That prompts the requisite "do you know who I am" joke...
It was the Christmas Eve, and the holiday season was in full tilt. On top of that, several flights had been canceled or delayed, so the backup of passengers was almost unbearable.
At one of the flight terminals, where the agents had been working 12 hours straight, an incredibly long line of disgruntled passengers waited to board their plane.
A man in a grey silk suit, with a fresh, tidy way about him and a flushed, angry face, stomped all the way to the front of the line and handed his ticket to the agent, as though no one else was there.
The agent pushed the ticket to the side just slightly, and, without acknowledging the man, continued to accept the next passengers in line.
"I have got to get on that plane, right now," the man said in a concescending, authoritarian voice, and pushed the ticket back.
"Sir, you will have to wait your turn," The agent pushed his ticket back toward him and continued processing the other passengers.
"I TOLD you, I must get on that plane. Give me a ticket already!" The man was getting irate.
"Sir, if you will please step back in line--" The ticket agent was accepting the next passenger's ticket and motioning the man impatiently to the end of the line.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???" The man's face had ballooned up with rage.
The agent looked at the man calmly, then picked up the intercom receiver.
The attendant stared at the man for a moment, then leaned into her intercom microphone. "Ladies and Gentleman, may I have your attention please? We have a lost man at gate A14 who does not know who he is. If anyone here knows who he is, please come to gate A14."
The man looked at her and snarled "F*** you!"
The attendant smiled back and said, "You'll have to stand in line for that, too."
In following the thread, I ran into Earl Klugh (jazz guitarist) at a club in Detroit... when I sat in with the band, they then called him up to play as well.
He was a lot better than me...
