If someone says "all pilots are spolied rich men", would you throw him
out of your house/airport/business?

It doesn't matter what I would do. That I would not do so does not make
such a comment polite.

The comment you mentioned above about Jews is not the same as the
examples we are talking about., The sole purpose of that comment is
derogatory and is meant to offend someone. I would rate that comment
along the same line as Jay pounding his fist and shouting at the FBO,
both of which call for a 'throwing out'.

Uh.... no.

The comment I mentioned about Jews
-- "in my experience, Jews are all cheap *******s"
is quite similar to Jay's comment:
-- "those guys are the cheapest SOBs around!"

Suppose the exchange had been a little different. The FBO owner is
Jewish, her husband is a Rabbi, and Jay (unknowingly) says:
"Yeah, the only time the tanks don't get filled
at our place is when a Rabbi uses our van --
those guys are the cheapest SOBs around!"

I really don't see the difference.

Jay walked in with a superior attitude which came to light in this exchange.

He did a nice thing - filling the tank. But then, tipping a waitress is
also a nice thing, isn't it? How about tipping your doctor after an
exam? That's just not done, and a doctor would probably refuse (and may
even be insulted). Tipping is often seen as something one does to
servants; it helps reinforce class distinctions.

-- He replied that we "Didn't have to do that..."
He turned down the tip, in a sense.

-- "Yeah, the only time the tanks don't get filled
at our place is when charter pilots use our van --
those guys are the cheapest SOBs around!"

That is effectively saying that Jay is better than those SOBs because he
filled the tank. Since the FBO person was also a charter pilot, Jay
must be better than him.

Not that he meant to insult him, but that's how the person took it, and
that is fair enough. What Jay said was insulting, even if (nudge nudge
wink wink)...

Jay, instead of apologizing, =justifies= his insult, saying that they
aren't paid enough. That's an example of the "superior attitude" I
refer to. Accident chain in progress - he's talking to the guy who pays
the charter pilots.

Then to top it off, they add insult to insult, when after being
(justifiably) thrown out, Mary comments that "Avoiding this place
shouldn't be too hard."

It may come to pass that somebody will get Jay's goat at the hotel, and
Jay will throw that SOB out on his derrier, fully believing he's in the
right. I wonder what =that= story will look like.

Jay says:
It's a shame -- with all the problems facing GA,
small-town airports simply can't afford to have
FBOs driving off what little business they have

I say that it's a shame that Jay insults and demeans fellow pilots who
are struggling to make a living at flying, and who are probably quite
generous in other ways. I'd go as far as to say that just =being= a
charter pilot is an act of generosity in itself.

Jay says:
My mistake was in believing that I was sharing an inside joke with an
FBO owner and fellow courtesy car provider. At least yesterday, this
guy was a charter pilot first, and an FBO owner as an afterthought --
and he took the joke personally.

At this point the best thing that might happen is that he sits down
with his pilots, and drills into them that they should ALWAYS fill the
courtesy car whenever they use it.

His mistake was more arrogance. (at this point I'm talking more to Jay
than to Andrew) The best thing that might happen is that Jay realize
that people are =people= first, and "couresy car providers" last. There
is nothing wrong with being a charter pilot "first" and a business owner
second. I wouldn't call it an afterthought at all. That's another
insult you are hurling out at a fellow pilot, who for all you know may
actually pay his charter pilots very well and only run the FBO so that
he can do so.

Did you buy any avgas?
Not this time. However, airports are publically owned for a reason --
their primary impact is that they bring lots of dollars into the local
economy. Thus, the "business" this guy drove off was the $30 we spent
at the local restaurant, the $15 we spent at the local gas station
(filling HIS tank) plus any future business we could provide to his
FBO.

So, taking the other side for a moment, why should a charter pilot care
about filling the tank? That courtsey car is attracting all this
business to the city, so the FBO should be thrilled about that. You too
shouldn't care whether pilots fill up your grape. But you do - enough
to spread ill will about charter pilots (whom you profess to love) and
think yourself superior.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
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