And they wonder why we yell.

A friend of mine once worked at an airline counter. She took the job with grand visions of free flights to Tahiti and good benefits but only ended up with way too many working weekends and an ulcer. And even though it was a good job and there was room for advancement, she quit less than a year into the gig. Why? Because people were always yelling at her. Every day. Every flight. All the time. I remember her telling me, "You know, you want to really take the measure of a man? See how he reacts to a canceled flight or being bumped."

There is probably a lot of truth to those words. After all, travel these days is painful enough when it works the way it should. When it doesn't, it's just torture.

It would be nice to say that the blame rests with all those unruly passengers. But the truth of the matter is that airlines purposely overbook flights. In a recent New York Times article, the author discusses how and why airlines do it. But what's different now? You won't always get bumped from the 4:00pm to the 6:00pm flight. Instead, you may find yourself flying on the 6th of the month instead of the 4th as originally planned.

So in honor of my friend, next time you get bumped, don't yell at the counter agent. It won't make her work any better or faster. Write a letter to your airline and denounce their overbooking measures.