# Yo, Flight Attendants! What's your problem with providing fucking CHANGE? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051 "2003-12-19T21:01:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/41 "2003-12-20T17:30:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*\>\> My most stressful experiences when flying come, NOT from the FAs, but from my “fellow” passengers. Good grief, I have horror stories aplenty about those. > > I concurr. Which is also why I would solve this change problem by banning alcohol on board. The last thing I need is the obnoxious person sitting next to me to turn into a drunk obnoxious asshole. \*\* Full in agreement with this. Outside of making money (and not being bothered to provide change, easily 😃 ) there really isn’t any reason to provide alcohol on board. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/42 "2003-12-20T17:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thea Logica \* > \*\*Sure. > > Ph-nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyleh wgah’nagi fhtagn. > > You’re welcome. \*\* I love you. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/43 "2003-12-20T17:39:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > **Yeah, maybe that’s because we realized that the young/attractive/female quotient has nothing to do with the ability to survive drinks** Survive drinks? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/44 "2003-12-20T17:51:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rexnervous \* > **Outside of making money…** And here I thought they were in the business of doing just that. ---
**Author:** ![anewthought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@anewthought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anewthought)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/45 "2003-12-20T17:54:32Z")
You should have just ordered 3 drinks, and given a $2 tip then all your problems would have been solved. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/46 "2003-12-20T17:57:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uzi \* > \*\*And here I thought they were in the business of doing just that. \*\* so I forget, if I go buy a ticket at the counter with cash, will they refuse to sell it to me unless I have exact change? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/47 "2003-12-20T19:17:52Z")
There’s also the fact that you can snatch a transfer slip, get off the bus anywhere you like, grab a drink, and then get back on and continue your route. The Bus/exact change analogy is imperfect. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/48 "2003-12-20T20:16:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Survive drinks? Oh, so _that’s_ what he meant: he wanted a stewardess who could hold her liquor. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/49 "2003-12-20T21:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Broomstick \* > YOU’ve flown before. You know how this system works. Why can’t YOU make sure YOU have adequate small bills before you leave home? If you’ve got money for the fucking “cab fare, sky caps, gift shop stuff, etc,” why can’t you pony up for the booze, hmm? Carry your own damn bags, skip the overpriced shit at the gift shop and you’ll have money left to pickle your brain. Fucking _think ahead_ next time. If you can remember your underwear and your toothbrush you can damn well remember to put a roll of singles in your pocket before you leave. Oh, I am slain! What an inconvenience I am to the airlines! Who the fuck are you to tell me how to fly? Spare me your righteous preaching, hmm? I’ll fly any damn way I bloody well please, hmm? It ain’t my fucking job to pack a roll of ones because the flight attendants can’t provide a simple service. I’m paying out the ass for an airline ticket, I don’t think it’s too out of bounds to have the people selling me something to provide fucking change for what they’re selling, hmm? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/50 "2003-12-20T21:46:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dooku \* > \*\*Oh, I am slain! What an inconvenience I am to the airlines! > > Who the fuck are you to tell me how to fly? Spare me your righteous preaching, hmm? I’ll fly any damn way I bloody well please, hmm? It ain’t my fucking job to pack a roll of ones because the flight attendants can’t provide a simple service. I’m paying out the ass for an airline ticket, I don’t think it’s too out of bounds to have the people selling me something to provide fucking change for what they’re selling, hmm? \*\* Yup, you CAN “fly any way you want” and you can continue to rant and rail at how things are all you want to. It’s not going to change the fact that the “please have correct change” routine (among others) has been in place for decades and isn’t going to go away on YOUR behalf. Tell me, do you have a conniption fit when the bus driver asks you for correct change as well? Look, this method of them selling alcohol IS the way it’s done. It’s not some new thing the airlines just now thought up on your recent flight to bug you. It’s as much a part of flying as no smoking or tampering with the lavatory smoke detectors, or where to put your carryons. It’s NOT going to go away. So, you have two choices, you can continue to drive yourself nuts , On PRINCIPLE, trying to "make your point that (and I quote) “…I don’t think it’s too out of bounds to have the people selling me something to provide fucking change for what they’re selling…” by continuing to NOT have the correct change. And then suffer the annoyances of having to wait for your change, and having the FA announce a need for change (by the way, I’ve heard them do this a number of times, and they usually just ask if someone has change)… OR you can make it easier on yourself, and everyone else around you by doing what everyone ELSE who buys alcohol on planes manages to do without TOO much stress and inconvenience, and just HAVE the correct change. Sheesh, do those 5-10 one dollar bills take up THAT much space and weigh you down that much? If your attitude to the flight attendant was anything like your paragraph above, I’m not surprised in the LEAST that she was miffed at you and was bitchy back. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/51 "2003-12-20T22:00:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rexnervous \* > \*\*I’m not TRYING to make it hard. And I’m not blaming the situation (esp. after the last few posts pointing out it’s probably the airlines, not the FAs, at the root of the cause), but anyplace that wants to sell me something should at the very least provide the ability to give change. > > And no, I don’t have all that much time to think about, nor do I want to spend time worrying about, what exact combination of bills I have in my wallet. When I go on business, virtually everything is charged, including tips. > > I understand the empathy you might feel for the FAs. But I don’t understand why you feel that the _situation itself_ is acceptable. > > Carrying change when you are selling something is **really not that difficult a proposition.** \*\* I agree with you on general principle. But again, this is NOT a retail store, or even a place that is specifically there to provide food and beverages. Those services are, and always have been secondary to that of transportation. It’s not as if you all went out for dinner and drinks and just HAPPENED to be on a plane. It’s the other way around. Your primary purpose is to be transported, and theirs is to transport you. First off, there is the question of how they would keep track of all the “banks” that they’d have to hand out to flight attendants, were they to do that. Second, and again, this IS something that has been established and in use for several decades. Why do I find it acceptable? For the same reason that I find it acceptable for buses to require correct change. In this particular application, it’s the **quickest** , least problematic way that they’ve found, withIN their industry, to do it. And again, it’s not as if every single person on the plane is going to be drinking. If that were the case, the question of change wouldn’t probably be a problem. Last, and perhaps most telling, it’s NOT as if not having correct change prevents the drinker from getting his/her precious fixie-poo. They will still sell it, they just have to get the change from somewhere, hence the common requests over the PA system for someone who has change. ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/52 "2003-12-20T22:05:40Z")
Cut the OP some slack. I mean, it’s not like he was dealing with an English postman, or a WalMart cashier. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/53 "2003-12-20T22:06:25Z")
Or you could be really annoying and carry a drawstring bag with about $50 in coins. “You want $6 for that drink? Okay” \ ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/54 "2003-12-20T22:39:45Z")
For what it’s worth, I was flying AA from Dallas to New Orleans last week. I asked for a glass of wine, but only had a $10 bill to pay for the $5 drink. The FA took my ten, and disappeared for the rest of the flight. I considered ordering a second drink to use up the missing change, but finally decided it wasn’t worth the trouble (not to mention I didn’t need a second drink). Just before we landed, the FA came by, explained she hadn’t been able to make change and gave me back my money. Sometimes you come out ahead, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/55 "2003-12-20T23:03:30Z")
Having 50’s and 20’s just sitting in your pocket? I’ve been a waitress wayy too long. ---
**Author:** ![wakimika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@wakimika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wakimika)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/56 "2003-12-21T00:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fretful Porpentine \* > \*\*All right, I have to know – were the wings and feathers still ON the chicken when they served it? And were you flying Air Burkina Faso at the time? \*\* It was Continental Airlines. What astounded me was that the woman who asked about the chicken didn’t even seem to take offense. If I was a F.A., I would make it my business to carry whatever cash needed to perform my job in an efficient manner. Running around a crowded airplane scrounging for change is both stupid _and_ avoidable. The conductors on my commuter rail line (Metro North) have no problem making change for onboard ticketing, even though nearly all the passengers have passes or pre-paid tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/57 "2003-12-21T00:17:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rexnervous \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Broomstick_ > > Logically, your line of reasoning is sound. Unfortunately, actual reality does not agree. > > Unfortunately, actual reality SHOULD agree. It’s not that fucking hard to carry change - the FA’s can carry a damn change purse while they do the main serving. > > I mean, what the hell is the problem? They fear being robbed? They haven’t learned simple math? > > You take one customer’s order at a time, and you provide the proper change. Then go on to the next customer. Pretty fucking simple concept, that. Try this concept: the _main purpose_ of an airline is to deliver self-loading cargo from point A to point B physically intact. That’s their primary business, not selling booze or fluffing pillows or providing eye-candy to immature male featherless bipeds. (That last bit was for Mr. E.T. Bass in particular) Know that that means? If the turbulence is horrible, or there’s some other emergency going on _you won’t get fucking food or drink at all_. The booze-selling is a _frill_, and _extra_. If no one on a flight bought booze they’d hardly go bankrupt. (On the flip side - the booze sales won’t make a bankrupt airline solvent, either…) There are also quite a few people in the airline industry who would like very much to do away with all alcohol aboard airplanes and who therefore have no interest in making it easier for folks to buy booze. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rexnervous \* > It’s my fucking duty to know whether the airline charges $4 or $6 dollars for the beer? If it’s $6, I’m set? But if it’s $4, I have to go find a retailer who will exchange my fiver for five ones? Just so I can have exact change for a $4 beer? Look, the airlines are selling booze in increments of $1, right? So carry 10 ones and you’re set. If they’re charging shit like $1.75 it ain’t gonna kill you to just hand over $2. Or you could wait for the flight to be over to get your beer. If you can’t wait that long for a beer I have to wonder if you’ve got an alcohol problem. Personally, if they’re going to sell any shit at all on a flight I think we’d all be better off if they switched to using credit cards. Solve the whole making change/theft of cash problem. Of course, then you’ll have someone bitching they don’t want to use plastic, they want to use cash… > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Mr. Cynical_ > There’s also the fact that you can snatch a transfer slip, get off the bus anywhere you like, grab a drink, and then get back on and continue your route. This may have changed, but the last time I bought a bus transfer in Chicago you couldn’t do that. If you got off, your transfer couldn’t be used on the same bus route you just took - you _had_ to get on a different bus route or the subway. [/nitpick] > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dooku_ > Who the fuck are you to tell me how to fly? I’m a pilot, Dooku. If you’re on my airplane I have a truly amazing amount of say in your life for the duration of the trip. On the other hand, people like you make me grateful I _don’t_ fly for the airlines. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dooku_ > I’ll fly any damn way I bloody well please, hmm? Not on my aircraft you won’t! > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dooku_ > It ain’t my fucking job to pack a roll of ones because the flight attendants can’t provide a simple service. I’m paying out the ass for an airline ticket, I don’t think it’s too out of bounds to have the people selling me something to provide fucking change for what they’re selling, hmm? As I pointed out, the airlines really don’t give a fuck if you buy their booze or not. What they are _selling_ you is a safe trip from point A to point B. The booze, headsets, and other bullshit is an extra, like getting free toaster when opening up a bank account or a candy cane for shopping at a store during the holiday season. If you find drinking more important than traveling it might be cheaper and less hassle for you to hang out at a bar. Now, I was going to just ignore this following troglodyte, but what the hell – > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > My father is a retired airline pilot who retired in 1992. He worked back in the 60s-70s-and 80s and times have changed in the industry since then. Yes, among other things I’m sure your father didn’t worry too much about terrorists slicing his throat with a boxcutter then flying his plane into a skyscraper. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > I think at one time being a FA was a good job, that was reletively easy (except for the drunks occasionally). Now, I think the job pays less, there are longer hours, more FAA regulations, more pissed off customers. I’m not sure how you think that - although judging from most of your post I’m not too sure you think much at all. The original flight attendants in the U.S. were required to hold R.N. degrees, among other talents. There’s quite a bit of physical labor involved in lifting baggage into and out of overhead bins. Their schedules (like those of pilots) play merry hell with the bodies natural rhythyms. The job actually pays _better_ these days, once you get senority. The maximum duty hours are actually LESS than they were in the 1960’s and 1970’s. They no longer have to suck up second hand smoke from chain-smoking passengers. The job is probably better now than it has ever been. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > I agree with the OP. They are SELLING drinks on a flight. Anyone who is SELLING drinks ought to have some damned correct change. Selling drinks is not anything new, they have always done this for alcohol in coach. They have _also_ always insisted on correct change. That, too, is nothing new. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > Flight Attendents in the USA think that they are vital people on a flight. They are vital only because the FAA requires them to be there for “safety” concerns, like showing you how to put on that oxygen mask and showing you the emergency exits. They are also the folks on board who know how to use the emergency defibrilator to jump-start your heart when you have a coronary over this “exact change for drinks issue.” Their emergency training is like having the fire department around - most of the time, you don’t need those skills, and hope to God you never do, but if you do, you’re damn glad to have those folks around. There’s also the idea that the FA’s are there to deal with the customers so the pilots can do _their_ main job - that’s is, fly the airplane rather than argue with drunks and assholes such as yourself. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > Now the airlines are going to charge money for food, which is good/bad. What is good I think is that the quality of the food will be better and the price for flights will go down HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! You’re kidding, right? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > These people are all union, so you end up with FA’s who look like Hillary Clinton and Cloris Leachman who have worked for these airlines since the 1960-70s. Back in my father’s day, most of these gals quit after 30-35, and got married. If your father was flying for the airlines as late as 1992, then it WASN’T like that most of his career. And a lot of those girls didn’t quit voluntarially. If you got married you HAD TO quit. You could be fired for going a single pound over the weight limit. You could be fired for having your hair too long or too short or not wearing your makeup as the company dictated or for really anything or nothing at all. If you got sick and missed a flight you could be fired. If you slipped and fell down and broke your wrist you could be fired. If you hurt your back lifting someone’s carryon you could be fired. If a customer pinched your ass hard enough to leave bruises you could be fired for telling him to stop that. You could be fired for refusing to fuck a male supervisor or other person higher in the food chain. That’s WHY they fucking formed a union, so they wouldn’t have to put up with being summarially fired anymore. But then, since you obviously feel that all females should be pretty to be easy on your delicate eyes, and be your personal doormat, you probably don’t give a fuck about that, do you? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > Now, because of the economy, both man and wife have to work, and the USA has strict age discrimination laws. I have flown on Korean and Japanese airlines where the girls are still 21-30, pleasant to look at, and happy to have their jobs (mostly). So, what you proposing? When a woman is 30 she has to stop working? We put a bullet through her head if she’s not pretty enough for you? Hey, newsflash - ugly people need to eat, too. So do folks over 30. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by E.T. Bass_ > Lastly, I went with my father on a trip. This was back about 1976-1978 or so) when the stewardess complained to my father about a drunk guy hassling them after he has been cut off. My father went back there and told the guy to sit down, shut up, or he was going to kick his ass off the plane. Now, my father is about 5’7" and weighed maybe 150 lbs and drunk dude was about 6 foot ansd about 190 pounds or so. But drunk dude got quiet. No air marshall required! Right, except that now if a pilot left the flight deck he’d be sacked - the door stays shut the entire flight. And see note about the quality of modern hijackers these days. You’re what? 14? 15? If not, quit acting like it. Other people are not put on this Earth solely for your convenience and pleasure. Get used to the notion that women are not here only to service your narcissitic little self, and you just are going to have to get to used to the idea that not everyone is 18 and beautiful. You’re pathetic. You’re pitiful. And those “Cloris Leachman” women are are laughing their asses off when they see your sad-sack-of-shit self coming down the road because you are such a _ridiculous_ and out of place figure with your 1950 attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/58 "2003-12-21T00:38:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \*\*\* Just because it’s on an airplane doesn’t change the basics of a retail situation. \*\* And the basic retail fact that applies here is that there is no other retail establishment selling drinks on that plane. So they don’t have to worry about you taking your drinks business elsewhere. (That’s why they can charge you $4-$6 for one beer in the first place!) Similar to the concession stand in a movie theatre, or in an isolated National Park Lodge. The airline has chosen to reduce its costs by not providing a change-making operation (and the accounting that would be needed for this). And apparently it works fine without it. As people said, it has been done this way for decades. Clearly _most_ drinking passengers have no problem finding exact change. And it would be easy enough for a FA to obtain change before a flight, it would save them the effort & delay of trying to find change while serving (though I don’t remember seeing any pockets on their uniform to hold it). That even experienced FA’s don’t bother indicates that it isn’t a big problem. As does the fact that, despite heavy competition, no airline has bothered to try to distinguish itself by advertising as the “exact change not required” airline. It just doesn’t seem to be a big problem for most passengers. P.S. Comparision to buses that require exact change. For most bus systems, the majority of their fares come from non-cash transactions (monthly passes, pre-paid cards, etc.) Those paying cash are generally not the regular bus customers–they are riding the bus only because their car broke down or something like that, and often would never think of taking public transportation on a regular basis. So why should the bus company go to the expense of adding a change system, the delay to others trying to get onto the bus, etc., just to serve the non-loyal, occasional customers? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/59 "2003-12-21T01:59:00Z")
While reading E.T. Bass’s post, I experienced _deja poo,_ that is, I had the feeling that I had smelled this shit before. So I checked, and sure enough, it’s our old friend crazy grady/shep proudfoot and a few other names. So, just in case y’all were WONDERING, that’s why he was banned. Lynn For the Straight Dope ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051/60 "2003-12-21T02:06:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*I’ve asked flight attendants before why they never have change, and have been told that the airlines are too damn cheap to give them a pre-flight float. So if they actually happen to have change, it has to come out of their own pockets. \*\* I totoally believe this, and I thinks it’s incredibly stupid. I can take a _train_ and the guy serving drinks has a little cash box with a modest, little float. **T-bonham** while I may be a “captive market” and can’t take my business elsewhere _mid-flight_, I can still refuse to be their patron - not buy a refreshment, and not fly their airline next time. I’ve seen flight attendants have to put up with incredibly stupid things, but they should still be able to maintain some decorum. When the pilot says “please remain in your seats with the seatbelt fashioned until we come to a full stop and turn on the lights” and some dumbass immediately stands up and opens the luggage compartment because he’s too stupid to follow the instructions he was _just_ told - then fine, he has earned some Martha Steward-sized bitchiness. But for a reasonable request, like change for a purchase the way you can expect from every other retail sales situation commonly experienced by everyone sitting on the plane, than an FA has no business being unreasonably nasty. I would have reported her to the airline and told I’d never fly with them again. So many of them are struggling that this is NOT what they want to hear. If they can manage the accounting required to take care of the sales balances, I’m sure that a float won’t cause too much of an accounting burden. **OP** : Dramamine (or Gravol) - for motion sickness - has some gloriously sedative effects, I found that it makes me so woozy that someone could say an alligator was loose under my seat and I would be too complacent to care. If flying makes you ancy, I highly recommend it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-flight-attendants-whats-your-problem-with-providing-fucking-change/220051.md?page=4)