You call that a response?!

[lance_sibley]

I got the following from American Airlines today, in response to the email I sent them the other day, referenced in this entry. Note the bolded section:

September 27, 2006

Dear Mr. Sibley:

We appreciate your inquiry about a recent article that appeared in The New Yorker about reported events on one of our flights. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment.

As the world's largest airline, American Airlines served more than 80 million customers last year from all over the world and we are well-known for welcoming all customers. Our company has a solid reputation for fairness and equality in the workplace and marketplace. A careful review of the records for the reported incident indicates that the actions taken by our crew members were reasonable, non-discriminatory, and struck the right balance in maintaining a safe, comfortable,
and respectful travel experience for all passengers onboard the aircraft. Being a leader in diversity is challenging given our large and diverse customer base, but our commitment to welcoming all customers remains unchanged. Consistent with our leadership position, we frequently review our policies, procedures, and training to determine whether enhancements can be made to prepare employees to address a variety of social situations in a professional and respectful manner.

Again, thank you for contacting us. We will continue to work hard to ensure all customers enjoy a pleasant journey when flying with American Airlines.

This is an "outgoing only" email address. If you 'reply' to this message by simply selecting the reply button, we will not receive your additional comments. Please assist us in providing you with a timely response to any feedback you have for us by always sending us your email messages via AA.com at http://www.aa.com/customerrelations.

Sincerely,

Lisa Fields
Customer Relations
American Airlines

"Reasonable, non-discriminatory, and struck the right balance"??? Maybe in FundieWorld, but not anywhere I want to be. This has cemented my decision not to fly American Airlines in future.

I guess it was silly of me to hope that they might, you know, actually acknowledge that what they did was wrong.

---

Looking back, I realize that I didn't post last Friday night after bowling. It was a fun evening - part of that being due to it having been h8torun's birthday the day before, and so Mario and Randy brought a cake (cake is always good :) ). Bowling-wise, it was my best night of the season so far, though I still would have liked to have done better. IIRC, I had 145, 170 and 153 (or thereabouts; I can't quite remember exactly what my third game score was), and so I managed to get my average up to 150. Since it should be around 165, I'm still not completely satisfied.

I was supposed to go out with cuteteenboy afterwards but he asked if we could reschedule for Sunday evening, so I was going to stay home, but ended up going downtown anyway. I was standing near the pool table when I noticed a young guy wearing a sleeveless t-shirt who had a tattoo on his shoulder of an Eye Of Horus, which is an ancient Egyptian symbol. I used to have an Eye Of Horus pendant (I think I still have it around here somewhere, though I haven't worn it in years), so I walked over and complimented him on the tattoo. He then showed me the cartouche he also had on his hand, so I showed him my ankh and scarab beetle charms that I wear on a gold chain. Naturally, I asked him if he was a Stargate fan. *grin* He said that the original movie is his favourite of all time - and then said, "I was so jealous this summer - my best friend got to meet Michael Shanks at a convention!" When I told him that I co-chaired that con, his eyes got big and he exclaimed, "No way!"

Naturally, it turned out that he had a boyfriend. (Or, as he said, "He's not my boyfriend, he's my lover." Yeah, whatever. Six of one.)

So I wandered off and sat down on one of the benches near the front of the bar. He and his boyfriend lover came over and sat on my left a few minutes later, and then a few minutes after that, the guy sitting on my right started talking to me. He was so drunk, though, that it took him about 5 seconds to get his name out (and it wasn't a complex one, either). Horus-dude told him to get lost... and then they said goodnight and left a few minutes later. Argh.

Fast-forward to Sunday... I went downtown to meet cuteteenboy at the place where he works on weekends and we decided to go to Toby's at Yonge/Bloor for dinner. I suggested that we walk up Church Street, since we were nearby and the scenery is nicer. ;) Usually, when I'm out with him, I'm used to noticing guys checking him out, but this time, I was the one who got cruised, by a guy standing outside the bar Play with two friends. Go me.

Naturally, though, a few minutes after we started on our way, the sky opened up. Fortunately I had my umbrella, and it was big enough for both of us, but I was still soaked from the knees down. Still, I enjoyed dinner, despite the fact that they were showing wrestling on the big-screen TV there. (Why???)

The last few days have been pretty dull. I'm noticing my attempts to reset my body clock are slipping a little - I had been getting up around 10:30 and going to bed around 2:30-3:00 for the last week or two, but I spent two hours yesterday afternoon monkeying around with converting a 30 page Word document listing LGBT-themed panel topics into a web page, and it put me behind my usual schedule. So I ended up not going to bed until 5:30 this morning and got up around 1. I have to nip that in the bud before it becomes a habit again.

I've had no news yet this week from the recruiter regarding their attempts to convince ADP that they're missing the boat on my application. Tomorrow, it will be a week since I last spoke with him, so I'll call then to see if they've had any success in changing the mind of the person at ADP who made that decision. I've gotten a couple of interesting emails and phone calls recently, but they're all about positions outside of Toronto. One was a six-month contract in Montreal, and another was a position in Japan. If I weren't enrolled in these night classes at George Brown College that start in a couple of weeks, I might have been tempted by the Montreal contract. The position in Japan appears to be a permanent position, but a) I don't have the technologies they're looking for, and b) I'm not keen on picking up and moving halfway around the world.

Comments

[crusherdisciple.livejournal.com]

Just gotta love those form e-mails. And if I'm correct, AA is based in Dallas.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. I remember flying through Dallas on the way to Ontario, CA in 1987 to visit relatives.

Are you offering to phone them to complain, or contact a Dallas newspaper? :)

[crusherdisciple.livejournal.com]

Prolly wouldn't do much good. I'm sure they get phone calls from crazy Hippies in Austin all the time. ;0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Austin_Weird