Category: Let's talk
Hi all,
So this is just a matter of curiosity for me. I had something happen to me a few months ago and I want to know what the general opinion is here. The issue has already been resolved, I already know how I feel, but hearing other points of view has always been something I'm interested in.
In early September of 2016 I flew overnight from Toronto to Fairbanks, Alaska. One of my stop-overs was in Anchorage, Alaska. I got there approximately three-thirty in the morning, and my flight was supposed to leave at about six-thirty or seven. The airport was very, very quiet. I was taken immediately from my previous flight to the gate where I'd be boarding my next one, told that someone would be by later to get me when it was time to board.
I was extremely tired, had a plug-in point, and so I messed around on my laptop, headphones on, and eventually dozed off. I wasn't all the way asleep, but I was close...doing that weird head-nod thing you do when you're trying to stay awake and failing. Anyhow, I finally snapped awake about ten minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart. Everyone around me was gone.
I stood, and was immediately hailed from the gate desk, which was about thirty feet dead ahead of me (no pillars, no chairs, nothing in the way between it and myself). I walked over, understandably a bit anxious, and was told my plane was leaving literally as we spoke.
According to the gate agent, I had been paged over the loudspeaker and hadn't responded. Also according to the gate agent, they had been looking for me and hadn't found me. Needless to say, this latter bothered the hell out of me, because I was not in any way hidden from view; in fact, the person who plunked me down in the first place told me they put me where I was precisely so that I would be easy to spot.
So, I obviously missed the flight. Fortunately, I got one two hours or so later, at no extra charge.
Now, here's my stance on this:
1. I was absolutely at fault for falling asleep and missing the flight. Had I been awake, and noticed people around me moving and such, I would've got up, made my way to the gate desk and gotten on the flight. Them coming to get me is something I've always had in airports when I mention that I'm a blind passenger. They're trying to help.
.HOWEVER
2. I was counting on them to show up. I at no point thought "Oh well, I'm going to doze, and it's their responsibility", but I figured that at the very worst, if I did succumb to a little shut-eye, someone would shake me awake when the plane was boarding. No one did. They did claim they would come and get me, and they didn't do it.
I told all of this to a bunch of people I know (my mother included, as it was her I was visiting at the time), and many were furious. They thought it was entirely the fault of the airline that I missed the flight. I maintained that there was fault on both sides, but that it was ultimately my fault that I actually missed getting on the airplane.
My mom pursued it (I told her not to, she did it anyway since she had purchased the tickets), and the airline actually gave her a $300 voucher toward another flight in the future.
So I suppose I have a few questions:
1. As fellow blind people, do you think I'm right to claim fault on both sides?
2. How do you feel about my mother getting a voucher out of them?
This brought up a whole slew of emotions in me, many of them unpleasant. I thought it complex enough to start a discussion, and thus, if you're so inclined, have on. I welcome fresh perspectives. A lot of sighted people do the "OMG! They left you behind? How awful!" thing, and that seems a little too easy.
I think both you and them are at fault. They could have tapped you and said, "Sir, time to board." Of course you should have stayed awake. Now I don't think your mother should get jack from them because it wasn't a case of neglecting the poor blind person.
Who benefits from the $300? Before I answer, I am curious.
Sarah
I agree with OP. There is fault on both sides, fairly equally but but more on your side because A) you fell asleep and B) they did page you repeatedly (although there should've been some communication from the plunker to the gate attendents or whatever.
I do remember, however, from when I could see, that gate attendents changed pretty much every flight. Although that was before 9/11/01 so I am not sure how they do it now.
All in all, as a blind person, it is always risky to use your headphones in any situation where someone might need to get your attention. I struggle with this in waiting rooms in particular, wanting to make the time pass by doing something but worrying I'll miss my name being called. I sometimes compromise by putting in one earbud and leaving the other out.
Oops, forgot about the voucher. I guess in this case since I believe the responsibility fell more squarely on your shoulders than the airline's, that it was inappropriate for your mother to complain and then take the voucher. (No disrespect to your mom.)
You weren't mistreated and you are a grown up and seem to be pretty reasonably intellectually endowed.
Her main gripe was that they said they'd come get me, and didn't. And that's the only place I find fault with the airline.
If for whatever reason they hadn't told me to wait for someone, then I know it's on my head, and any fault is fully mine. But they gave me something to rely on, then didn't provide it, and if they had, I would've made the flight.
The voucher benefits my Alaska Airlines account. The next time I fly to Alaska, I get three hundred bucks off. So she actually bought and paid for the tickets, which was her reason for stepping up and complaining about what happened.
One of the things that bothered me about this whole scenario was the fallout from sighted people I know. So many of them were shocked that the airline would be so negligent, and that I wasn't "taken care of". Well, non-disabled people aren't "taken care of" that way, and I don't like taking help when I don't need it...so yeah, it bothers me. There's a buried implication that I needed that help and was a poor blind man left in a compromised position. How scary! How awful! And it really wasn't. And it could've been gotten around if both sides had been more careful.
Actually, my biggest issue was that they said they had come around looking for me. Clearly they didn't. I don't know why it wouldn't occur to them to wonder why everybody except one person got up and boarded the flight, especially when that person was visibly nodding his head as if nearly asleep. For that matter, if they'd just said they didn't look/didn't pursue, then okay. They admit it. But they tried to make it look like they did everything they were supposed to, everything they said they would, which they clearly didn't.
In any case, I'm sorry if I'm being circuitous.
I agree. Fault on both sides. Sure, they are suppose to get you, but you also need to be awake to have some idea of whats going on too.
They did get you on the next flight, so problem solved.
Nothing more should have been expected of them, and the voucher shouldn't have been accepted.
Nothing you can do about that, sense you didn't do the complaining.
I suspect you benefit from it if it gets used sense you were the ticket holder?
As for paging you, that may have been just an excuse. Seems to me others would have noticed this activity, but no matter.
You got there.
Re: post 5- I agree that they should've followed through with coming to get you if that is what they said they would do as it created a false sense of security.
Do you believe they actually paged you? Was your cane obvious? I ask that because, when I went to a vision rehab facility, I took a Greyhound to the city of the center and was supposed to be met there by one of the staff from the facility. I waited there over two hours calling the facility multiple times with no one finding me. I finally snagged a bus station worker and went to the office with him and called again. Finally, the idiot showed up and cursed me out for not having a cane. How was he supposed to know which person to pick up if no one had a cane? Mind you, I had told them what I was wearing and where I was sitting. And I was going to the rehab center to learn O&M as I'd never had any training before, so had no cane. The guy was a complete idiot!
Back when I had functional sight (but legally blind) I was taking the city bus to a part of the city I was unfamiliar with. I had no idea what the destination looked like, so when I got on the bus, I approached the driver and asked if he would let me know when that particular stop was coming up. He readily agreed and I sat down and waited. I could see the building and surroundings but could not see well enough to read signs. I was on the bus for over half an hour, probably 45 minutes and was concerned. I couldn't imagine it was that far away so I approached the driver again. He was very sarcastic and said we'd passed it couldn't I see that? No, I said, I was legally blind, why else would I have asked for his assistance? He was very apologetic but of course I was screwed. I had to wait for another bus and was almost two hours late for a lecture. I caught the last 15 minutes of it. I was livid.
I did not complain nor did I receive a voucher for future bus trips. LOL
Drat! I was responding to SW's post #6 not my own post #5!
I...don't know if they actually paged me, but I certainly didn't hear it, and it's not as if I had music blasting. Frankly, they might've done, but I have my doubts...but I can't prove it either way. I'll give them a pass on that bit, but they said they looked for me, which they clearly didn't do.
False sense of security is exactly it. I was lulled. I will not let that happen again. That was at least half my fault for getting lulled.
I also can't remember if my cane was obvious. It was folded and on the seat next to me, which might not have been readily visible. I did not, say, have it standing upright between my feet, not when I was going to have to keep it there for three and a half hours or so. I also might've shoved it in my backpack...I'm honestly not a hundred percent sure on that.
You would think, though, that even with it being totally invisible, someone would've tried to shake me or get close to me and say something in order to rouse me. Even one of the passengers doing it would've helped. But nobody did. This isn't to say it's their responsibility to do so, only that I'm really surprised it didn't. I have heard people do it before, to other passengers I mean...try to rouse someone and ask them if they're on the flight to such-and-such a place. No one even gave me that.
Lesson learned for next time. If I am really and truly in danger of falling asleep, I make sure my phone has power, I set an alarm. If I annoy a few people nearby when the alarm goes off, tough luck.
Maybe grab a coffee or something if you can, to stay alert.
Ah. If your cane was folded, people really don't know what they look like.
You're not sure were it was, so you were just a guy on a seat.
We all do get that false sense of security, but in the end, it is up to us.
Now, buses. I've been taken past my stop many times, but that is different. The driver is suppose to call it out, because, well, you can't see it.
At a gate, what I suspect, is they changed workers and the ones gtoing off shift didn't tell the new shift where you were.
This was pointed out to me by someone. Smile. The end of this is, your momma got involved where she shouldn't have, because your problem was solved.
Momma's are a force to be reckoned with, I understand. Smile.
I don't know what you could have done about that accept call the airline and refuse the free money.
Other then that, it was what it was.
On your part, you did what you should have done. Missed the flight, took the next and didn't complain.
One thing to bear in mind, Wayne:
The argument about changing shifts doesn't work. I was on the passenger manifest for my flight, and marked as a blind traveller who needed help with boarding and getting to and from gates. This information has, in absolutely every other situation, made sure someone was there to get me where I needed to go. This time it wasn't. So it's not that someone forgot to tell someone else; it's that someone early in the morning made a human error and didn't check their notes/didn't read the fine print, and then tried passing off their mistake by saying they did everything they could when they did not.
That, I think, is why my mother chased this. I should clarify that she did not call them asking for money. She called them and told them the situation, and they offered her money. I did tell her not to take it/not to bother, and her argument was something like "Hey, I didn't twist their arm. if they feel their own mistake was enough to merit a voucher, why should I refuse? Prices are expensive, and it's hard enough to see you". Very gray area, in my view. Not wholly wrong and not wholly right either.
Personally I'd say its more your fault than the airlines. You assumed someone
would know what to do, and remember to do it, and at three in the morning.
Bad assumption. Never depend upon sighted people knowing what to do, its
never a safe bet. When you're on the bus, figure out about how long it should
be before your stop, and ask the driver at each stop if its yours. If you need a
nap before a flight, set an alarm so you'll know to stand up and make a
spectacle of yourself when its time to board, or at least know when they're
calling for your flight. Yeah, the airline probably did break some policy or
something, and so I suppose they do have some responsibility there, but mosly
I'd say it was yours for not being better aware of your surroundings and taking
necessary precautions.
I didn't mean to imply she'd asked for money, that just was given.
But, she did call and complain about something you'd not have complained about. That you couldn't help.
Myself, I'd enjoy that as part of momma love. Smile.
Just as an addition here, I do ask on buses and whatnot. I'm much more careful, firstly because I've been taught to be, and secondly because I know I can't count on a driver remembering.
This is the first time I've had something go belly-up while flying, and I've flown quite a bit and at some pretty crazy times, too. In other words, I was complacent, which is also my fault. Normally I am careful when I travel. Because I'd not had it go wrong even once on an airplane, and because there's so much more checking and security and stuff on air travel in general, I just made the assumption that it was okay. I let my guard down.
Yes, you did let your guard down and missed your flight. But in the end, there was no real harm done. You were on a flight only two hours later and arrived safe and sound. Your mother was more bent out of shape by the whole incident than you seem to be. Just chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. Mostly, you were at fault in my opinion and the whole incident could have been avoided if you had not been wearing headphone, if you had not been half asleep and if you had only had your cane unfolded in clear view. But that's not what happened. In my experience though, "ifs" only lead to "buts" and really don't solve an issue. Personally, I would be more upset at Mama for speaking to the airlines on your behalf than at yourself for having let your guard down. But I won't go there unless you create a topic asking for opinions on that subject. Oh, and only if you were a snorer, you might have gotten a little more attention. Laughing.
Yeah, need to snore. Laughing.
On buses, I had to miss a couple times before I learned the time trick. Now if I get on at the scheduled time, about 5 minutes before I'm due to get off, I remind the driver then keep up with the time. When it gets to the scheduled time, I ask again or about a minute before.
I always make it fun and thank them.
If the bus is late, I still ask at the schedule time just in case they've made it up, then sort of talk with them a bit until I get there.
I believe in helping staff help me, so when things go awwry, I accept the blame depending on the situation.
The reason I asked how the voucher will be given, is because, I've seen mothers take money from blind children, with the reasoning: "I got that for you! You owe me!"
Clearly, this seems not to be the case. I'm glad, because it can get bad that way. I had a bf's mom ask how come my checks from SSI weren't more. When she left, I told said bf, that my money ain't her business.
My own mom took money meant for me. So, I have seen the worst of greed. Naturally, I ask, just what the one with the gripe is getting out of the situation.
I'm glad your mom is going to use it, so you can see her more. That's about as honorable, as I have ever seen! Yeah, she complained, but she isn't taking that voucher for herself. That's pretty respectful, compared to some of the things I've seen.
No, she probably didn't need to complain, but you will benefit, and so will she. Like the other lady said, you know what "Not to do," next time.
Your ma might be oversensitive, but it's your interests she's thinking of. All things considered, your ma's all right, with a little too much frustration toward how others treat her son. Just tell her how it made you feel.
Blessings,
Sarah
Good point, Sarah, and I did tell her.
Mostly I just wanted to see how other blind/visually impaired people took this, because I'd had more than a bellyfull of sighted people doing the "Oh my god! How horrible!" thing.
Thanks for the feedback, all. You'd better believe that's a mistake I will only make once.
I think you have the right of it, Greg. Fault on both sides. Maybe a little bit more on theirs because you were sitting right there and it's not that hard to spot a single person sitting right in front of the counter. But, I don't think your mom should have gotten a voucher out of it. Good on you for recognizing what fault was yours in this.
I don’t actually know how loud your headphones were; you did say you weren’t blasting the music, but you did fall asleep. If they did actually page you and you were asleep with the headphones on, that combination of the sleeping and the headphones may have made it impossible for you to have heard the pages. Then I’d call it your fault. But if they didn’t page you, then it was their fault; either way, none of us were there, so we don’t actually know what happened. Maybe the people at the desk should have been a little more attentive to the fact that you were the only passenger who didn’t get up and go to the plane when you were supposed to go, especially since it may have been clearly designated that you were a blind passenger who needed some assistance, but then the thing I do is to ask the person taking me to my gate where the gate is so that I can get up with everyone else and walk down the jetway myself when the time comes. Then it becomes more my responsibility than theirs to make sure I get on the plane. Overall, I think I’d call this one a draw. The fact that you were able to get onto a slightly later flight with little to no trouble and at no extra cost may have been a recognition by the airline that at least some part of this scenario may have been their fault, so I think there was some give and take on both sides here. But sighted people do freak out about some things that we lifers don’t tend to freak out about as easily or as much, and knowing this, I will often use a bit more discretion when talking to some people about some things than I might with others. As for your mother pursuing the matter, I guess ultimately that was her decision since she did purchase the ticket.
Though I agree that you had responsibility here, I do think the airlines were also at fault. Because we are so proud to be independent, we sometimes over compensate, and let pure incompetence go unchalenged. If you were in front of the desk, the only one there, it would not have killed the desk agent to approach you and say are you the guy? To not do so, even if you weren't blind, is just plain negligent. As far as the voucher, airlines give out such vouchers when they believe they have not served you properly. IN this case, they didn't and I have no problem with them offering minor recompence for your inconvenience.
I'd say you were more at fault than the airline. Sure, if they said someone would get you, they should have. But my guess is there was a shift change, and the person who originally told you that was no longer on duty, and may have been negligent in passing along the word. If your cane was folded up and somewhere not obviously visible, they'd have no way to know that you were the blind traveler noted on their records, so even that notation wouldn't have helped if there was no one to match it to. Headphones on usually means someone doesn't wish to be disturbed, so I'm not surprised that no other passengers got your attention, as they might have without the headphones. Lastly, as the traveler, it's your responsibility to make sure you make a flight, not the airlines. They wouldn't have come and gotten any other passenger who fell asleep, and unless there was a disability that physically prevented you from being able to walk to the gate and down to the plane, such as a mobility impairment, that's not their responsibility to awaken someone who is sleeping.
However, to me that's the minor side of the issue. It could, and has been, debated on this board, who is at fault. The one that really gets me here is your mom bringing it up to the airlines. If you expressly told her you didn't want her to do so, then she shouldn't have. You were the traveler, and what's more, you're an adult. Your wishes should have been respected, regardless of who paid for those tickets. If you had felt it was solely their fault and chosen to take it up with them yourself, that would have been your choice, and your right, whether people agreed with you or not. But to have someone else do it on your behalf, especially after you said you didn't want them to, is not ok, imho. She may not have outright asked them for money, but my guess is she at least suspected she'd get some. Anyone who knows airlines at all knows that when you call and complain, if you can convince them they're at fault, the first thing they're going to offer is a voucher. I just don't think it was cool of her to do it on your behalf, even if you had been in support of it, and especially because you weren't.
whose fault is not important. making sure it doesn't occur in the future is.
night flying is the worst. although I fly a lot, the one time I did it at night was so much fun that I figured it should be a treasured experience never to be repeated.
never fall asleep in an airport. your stuff can be snatched. of course your flight can be missed.
in the middle of the night, don't expect anything from anybody. remember, the worker bees they are as excited to be there as you are. they are as tired and confused as are you.
be proactive. never assume anybody is going to follow through on anything. when I know it is going to be a short time before my plane leaves, I go to the gate agent and stand there out of the way but in their line of sight. like you I've been left before.
communications can and do break down. make sure that you courteously keep everybody on their toes.
after all the drama, did you have a good time in Fairbanks?
oh and finally, your mom has balls. i'll give her that. no way should you have gotten any voucher. enjoy your day.
Okay, devil's advocate from the point of SW's mom. She paid for the tickets and presumably arranged the flight, correct? So she informed the airline that SW needed special assistance re: blindness and in consideration that within her purchase price was the accomodation of minor assistance which SW has always gotten in the past from airlines under such conditions, she did not get what she was paying for even though that extra is part of the normal ticket price. The airline did not deliver on its end therefore she was due some sort of acknowledgement/compensation.
Valid point VH! I didn't think of that.
I think that was probably her angle, or part of it. They agreed to something as part of the ticket (as in, the help rendered), and then they didn't deliver. The fact that I was more at fault and also didn't help myself out is secondary to her, though it wasn't to me.
Yeah. Night flying is no fun. I've done it a few times. It's especially not fun if you didn't sleep the day before and are running on more than twenty-eight hours without shut-eye by then, as I was.
And yes, I had fun in Fairbanks, for the most part.
I absolutely agree with you that both are at fault. They have the responsibility to come and get you and help you on the flight, but you ultimately have the responsibility of holding them accountable to that. Who else would? another passinger? because it's not other passingers who have the responsibility over you or any other traveller. It's up to you to make noise if they don't show up, and if you were unable to based on the fact you were sleeping, well, that's not really there fault, especially if they paged you and you could have gotten up and made yourself known.
As for the voucher, was your mother at all put out by the lateness? was she already on the way to the airport to meet you? did she have any inconveniences placed on her by this? if so, then yes, I think that's fine.
well, why didn't the person who missed the flight call mom, inform her of the delay, and give her the new flight number and time of arrival? obviously he/she had a cell phone so it should have been used. of course hind sight is always 20/20.
as an independent adult, if my mommy had called the airline on my behalf to kick up a sand storm, I'd have been furious and embarrassed. although she may have meant well, that kind of behavior impinges on my autonomy. she could keep the voucher and use it herself to come visit me. just saying...
She kept the voucher and was planning on using it the next time I visited, since she is usually kind enough to purchase my ticket.
As soon as I knew I was missing my flight and would be two hours later than originally planned, I told my mom about it so that there was no inconvenient waiting at the airport. All it really meant was that she didn't really need to get up quite as early, but did anyway because she was expecting me. Point being, she was not much inconvenienced, and I made damn sure to let her know what happened just as soon as I could. And even while I was annoyed right in the aftermath, I made very, very clear to her that I was dozing and was at least half at fault.
you did everything right as far as I can tell. it is not the mark of a man that he makes a mistake. it's how he recovers that shows his true character.
in my world your mom's fault was taking over. if it were my mother she would have asked if I wanted to do something about it or if I felt unfairly treated. then the ball was in my court to play with or let it roll away.
I would agree ordinarily except for one factor: He didn’t buy the ticket, so ultimately the decision of whether or not to interfere was his mother’s. If he’d bought the ticket himself,, he’d have more of a leg to stand on. Then he could’ve pointed out that since he was at least half at fault, he has to suffer the consequences. But since she paid for the ticket and a case can be made that she didn’t get quite what she paid for, she has some right to recoup at least some loss out of the deal. The only way he might win on this issue was to have told a white lie and say the flight was delayed,, but then, if it were my mother, she’d have called the airlines to find out what happened, and that little white lie would’ve turned into a production. At this point in my life, I’m well past the stage of a cover-up being worse than the mistake, so I guess I’d just have to suck it up, tell the truth and allow myself to be in a position to grumble and bitch a little to myself at her interference and let it pass. Oh, and of course, either pay for all my tickets in the future so that I get to dictate how I suffer the consequences of such a mistake as this, or do my best not to put myself into such a position again.
Johndy pretty much has the right of it.
You'd better believe that if I'd bought the ticket, things would have been entirely different. I think at that point she might well have respected my stance in a case like that. I think her having paid the money to bring me there is what gave her the sense of entitlement necessary to pursue the matter.
And as for a white lie about the flight? To be honest, that would have solved the interference issue on her part rather neatly. But it also would have let me dodge culpability for something I'd done. I'd be telling her I was two hours late because the airline was two hours behind. She probably wouldn't have raised hell with the airline itself for this - flights are delayed all the time - and as such, I might have gotten away with it. I'd have felt very bad for that sort of needless lie though, especially given that at the time, I was going through a lot of personal stuff which involved not having told the truth when I should have. Put another way, if I'd lied about that, it would've eaten me up. And this says nothing about the fact that my mom is the sort of person who tracks flights on the off chance that I can't get in touch with her (phone dies or whatnot). As such, I would have been caught, more than likely, and so not only would I have lied both to save my ass and to stop my mom interfering, but I would've been found out. Even if I hadn't run the high risk of getting busted, however, I still wouldn't have lied about this.
To be honest, I didn't even think about this angle when it happened. The thought of lying about it simply never occurred to me. I was ashamed of something stupid I had done, and the very first thing I did was to admit it. Trust me. For me, that was a step forward at the time. Nothing to be rewarded for - I mean, it's telling the truth, it's not a huge deal - but yeah. Lying was simply not going to happen in that case.
Naw. If and when your momma wants to get in your business, you will not interfere!
This is a momma right, so get over it already.
If you really wanted her to not get in it, you'd have lied and said you were late getting to the airport, or got lost in the bar talking to the sweet girl/guy, or something drastic like that, so she could only get on your case.
If she knows it is someone elses fault your nose is running, she's gonna tell them about how they should have wiped it, and before it dripped.
Laughing.
But again, Wayne, that would basically be passing the buck. I screwed up, and if I either lie outright or fail to tell the truth about it (lie by omission), then...no, that's just not okay.
I suppose we all tell white lies in good causes now and then, and it's not the end of the world, but under the circumstances, I was right to just come straight out with it. And no, that doesn't mean I want my mom doing stuff for me either. Honestly, I weighed all the pros and cons. Not telling her/lying and putting the fault squarely on me just to get her off my back was dishonest and would make me feel like hell. Telling the truth feels right, and even if she decides to get involved, I have at least a fighting chance of getting her to back off. That time she didn't, and I'm actually going to visit her for a couple of weeks next month, and she used the voucher to knock three hundred bucks off the trip.
Just as a human being issue, maybe it would have been nice to wake up the sleeping guy at the gate and be like, "Hey man, is this your flight?" I guess people are into their own business at departure time and don't really look around, but I'm sure someone saw you. I mean, it sounds like the gate agent was chilling at the desk. They couldn't have glanced around the empty gate, saw a sleeping guy, and put 2 and 2 together? It's not their job,but it would have been nice.
But I'm with others on this thread. Back when I was a newby traveler, I expected Greyhound people, and train people, and airport people to remember me and take care of me. that doesn't really get you anywhere except left behind. People are wrapped up in their own lives, and they're not going to remember you. Sleeping during travel/class is a gamble!
Definitely not a newbie traveller. I simply made a mistake that has never, ever cost me before, and had been flying all night. Normally I don't even come close to sleeping. Needless to say, I got burned and won't take that chance again. Haha.
I'm not sure I agree with the idea of her, being Gregg's mother, having paid
for something and not gotten it. She didn't pay extra for first class seats, or
plunk down a hundred bucks to buy Gregg a personal assistent or something.
She just bought a plane ticket. We assume that plane tickets come with some
kind of assurance that we, as blind people, will get some assistance, but we
don't pay for it. So to say that she paid for a service and got short changed is
being slightly dishonest I feel, at least in a way. Her expectations might not
have been met, but she got precisely what she paid for, which was her son
going from poitn A to point B by means of heavier than air flight.
It should be mentioned, Cody, that when she booked the ticket, she specified that I was blind and would need help getting to and from gates. No, she didn't pay extra for this, but it was specified, and then not fully followed through upon, when I flew.
To me, it's on the same level as, say, asking a server to make sure your salad has no shredded cheese on it; you don't pay extra for it, the server agrees to do it, and then you get your salad and it's got cheese on it. You specifically asked for a thing that wasn't done, and you were essentially told it would be. Now, as for whether or not that should entitle you to some sort of discount or money back or whatnot? I don't know on that one. Everybody, absolutely everybody, makes mistakes, and how hard should we make others pay for theirs, depending on the circumstance?
Flip this around a little bit. Let's say I ended up getting plunked down at the wrong gate, and when I went to board they told me my gate was at the other end of the airport. They rushed me there, but I missed the flight, and they put me on the next one. In that case, where the fault was entirely that of the airline and not mine, as really happened, would you say that the airline's mistake entitles any sort of kickback because we were inconvenienced but ultimately unharmed? It starts to get dicey.
I'd still say its your fault. when I am waiting for a flight, I make sure I know
what gate I'm at, and then I listen for the announcement of flight 555 now
boarding at gate a1. if I'm not at a1, and that's my flight, I get someone's
attention. My basic philosophy is this, we don't get to relax when we're
traveling, at least not until we're in the air. Once we're in the air, we can relax,
but while we're engaged in traveling, we have to be on our toes. Anything less
than that is our choice. We can't be passive when it comes to traveling.
Let me use your salad analogy, because I feel its a good one. Yes, you asked
for cheese, but what you didn't do was check to make sure there was no
cheese. You got your salad and just started scarfing, and you lived with the
consequences. If you are making a special request, its your responsibility to
take control and make sure its done to your standards as much as possible. If
you need no cheese, you'd better check to make sure there's no cheese before
you start eating. If you're waiting on a flight, its your job to make sure you get
there. That means asking for assistance at the check in counter, making sure
that assistent knows what gate to go to, making sure they got that right,
making sure that the person at the gate knows what you need, and checking
periodically to make sure they haven't forgotten you. You're a passenger, not
luggage. You have to be proactive. if you're not, and something goes wrong, its
your responsibility.
As has been said several times, I'm definitely at fault more than the airline. However, to re-use my salad analogy here, if that sort of thing happened to me - if I asked for no cheese, they agreed, then gave me cheese and I ate some - I would probably mention it to them. I wouldn't blame them for the fact that I actually ate the cheese; I would, however, point out that they'd understood my request for no cheese, and ultimately didn't honour it for whatever reason. I wouldn't be overtly seeking compensation, but I'd want to bring it to their attention so that maybe more care would be taken on their end in future.
I actually disagree with the majority and agree with your mother. It's
definitely fault on both sides, yes. I suppose I am big on keeping your words,
and having manners. How could they not find you? You weren't invisible! The
first person knew what you looked like. You were right in front of the gate
agent, the gate agent was there when the flight was boarding. or pre
boarding. I would have been frustrated by this. Yes, yes, you should have
been awake but they looked for you? seriously? No one bothered to tap you
on the shoulder or shake you? I think with that type of false sense of security
and those horrible lies, yes, you did deserve the voucher. If they told the
truth that they didn't look for you, and had forgotten, but ultimately your
responsibility, maybe okay. Shame in a conservative state too. I'd be beside
myself if I were you, but I dislike lies, going back on one's word, and people
with no sense of politeness.
gate staff changes all the time. As a frequent flier, I think it is really the responsibility of the individual to make sure that you are visible, and you get to board the plane. The ground staff are there to help for sure. But they are not your mother, and they are not responsible for you. Yes, they have duty of care, but hey, that is not only you, a blind person that needs help. often than not they have other people to taking care of. being blind does not give us any entitlement of anything. Even if you travel with first class ticket, any ordinary traveler is responsibility for his or her own flight. If everyone have the attitude that because i'm traveling as first class, or because i'm blind, or because I need assistant, I can do whatever I want and the staff will come and get me when the time comes, you will see that the airport will turn in to playground instead.