And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in thi

And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in this scenario). At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first. Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.