel for a living. Now I will drive whenever I can. I have about 900,000 miles on United but I will never get to a million. And that’s because, even though I live in Chicago, I find flying to be annoying and degrading. I have rights everywhere else in my life until I step into an airport. And then to deal with United and their staff just throws gas on the fire. If you thought you were a person with rights, United’s employees remind you at every turn that you don’t. They are pejorative. They remind you that they are there for safety first and your little needs take a back seat. They stuff you in the most uncomfortable seat for hours and act like you have no reason to want to stand up and walk around.
I am glad this doctor raised a fuss. I know it was a little dramatic. But I hope he starts a movement, either by other passengers also refusing their horrible service or by United deciding that their customers matter.