Martha arrived at the gate late, as usual, racing to the ticket station, pushing her way up front. After all, she had a first class ticket and that gave her some privileges.
“Excuse me,” she said to the man she cut off. Martha smiled, as if that made it all right. The gentleman stepped to one side, assuming that there must be some reason for her urgency and he smiled back.
Martha felt secure in her actions. She did this before and found it amusing the way people would gladly move aside to let her through. However, this mild euphoria was quickly replaced by confusion as she got to her seat and discovered someone else in it.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I believe you’re sitting in my seat.”
“This is 2A. What seat are you looking for?”
“2A,” she answered, somewhat baffled.
“It appears they’ve assigned us the same seat.” He motioned for the flight attendant. As the attendant examined the tickets it was confirmed that they were right. It was the correct flight and the same seat.
The man, having taken the seat first, held his position. “I’m sorry,” he said looking up at Martha before turning his head down as he continued reading the newspaper. As far as he was concerned, the problem was no longer his.
Martha was livid. All the first class seats were obviously full. As a woman, didn’t this other male passenger have an obligation to give her the seat? With a harsh intensity she stared at the attendant. The look spoke volumes, as Martha grit her teeth.
“I’m sorry,” the attendant said. “We overbooked. The only seats left are the ones reserved for staff. There are two extra on this flight.”
“What?” Martha barked back in disbelief. “You aren’t going to ask him to move?”
“He was seated first. There’s nothing I can do about it at this point. You will receive a refund or, if you wish, you can book the next available flight.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said, standing her ground as she blocked the way, making it difficult for other passengers to board. “I will not accept this.”
“Accept what?” the attendant asked. He didn’t understand what decision she hadn’t accepted and where that left her.
“You must make that man give up my seat.” She had become agitated to the point of being irrational.
The other passenger in her seat chose to ignore her as she continued to rant. This further enraged her as she grabbed the newspaper out of his hand, brought her face up to his and shrieked, “Get out of my seat!”
At this point the flight attendant was force to take her firmly by the arm and lead her out. There was no negotiating anymore. He didn’t say a word as she struggled in her attempt to push him off and hold her ground.
“What are you doing? That was my seat. You can’t treat people like this.”
He took a deep breath as they returned to the gate, his hand still securely holding her arm.
“Ow! You’re hurting me. You’ll hear from my lawyer about this. Do you know who I am?”
The attendant smiled, nodded his head and answered, “Martha Stewart.”
A humorous look at the world and life through my eyes.
Follow the author and his wife, as they travel the world …. several times over.
Laugh at their funny stories, self-inflicted crazy events, strange observations, wacky zoo facts and snippets
