An Asian woman, 32, recounted an “embarrassing” moment during onboarding at the airport on Reddit. However, she was able to have the last laugh in the end.
Her invisible disability and young looks have put her in several stressful and sometimes even awkward situations and the onboarding experience she recounted was no exception.
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Pre-boarding had begun
When the gate agent announced that pre-boarding would commence for those who need more time to board, including people with disabilities, the 32-year-old approached the gate with her ticket.
Her pass read ‘PREBOARD NOW,’” and she had to move past passengers waiting to be called to get to the gate.
The gate agent surprised her
When the woman presented her ticket to the agent, the agent refused to let her pass.
“The person at the gate said I couldn’t board. I pointed to where it said ‘preboard now’ and she said no, I had to wait for Group 5,” the woman wrote on Reddit.
A first-class couple was not so first-class
Embarrassed by the situation, she went back in line, and on her way back, a couple she’d said “excuse me” to laughed and remarked with, “I didn’t think so!”
“Like, as if I was dumb and just trying to board in front of other people,” she wrote.
She went to another employee for help
She went to another employee out of frustration. This employee asked her about the agent who wronged her and she pointed at them.
The second employee personally accompanied her to the gate where the woman was able to pass and pre-board successfully.
The woman didn’t take the couple’s comment silently
“I’m glad they did let me board early but like, I’m sitting on the plane so embarrassed. I’m going to cry. Tbh being disabled and looking like a kid is already embarrassing. I don’t even take public transit because people won’t get up for me in the disabled seats. Anyway. That’s it,” the woman said about the experience.
“P.S. made sure to say hi to the first class couple who laughed at me, as I boarded with them,” she triumphantly concluded.
Reddit users were sympathetic
Some users apologized to the woman for the unfair and discomforting situation, while others encouraged her to file a complaint against the airline for not letting her board, saying:
“If you’re pass said preboard and they didn’t let you preboard that is really messed up. File a complaint,” wrote one user.