christep,
I don't think this is the best place to discuss security in detail, but perhaps someone who is not authorised to fly and who therefore doesn't have a boarding pass, might be trying to get on to my flight... or someone with a domestic boarding pass might be trying to board my international flight to flee the country.
But, no, we're not worried about poor Mrs O'Reilly getting a bit lost without her glasses and trying to board the flight to Bucharest instead of Belfast. But still better to help her at the door rather than at the 'Ladies and Gentlement, welcome to Bucharest' stage. Don't you agree?
We're not the only line of defence, but rather we work with the airport security and gate staff to make sure everyone is getting to the right place. Yes, some airlines operate differently, but the cabin crew are still the
last line of defence to stop someone who is not authorised to board from entering. And as we're the one's who'll be flying on the plane, and the ones responsible for safety and sorting out any problems in the cabin, we like to take extra special care and insist we see your boarding pass. If someone does manage to get on the plane without a boarding pass or the wrong boarding pass, it's of course the cabin crew who get the blame.
As for stress, I, too, absolutely hate travelling as a passenger. I know it's an awful experience. However, whilst I know what air-travel entails, it still doesn't really mean you can be rude to the poor cabin crew for doing their job - it is the first time they are meeting you, and the first time they are seeing the boarding pass. Why not take the opportunity to smile and make a good impression? They'll probably be smiling even though you might be the 500th person they've said hello to, and it might be after having already worked 10 hours after having woken up at 5am...
I'm not defending the sometimes rather chaotic conditions in airports, nor am I saying all passengers should know (no number of announcements or signs will be able to inform everyone), but for those who are reading this, I recommend you keep your boarding pass handy... It is, after all, quite literally, a "BOARDING PASS"... something you'll probably need for BOARDING...
