Hi,
Jim, I agree that there is a lot of things that CAN be done (and I say to differentiate from what MUST be done-- can is discretionary, must means required) in these situations..
As I mentioned earlier, I think you and I are of the same general mindset that bringing up insurance-- at that point-- would generally not be a productive thing to do.. I would liken it to the notion that your house is on fire.. you call the fire department/brigade.. they show up and rather than turn on the water, they ask you if you had or have insurance.. at that specific point in time, with the house on active fire, is not the right time to be asking about that..
Kind of the same way.. Yes, there is a valid point to be made about having insurance.. but to bring it up right then and there I think could be seen in a bad light (as it appears the OP has taken it) but I also think, without the benefit of being there to see/hear the conversation, that the INTENT was not one of disrespect, intentionally designed to be insensitive or the like..
This does not negate how the OP felt about or viewed it, only that in my mind, there is somewhat a difference between someone who asks or does things FULL WELL knowing they will be seen as such, versus someone who simply did so based on bad timing or the like.
My only other take away is this.. and it's not a reflection to the OP or the like.. I will say that there IS a minority percentage-- and again, yes it IS a small percentage-- of the population out there who does actively seek to abuse (that's knowingly and with malice) these kinds of discretionary waivers.
I've seen first hand examples of a person who claimed a variety of emergencies-- only to see that they've flown the very next day or otherwise, even after their stated emergency required their presence on the ground.
I've been in more than my share of meetings where things like this-- an optional wavier policy-- were discussed and the issue of "how do we administer this?" question is raised.. and commonly the issue of since a few have/are/do abuse it, how do we address this? is asked.. and the (unfortunate) answer is in many cases, to simply say no to all..
I don't personally think this is the right way to deal with it.. since we all know it not EVERYONE who is abusing it, but I can also cede that it is important to root out those who are abusing it... and sometimes the overall easier way to be consistent in the matter is to simply say no.
Travel Safe,
|