Influence Peddling From the Aisle Seat

The Washington Post's Metro section contained an amusing first-party account of a federal employee's attempt to persuade a flight attendant to give his boss a seat upgrade. The story concludes:

After a while, I smiled back, grateful she'd anticipated the public scandal and spared me (and the boss) the subpoenas, rounds of congressional testimony and ignominious letter(s) of resignation my little influence-peddling scheme might have wrought.

This story could serve as an introduction to training on 5 C.F.R. 2635.702, "Use of public office for private gain."