In 2014, my wife and I decided to visit Dublin, primarily to see a live performance of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. (That performance was eventually canceled, but how we got to see it anyway is a different story.)
A couple months prior to our trip, we noticed that there was also a Shackleton exhibit in Dublin that would be closing a week or two after our trip. I believe the exhibit was going to subsequently tour the US. Anyway, I wrote to the exhibit e-mail mentioning that we were coming over from the US and asking about exhibit hours and the date they were actually closing. I received an invitation from the director of the exhibit to come on a specific afternoon for a personal tour. When we showed up in Dublin, he took us through himself and spent oodles of time talking about each exhibit in detail. He probably spent two hours with us. After we finished, he then said, “You don’t want to get a cab from this area back to your B&B at this time of night. Let me take you out to the pub and then I’ll drive you.” We probably spent another hour with him just chatting about stuff.
So we didn’t really ask for the VIP treatment, but we did show an interest and made an effort.
When my late wife was dying, she was bed-bound for a few months, and decided that she wanted a dog to keep her company. A friend of hers was helping her research dogs and they decided that a Bichon Frise would be ideal. As it happened, they did not reach the point of obtaining a dog before she declined too much for it to be feasible.
That friend and several others came to visit her one last time before her death. While they were here, they thought it would be great if they could somehow rent or borrow a dog for a day and bring it to my wife. They went out for lunch at a restaurant and afterwards were sitting outside calling around trying to find a way to get a dog. At that point, a couple walked past them walking two Bichon Frises. They ran up to the couple and explained the situation, and amazingly the couple just gave their dogs to these strangers for the day. My wife burst into tears of joy when her friends returned carrying the two dogs.
As others have mentioned, sometimes just showing interest is all that’s needed to get “VIP” treatment.
My most recent experience of this was in New Zealand at the Mangawhai Museum. One of the crown jewels of their collection is the Daring, a 1863 ship discovered buried in the sand in 2017 and currently being restored.
Unfortunately there were no tours the day I was there, but I walked over to the building to see if I could catch a glimpse and maybe grab a photo.
As luck would have it a volunteer was working on the ship that day. We exchanged greetings and I told him I loved visiting local museums and that I really appreciated the volunteers who made them possible. He invited me to come in and take a look around. I ended up getting a one-on-one personal tour of the ship complete with hands-on inspection of some of the artifacts.
I’m not sure this was “extraordinary,” but it was very special for us.
My wife and I went to the UK for her Birthday a few years ago. On her actual birthday, we took a very long train ride to the tiny village of Ulverston, where Manjjushri is located. My wife is a Kadampa, and wanted to see the spiritual headquarters. We stopped for lunch in the World Peace cafe in town, and then tried to get a taxi to Manjjushri. With absolutely no luck. As I mentioned, Ulverston is very small, and cars-for-hire are few and far between. We tried calling for quite awhile with no luck. I noticed that there were some women in robes eating in the cafe, and I suggested to my wife that we ask them if they knew how to get to the temple. My wife was aghast at the suggestion - “They’re nuns! You can’t just bother them!.” So, she went outside, and tried to flag down a cab. I went back inside, and went over to one of the nuns and told her our story, and she said “Well, we are heading over there, and we would be happy to drive you, but we have our big dog with us…” I said that we love dogs, and would appreciate a lift. She looked a bit skeptical, but said “ok.” We went outside, and I told my wife that we had a ride. We got in the car with a huge Stafforshire Terrier, who wanted to lick us to death. The nuns drove us to the temple, and then said that they would be happy to take us back to the train station after we were finished.
My wife said it was the most wonderful experience she had ever had.
I once got a big container of freshly made Hot Chromic Acid solution by asking nicely. I think it helped that the guy at the chemistry office was bored and had time on his hands.
In case you didn’t know, chromic acid solution is what they recommend that you use to clean laboratory glassware. I had just had an all-glass sample container made up for a sample cell I planned to fill with gas for calibrating the wavelength scale on my tunable laser, and I wanted to be sue it was clean. Remembering the injunction to use chromic acid (which I’d never even seen) from my reading and my undergrad chemistry course, I set off for the chemistry supply office, full of optimism and naivete.
After I explained my situation to the guy manning the desk, he took pity on me and said he’d mix up a batch. It could be that he hadn’t done it in a while, and wanted to practice. In any event, he disappeared into the back and emerged some time later with a beaker full of steaming brown liquid.
From the description given on the Wikipedia site, this was probably concentrated sulfuric acid mixed with an aqueous solution of some chromate, rather than simple chromic or dichromic acid. Besides, that’s the kind recommended for glassware.
I got it back to my lab without mishap and carefully washed and rinsed my cell. After it dried I added the optical-quality windows and filled it with my gas sample, which gave me precisely the absorption lines I needed for calibration. (The guys before me had tried to use water absorption lines in the atmosphere, but I noticed that I got just as good a fit if I shifted the lines over by one r two. The gas sample I used had unique features.)
Well, maybe you don’t think it was extraordinary, but I did. It let me finish my experiments for my thesis.
We were flying some legs of a trip on a partner airline. Impossible to check in or get seats by email, web, phone or app for a trans-Atlantic flight–“go to the airport.” We did, and their check-in desk had “no connection to [our own system],” which was the usual state of things, not a time-limited problem. When we arrived at the next, hub, airport that night after weather delays, there were no check-in agents still on duty but there was a luggage drop-off desk for the next morning’s flights. We politely asked if they could let us know how to check in and get seats if possible–should we come back in 10 hours and try in the morning? The agent not only booked us in, but blocked out the seat between us because the flight wasn’t full. We thanked her for her help and kindness and she just beamed.
After a departure was delayed when the plane was late arriving due to weather, I missed a connecting flight at DFW. I really needed to get home, as I had to get back to work from my vacation. We all had to queue to talk to a passenger service person. The guy in front of me was shouting and gesticulating to the agent. She said she was sorry, but all she could do is give him a hotel voucher or something. Then it was my turn. I was very apologetic about having to complain, but I really need to get home. ‘Is there anything you can do to help me?’ She gave me a ticket in First Class on the next plane out. (It’s the only time I’ve flown in First Class.)
It doesn’t quite fit the op, I didn’t ask for anything, but by being nice, friendly even, and non confrontational and not trying to deny or get out of trouble, I have not gotten a ticket any of the 4 or 5 times I’ve been pulled over in the last twenty years(yes, I drive fast in my pov). Just warnings.
A few years ago I was taking a flight on JetBlue. For whatever reason (maybe because of the class of ticket I purchased) I wasn’t able to select my seat until check-in. At that point there were no aisle seats left, and I really wanted an aisle seat (It was like a 5 hour flight, and I really wanted to be able to easily get up to go to the lavatory if necessary). At the gate, the agent asked for volunteers to check their bags. I went up to the podium and volunteered to check mine, and while I was there I politely asked if there were any aisle seats available. She said she wasn’t sure since it was a full flight, but she’d check. A few minutes later she discreetly called me back to the podium and handed me a new boarding pass with an aisle seat assignment.
I had that happen to me once – my flight to MSP was delayed due to a mechanical issue, causing me to miss my connecting flight. There was another flight that evening, but the only open seat was in First Class. So the agent booked me into First Class on that flight. Although in that case I didn’t even have to ask; the agent just did it. So I have to give a shout out to Delta for some excellent customer service in my situation.
I got stuck in Germany in 2021 because the US changed its return rules for covid testing (had I been paying attention I would have known, but I didn’t) … I ended up in a long line of angry people yelling at some poor German woman, and on my turn I was really apologetic and explained that I’d screwed up, and she kindly listed out a bunch of options for where to test and provisionally booked me. The people in front of me hadn’t asked, and she hadn’t offered.
I was in a line at 1am at Orlando airports car rental center when from the conversations I could overhear at the counter, I realized I had made the same mistake as the family in front of me.
I had reserved a car to be picked up at 1am on the departure date of our flight (9:30pm Friday), not the arrival time (12:30am Saturday). My reservation was of course canceled.
The family in front of me were berating the agent at Enterprise because they believed somehow that 1am Friday should be interpreted as 1am Saturday, because it’s obvious that it’s what people mean.
I sent my wife and daughter to get a drink (because my wife would have been yelling at either me or the agent). When I got to the agent, I said I realized that I had screwed up, and that any car they could give me at any price would be very much appreciated.
They gave me a bigger car at the same price as my expired reservation. Five minutes after sending the yelling family before me away without a car.
Yes. One day we were at Disneyland, at the main train station, I asked if we could ride up from with the engineer, like I did once when i was a kid. But apparently they hardly ever do that anymore. But I had asked so nicely and told such a cool story, that the Conductor said he had two empty seats on the Lilly Bell, Lillian Disney’s special train car. So, we got special tickets and everything. Very cool.
Circa 2011, my party (then five adult Disneyphiles) got to ride in Lilly Belle. At the time you could do so simply by asking. Indeed, very cool. They left us alone on one section, which turned out to be a big no-no (but not our fault).
Last November we considered asking for our 7-year-old to go up into the wheelhouse of the Mark Twain, which you can still do, but we were crunched for time and didn’t get a chance.
Dad always taught us if you don’t ask the answer is NO!
I have the photo finish film from the USPro Cycling National Championship one year from back when it was real film (before everything went digital). It’s automatically setup for the race because they have no idea how close it will be at the end & if it will be needed. It was obvious who won that year (but is also used for all placings further down the line), like an entire wheel length obvious instead of just a tire/rim width. They were going to toss it afterwards; I asked for it & was given it. Took it home & framed it; something like 3-4" high by 1’ wide. Given everything is digital now, you probably couldn’t get that again if you wanted to.
I’m also a photographer, I have tons of cool & unique photos, some because of events I was working at which gave me access & some just because I asked to get some place that others couldn’t.
Luck favors the prepared. I was lucky enough to get to the right spot with the right equipment. My photog friends who were with me were cursing me out because I got so much better of a shot then they were able to. One even went out & bought a lens specifically to try & get this shot again the next year but has not been able to even attempt it again. This has been photographed 6 if not 7-figures of times over the years but I have never seen another one like the one I took. I’m just going to let you try & figure it out for a day before I come back & say what it is…
