There’s nothing like an
airport for reminding you that you’re not in charge. Of anything, really.
Except how you behave.
In fact, you can tell a lot
about people by how they behave at the airport. And when a flight is canceled,
you can tell even more. (Have you guessed that I am writing this while sitting
at the airport after my flight has canceled? I hope to be on my way in about 7
hours…)
When I called my airline-executive husband for
a little behind-the-scenes help getting scheduled for a later flight, he said, “A good day in the airline
business is when you only piss off hundreds of people. Not thousands.”
I shared
that with the other stranded folks in line next to me. Only a few of them saw
the humor, and those were probably flight attendants traveling incognito and
stand-by on their day off. What do they care about canceled flights? They just
roll to the list for the next one, willing to sit in a jump seat if need be.
And then they pick up a latte or some frozen yogurt.
So I guess this is how I
behave…I try hard not to cry and think about how to turn it into an essay. You
have no idea how many times in the average day I turn to this coping mechanism. With more success sometimes than others.
But standing in the angry/dejected/frustrated line,
watching 150 people who were all screwed
to varying degrees, I decided it’s not the worst way to cope. All the tantrums
in the world aren’t going to make the plane go, and they aren’t going to make
the gate agent work harder to get you a seat on the next flight either.
The woman in line next to me
was infinitely more screwed than I was. I was just trying to get home to let
Cooper out. She is a pediatric heart specialist on her way to a morning interview
with a group of surgeons in Atlanta for a prestigious and coveted spot in their
practice. And there was not another way to get from here to Atlanta tonight.
But instead of throwing a fit, she chatted about growing up in Iowa, the best
places to eat in Chicago, the weather in Seattle, and the beauty of Vancouver
BC, with the people around her. She had a great smile, generously shared. In
the end, we laughed, we all said “this sucks,” and we shook hands and said
“good luck!” when we parted ways.
It reminded me that it’s okay
not to be in charge; even when you think you are, you’re only forgetting that
you aren’t. Because that’s what it all comes down to. It’s a giant exercise in
learning to roll with it. Whatever it is.
And an exercise in doing so with as much
grace as possible. Meanwhile acknowledging that everyone around you is not only
subject to the same frustrations you are, they may actually have it worse.
And therefore treating them accordingly. And that includes the gate agent.
Just say "wheeeee," metaphorically speaking. And get some frozen yogurt while you're waiting for things to improve. It's a lot more fun that way.