«A man came forward. He was one of those in the line-up, and he said he heard, and saw, the whole thing. He also said he had a daughter the same age as you, and ff the first man had talked to his daughter the same way he talked to you, he would personally have punched him in the nose. Then the second man-the one from the line-up-left his name and address, and said if the man you had been talking to ever made any kind of complaint, to let him know and he would report what really happened." Tanya smiled. "So, you see-there are nice people, too.»«I know," the girl said. "T'here aren't many, but when you do get one like that, who's nice to you, and cheerful, you feel you want to hug him.»«Unfortunately we can't do that, any more than we should throw timetables. Our job is to treat everyone alike, and be courteous, even when passengers are not.»«Yes, Mrs. Livingston ." Patsy Smith would be all right, Tanya decided. Apparently, she hadn't thought of quitting, as some airls did who suffered simflar experiences. In fact, now that she was over her emotion, Patsy seemed to have the kind of resilience which would be helpful to her in future. God knows, Tanya thought, you needed resilienceand some toughness-in dealing with the traveling public, whatever job you held. Take Reservations. Downtown in reservation departments, she was aware, personal pressures would be even greater than at the airport. Since the storm began, reservation clerks would have made thousands of calls advising passengers of delays and rearrangements. It was a job the clerks all hated because people whom they catled were invariably bad-tempered and frequently abusive. Airline delays seemed to arouse a latent savagery in those affected by them. Men talked insultingly to women telepbonists, and even people who at other times were courteous and mild-mannered, turned snarly and disagreeable. New York-bound flights were worst of all. Reservation clerks had been known to refuse the assignment of telephoning news of delay or cancellation to a flight load of passengers destined for New York , preferring to risk their jobs rather than face the torrent of invective they knew awaited them.
