A friend of mine travel home on holiday last Tuesday from Africia where she is a missionary nun. The last leg of her travel was from Stansted Airport to Dublin with Aer Lingus. When the hostess came round with the trolly my friend ask for a cup of coffee. She only had Africian currency which the hostess wouldn't take. The coffee was to cost €2.00 which she didnt have so the hostess took the coffee back. Isnt it sad that things are that tight within Aer Lingus. Welcome to the new Ireland.
Cup of coffee from Aer Lingus
- Thread starter Megan
- Start date
To be fair, taking the cup of coffee back off a missionary nun with only african currency does seem a bit mean! All for Aer Lingus having cheap fares and charging for refreshments but there is still such a thing as customer service or common decency.
Me neither. Especially the bit about her being a missionary nun. Maybe missionary nuns can't go 45 minutes without coffee or something?
I don't see it as mean. They are selling the coffee and if any customer can't pay for it then they can't have it. If they start making exceptions then everybody will want it for free. A person's occupation/vocation is irrelevant to this transaction. Was your friend upset by this too? If so why didn't s/he stump up the €2 to pay for the nun's coffee maybe? On a tangential point I welcome a new Ireland in which people don't automatically grant respect to others just because of their job/vocation/beliefs/status etc.
Her friend was the nun so I presume she was upset! And I can't imagine the whole plane refusing to pay because one old woman with only African currency was given a cup of coffee by a kind air hostess.
Oilean Beag
Registered User
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Did anyone on the plane not at that point offer to pay for her cup of coffee for her ?
I recall once, when I was student , a very kind nun giving me the 50c I needed for my bus fare when I got on a bus to Heustion without realising I was short the fare in coins.
In that situation I did not expect the bus driver to let me stay on the bus. He would be doing in his job in asking to get off, fair enough. What it illustrates is the small kindness of strangers ( in this case a nun), which is one of the lovely things about Ireland.
Perhaps this is diminishing as time goes on.............
I recall once, when I was student , a very kind nun giving me the 50c I needed for my bus fare when I got on a bus to Heustion without realising I was short the fare in coins.
In that situation I did not expect the bus driver to let me stay on the bus. He would be doing in his job in asking to get off, fair enough. What it illustrates is the small kindness of strangers ( in this case a nun), which is one of the lovely things about Ireland.
Perhaps this is diminishing as time goes on.............
Fully agree with you on the kindness of strangers part. Just think that taking the coffee back off her after realising she had no money was a bit OTT considering if was obviously a genuine mistake on her part and not some grand scheme to defraud the airline of €2. It would be like the bus driver driving on while you looked for change and when realising you didn't have the fare, turning the bus around and dropping you off at your original stop. Wouldn't put it past some Bus Drivers come to think of it!
SlurrySlump
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I am sure the nun knew only too well that African currency would not be acceptable.
True but she mightn't have even known that she had to pay anything. Maybe last time she flew with them they offered a free beverage. Who knows. Maybe she was just chancing her arm in which case she got what she deserves
The only medical missionary nun I know is a consultant doctor!
Maybe she's an infrequent traveller, and didnt know that with low-cost airlines you now have to pay for beverages.
That is a bit mean - what did the air hostess so with the cofee afterwards - pour it back into the big jug?
A bit of goodwill never hurts.
A while ago I was on a night-time AerLingus flight to Dublin, and bought a sandwich. I only had my credit card with me and apologised to the airhostess for not having cash (which is handier for her).
So she very nicely said that it was the last flight of the day, if the sandwiches were not sold on that flight, they would just go into the bin, so she gave it to me for free! I was delighted (and wished I had ordered a few bottles of wine aswell! )
That is a bit mean - what did the air hostess so with the cofee afterwards - pour it back into the big jug?
A bit of goodwill never hurts.
A while ago I was on a night-time AerLingus flight to Dublin, and bought a sandwich. I only had my credit card with me and apologised to the airhostess for not having cash (which is handier for her).
So she very nicely said that it was the last flight of the day, if the sandwiches were not sold on that flight, they would just go into the bin, so she gave it to me for free! I was delighted (and wished I had ordered a few bottles of wine aswell!
)Its 10 years since she was home. She works on the ground with the poorest of the poor. The hostess wouldn thave known she was a nun other then she was dressed in dark grey clothes. She doesnt wear a veil.
Had I being with her naturally I would have paid for her coffee. The plane was quite empty and there was no one sitting next to her. I should have said the fllght was from Heathrow and not Stansted.
AT no stage did she make it know she was a nun and never does as she doesnt believe she should be treated any different because she is a nun.
She really is out of touch with how Ireland as changed.
She even mention to the hostess when she was getting on the plane that when she saw the Aer Lingus plane she felt she was home - she soon found out that its a different Ireland now.
G
Guest127
Guest
some people still do step forward. Cu junior number 2 is in dcu and he was getting on the bus back to dundalk a few months ago and had only €5 on him. didnt realise that while the return was €10 the single was €7. he was just asking the driver when it changed etc and said that two or three people on the bus came forward with the €2. ( probably wanting to get him I know but all the same he appreciated it.) hes 18 and should have known the fares as hes on the route twice weekly, unlike the nun who only saw Ireland through melancholy eyes. well opened now.
( this has nothing to do with the post but it might give someone a laugh. Bus Eireann charge €14 for the return journey and ......................................................€5 for the single.)
( this has nothing to do with the post but it might give someone a laugh. Bus Eireann charge €14 for the return journey and ......................................................€5 for the single.)
Z
z105
Guest
It wasn't Aer lingus or it wasn't Stansted as Aer Lingus don't fly into/out of Stansted.
Sorry, I see this has already been mentioned
Sorry, I see this has already been mentioned
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Are we being a little hard on the flight attendant? After all we weren't there and she hasn't been asked for her side of it. If she was a trainee for example she might not have the nous to make such a decision herself. I'm not kidding. One of the biggest changes I've seen since competition forced down the costs of flying is that the quality of the training has reduced. I was on a flight recently where the 2 young AL ladies in charge of the trolley took the orders, served the beverages etc without missing a beat in their animated conversation and without making eye-contact with their customers . Nary a 'please' or a 'thanks'. They could have been forking out hay to a bunch of cattle in a stable. I don't think flight attendants are being trained anymore to think for themselves.