[Melu]

Personal on-demand TV system?! Uh - not on that flight... They didn't even have pull-down monitors overhead, just the big monitor at the bulkhead where the contrast was so dark that one couldn't even see any of the faces of the actors. Don't know how passengers managed who were sitting further in the back... Not that the one single movie they showed was worth it in the first place, followed by hours of old Frasier shows...

Also, yes, of course it was bumpy. But what was that little old lady to do who was seventy-something years old (guesstimate on my part) who eventually needed to go to the lavatory after having stayed put for close to 2 hours? Pee in her seat? I have been on many flights, domestically als well as internationally but I have never ever had flight attendants bark and scream orders like these folks did. This is where training and professionalism comes in, IMHO. If a flight attendant can't handle situations like these well, how on earth is he/she going to cope with a real emergency? And this wasn't my first bumpy flight either where someone needed to go to the bathroom... I never ever witnessed such screaming before.

As a matter of fact, on my last flight to Germany with Lufthansa in Aug 08, I had a conversation with one of the flight attendants because a group of tourists had "congregated" a few rows behind us. They got increasingly louder and almost started to sing songs. After I mentioned to the flight attendant that this wasn't allowed on, let's say, American, she replied with a smile(!): "It really isn't allowed here either. But I am required to be polite and if I am too harsh and someone complains about me, I am in trouble." While I recognize that safety is very important, so are manners. Please remember that many people don't fly all the time, are tired, stressed out and/or plain confused with all the new things around them. Don't treat the elderly and infrequent flyers like criminals, is all I am asking. If Lufthansa can do this, so can US Airways.