No Service Here

I am spoiled. Okay? I admit it. My husband travels a lot. A whole lot. And, he has acquired the coveted "Platinum Status" on one airline, which I won't reveal, but whose name starts with a "C" and ends with an "l" and there is an o-n-t-i-n-e-n-t-a in the middle. With all of his flying, he enjoys this status and I enjoy it too. I freely admit I like the priority luggage handling, not to mention that I can take 2 bags for free, and they don't even get hinky if I bring extra shoes and the bags are a bit heavy. I appreciate the free first class upgrades, the early boarding and the free drinks in the President's Club while we wait for our flight. In short, I enjoy the pampering, I relish the *service*.
But honestly, shouldn't good service be expected with the purchase of every ticket? I understand the drive for certain perks for people who fly often, it reinforces loyalty in an industry that is largely ruled by price. However, even though I personally don't fly a lot, if I pay several hundred dollars for a seat, don't I have the right to expect a certain level of accommodation as well?
Part of the trouble stems from downsizing the airline workforce to cut costs. And, I get that, I'm a capitalist girl. Why pay 10 people to do the job when 5 can reasonably handle it? Here's the rub though. No one seems to take pride in their work anymore. As we were struggling in Memphis trying to find an alternate flight for our delayed one, we were directed over and over to the self serve kiosk. Now, I don't have any innate issue with using a machine EXCEPT when said machine is not programmed to assist with my problem. Repeatedly we tried to get one of the kiosk "assistants" (I use the term loosely, but to be fair they *were* assisting, well, assisting each other with gossip), but they pointedly ignored us until finally I started to lose it, and one lady ambled over and said "oh yeah, you have to go to "special services" for that. Anyone know how Delta defines "special services"? If you guessed "an empty counter with no one working", then ding, ding, ding you win the prize. And through all this I couldn't help but wonder where the idea of service has gone. Why did not one of those employed "assistants" bother to see what was wrong *before* we missed our SECOND flight option ? Why did none of them call for a manager to help? Why did no one *care* that we spent $2300 only to be delayed 5 times on 4 flights, have 2 flights canceled, and spend and unreasonable amount of time looking for someone competent enough that was willing to do their job? I'm not sure I can blame *any* company for replacing workers like that with machines.
So, as I get ready to undertake another trip, I am comforted by the fact that *this* time I can expect to be treated well, that my luggage (both bags) checked early, will be first off the plane and there will always be someone there ready and willing to fix any problems that crop up, because of course this time, I'm traveling with Mr. Million Miles. But, I will be looking for the familiar frustrated face of the poor soul who, lacking this elite status, battles for someone, anyone to provide him with the service he also paid for.