Ok... 24Hrs and a gin & tonic later I've calmed down from yesterday's unpleasantness (thank you for allowing me the therapy of posting my cart rage incident!). I've thought this one thru a bit more, read the postings, and decided that we are all missing the real enemy that lies hidden underneath. The real enemy is... The Marketing Department. It is they that persuade customers that they will receive more in exchange for paying less and that they are individually the most important, educated and socially apt beings on the aircraft - all others are there to provide for them in some way or another.
So I'm changing my tune - we can't and shouldn't blame the customer (they've been promised the world and not unreasonably expect it as a result). I'm putting a global bounty of US$50 on the head of all airline marketing staff. Dust off that scope and go postal in your marketing department - the world will be a better place. To claim the bounty just send proof of your actions to my hotmail and the cheque will be in the post shortly.