sorry to hear of your 'mistreatment' by a member of the british public!! it all sort of echoes what's been posted in the last few pages!
it's basically laughable that...EVEN wearing brut, you are still treated so poorly on return to 'blighty'.. do you think that a 'clean pressed uniform' would of made any difference though? i used to work at a major uk airport and know for a fact that (in those days anyway!) the check in staff got a slice of any excess baggage they 'did' someone for, so unless you came across some young filly that was a real 'man in uniform' freak, i still would of thought you would be a few quid lighter....
you mention our american friends, and i totally agree that they really know how to look after not only their own, but us too!
i went to LA from Las Vegas once and we got treated to '2 flights for the price of one!' now ok i realise that it was maybe still more expensive than some of our own 'budget airlines' but this was well before their conception..
we even used to get ' anything for a dollar in mcdonalds'.... plate fulls i tell you!!!!
oh well, as someone else has said, the guys and girls in uniform these days have absolutely no chance from anything even remotely like what they would get from our US friends...
regards
J6T