Airport Etiquette

Ever since I started flying alone back and forth between California and Virginia, everything has gone wrong. I have not had a normal flying experience yet, and I'm wondering if I ever will. The airport is the worst place to meet someone. I do not think it is possible to get a good impression of anybody when they are traveling. The airport has the ability to bring out the absolute worst in a person. The hardest thing to do is to remain pleasant and composed. 

Every time I have flown to and from school I have had an awful experience. I am used to cancelled flights, missed flights, being rerouted, spending the night in a strange city, going through high security check, losing luggage, paying fees for overweight luggage, and even getting filed off an airplane when we were about to take off because it was one minute over the time Federal Law permits the crew to be working. I have had a very hard time keeping my cool, and there have been so many times when I have wanted to scream at the person at the ticket counter. When I was stuck in California for a week because of foggy weather, I had seven flights cancelled before I drove to Los Angeles to fly out of an international airport. When I walked up to the ticket counter for the seventh time I was about to scream at the woman who was only hired to help with our flight problems. Another customer beat me to the counter, and she started yelling and cursing at the woman for reasons I couldn't quite understand. As soon as the customer was finished yelling, the woman behind the counter looked to me and asked what it was I needed. With the most polite voice I could manage I told her what my problems were and if she could help me book a flight through Los Angeles. 

The customer who beat me to the counter saved me from making the mistake she made. I would have yelled at the woman behind the counter, but I realized how awful I would have sounded by observing the way she conducted herself. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, it is important to act the way we know is right. My airport experiences always turn out awful, but the people who work there are only trying to help me, and I should act gracious and kind. And maybe my example will help others waiting in line behind me realize how they need to act.