a real-life story....

An award should go to the United Airlines gate agent in Denver,
Colorado, for being smart and funny and making her point when
confronted with an angry passenger. During the final days at
Denver's old Stapleton airport, a crowded United flight was
canceled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced
travelers.

Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped
his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this
flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS."

The agent replied, "I'm sorry sir. I'll be happy to try to help you,
but I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able
to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the
passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea who I am?"

Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public
address microphone. "May I have your attention please?" she began,
her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger
here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him
find his identity, please come to the gate."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man
glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and swore, "F--- you!"

Without flinching, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll
have to stand in line for that, too."

The crowd applauded - and the errors of United were forgotten in a
moment of almost universal bliss.