American Airlines Steward Challenges Passenger. "Hit me!"

In no way am I condoning this behavior however, it seems that these events point to a spreading issue of a breaking point that is occurring at the point of contact between the corporations running the airlines and the people that they serve.
Mergers and the resulting reductions in the flight schedules have forced flight crews to constantly deal with overbooked flights, gate-scrambles to off-load and reload passengers, flight delays that daisy-chain down the line and through it all, it creates surly, unhappy passengers who are stuffed into closed metal tubes for hours with the only available face to vent...a flight attendant who has been called in on a day off to fly to another city for another week away from home.
We all booked our flights on websites with images of happy, friendly faces who we just saw laughing and playing on a web ad or the TV and expect that kind of reality when we get to the airport where we face long check-in lines, government agents who probe us and our belongings, stuffy waiting rooms, and over-priced food/drinks...then we board!

Be grateful if you are greeted with a smile when you do get on board and if not, keep in mind that it's not personal...they are just as frustrated as you.