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A few days before Christmas, I was scheduled to fly on theairline I have nearly 2 million frequent-flier miles with. Badweather in one of the airline's hub cities had caused ahorrendous backup, and there was such a mess at the airline'scounters that it soon became obvious that most of us standing inline would miss our flights. After talking to the person at thecounter three times, I finally asked to talk to a supervisor--onenever appeared, and I missed my flight. I contacted customerservice and was told it wasmyresponsibility to make sure Igot on the plane. (Should I have rushed the counter? I still wonderwhat I could have done without getting arrested.) I sent anothere-mail to someone who I thought was a different customer-serviceperson and received a reply which began, "I guess youdidn't like my answer . . . ."

Several weeks ago, articles editor Charlotte Jensen was eatingout with a friend when she found a rather large, dead roach in hersalad. Not wanting to make a fuss, she told the server, who removedthe plate. When he returned with the dinner plates, he lied andtold Char it was a root, not a bug. Unable to finish her meal, sheasked for the check. When he brought the bill (the restaurantcomped the salad but charged for the rest of the meal, though muchof it remained uneaten) he said, "I'm so, so sorry. Atleast it was dead. You know we cannot control everythinghere."