I know the Pandemic is not over. I’m traveling again, almost like it’s back to normal. 3 cities last week, 6 airports, 4 different hotels. Felt like Fall 2019! Well, almost.
You see, going through the Pandemic, I found myself very fortunate. Personally and professionally, I’ve come out on the backside of the Pandemic feeling extremely fortunate and grateful of where I find myself. So, I promised myself I wouldn’t get frustrated or have travel stress. Prior to the Pandemic when I traveled, you would run into mean people, bad employees, weather issues, poor service, long lines, etc.
All of it caused stress and frustration, and quite frankly made travel kind of pain in the ass.
But, I’ve got a new outlook on life. Traffic jam? No problem, I’ve got so many podcasts I want to catch up on, plus, it gives me extra time to catch up with people on a live call! Delayed flight? Oh, I really needed to get some writing done, this is perfect! Long line at the rental car desk? No big deal, look at the one employee working her butt off, I need to make sure to tell her how grateful I am at her showing up today and making sure I got on my way!
Sounds very life coachy of me, right!?
It all lasted about one flight!
Turns out, I can tell myself that none of this will stress me, but then I ran into people! You know just normal people who are trying to also get out on long awaited vacations and meetups with family they haven’t seen in so long. I mean really stupid, dumb people who have forgotten completely how to travel. Like, OMG, look, that’s an aeroplane! Let me stand right in the middle of this walk way with a suitcase that’s two big blocking everyone from moving on to their flight!
My scientific assessment of the situation is Covid-19 made people dumber when traveling. Like we took 12-18 months off of traveling and I completely forgot what to do. Wait, I can’t have a can of gasoline in my carryon luggage!? Why not!? This is America! And my rental car in Jacksonville might not have gasoline!
It’s not just air travel. Have you noticed how people drive right now? I mean pre-pandemic is what bad, but now almost everyone seems to be a complete imbecile when it comes to operating a vehicle. It’s almost like states just gave out driver’s licenses during the pandemic by mail! Like just send us a check and a picture and we’ll send you back a valid driver’s license! I’m sure you know how to drive, we believe you, it’s a Pandemic, why would you lie!
What was my tipping point?
I’m a Delta guy. I’ve almost already hit Diamond status this year and it’s the end of June. The one thing I hate about every airline is how they jam you on the plane knowing it’s not going to take off, but they want their on-time departure. I’ve learned to live with this, again, more time for me to catch up on stuff. But this week, Delta did this to me for an hour and half. Why? Because they knew they couldn’t get someone to fuel the plane, but let’s just all sit here and wait. One fueler for the entire Detroit airport on a Saturday morning. I get it, no staff, we’re doing the best we can. I truly appreciate that dude, but this was the end of a long week of travel and little issues like this one.
I failed myself, but I vow to keep trying. The premise stays the same, I live a blessed life, I’m the one making these choices to travel knowing the world is far from back to normal. I promise I’ll keep trying.
In the mean time, people please stop trying to be stupid! Get your sh*t together. Understand there are other people around you again. You’re not stuck in your house by yourself. Pick up your pace a bit. Did I mention stop being stupid?
Yeah, this won’t last long…
Delta is the WORST!! You might want to change your approach there. We experienced 6 hours on the tarmac and a total of 32 hours at JFK with 45 high schoolers! I definitely wasn’t my best self in this situation…but you know what? The kids were. They were playing games and singing and laughing. We could learn a thing or two from carefree teens. They kept US in check while we’re we’re dealing with the situation.
When it comes to long lines as long as they appear to be working diligently I’ll respond to their “I’m sorry about the delay” with “That’s OK. I can see you’re really busy and working hard.”
Then again, I have the luxury that minor delays won’t significantly effect my plans.
The worst part of the pandemic is all the drivers back on the road. During the pandemic I could do the drive from home to work and back without having to be my worst self and tailgate everyone who thinks the speed limit actually means drive 10 miles under. I give myself a pep talk every morning that I’m the one who’s going to be hurt or killed because of my road rage but it lasts until I meet the first driver who ticks me off. I miss the days of being jealous of everyone who was collecting unemployment…
It’s also an example where a customer service measure “on time departure” actually conflicts with customer satisfaction. I hate the saying if you want something done “measure it”, because you may not get what you actually want. I like the saying be careful what you measure, you may actually get it…. and the unintended consequences. But some how we feel we have to distill the complex in a quick and easy measure.