I’ve been doing a few signings and visiting in Edmonton so although I’ve neglected to post, I hope I’ve put together a good one for you here!
So here’s the question that just begs to be asked right now; WTF did everyone think things would look like the second after “reopening” following 2 years of flatline in the travel industry? I am, once again, surprised by humans (who are supposed to be slightly more evolved in rational thinking than the average blade of grass) as I watch them freak out because of the “problems” they are experiencing with travel.
With the exception of a couple of road-trips when all flights were grounded, I flew throughout the pandemic. I have family and friends in Edmonton and I have flown the Kelowna-Edmonton return trip about 20 times (and was even lucky enough to add in a trip to Hawaii through Vancouver) since the rest of the world locked down in March, 2020. Most of those flights were super cheap and experientially divine! Reduced seating meant more room for me and my long legs, short lines through check-in, security & boarding and more time to console the flight crews as they vented about what a nightmare their jobs had turned into. Because of my frequent-flyer status I was always bumped into premium seats so that meant even better service and free food & bev! There were a few schedule-change hiccups with flights that were amalgamated but other than the inconvenient closure of the premium lounges I have to say it all went about as good as could be expected, particularly under such unusually challenged circumstances. Most people just were not flying and although the travel industry took an epic beating, I was pretty darned happy through almost all of my flights.
So now, two years and thousands of airline industry layoffs later, Ewan McGregor waves the FOMO-travel banner and in that split second, everyone who can pull together cash or credit (or their saved CERB dollars) races to the airports to get wherever the heck they have got to go to RIGHT NOW. They get to the airports to realize that there’s fewer staff, longer lines and nobody is prepared to deal with the mob of tourists angrily demanding better service on their way to their destinations where they can look as happy as EWAN does on that beach. Their first-world-problem outrage is ridiculous! That former hockey player who did a selfie-video in the Toronto Airport doesn’t even realize how foolish and entitled he looks as he makes his lame speech about how terrible everything is.
I just got back on Saturday from yet another flying round-trip to Edmonton. Shortly before we were to start boarding the flight to Edmonton, there was an announcement that the flight going there was delayed by about 30 or 40 minutes, apparently because that plane was going to be late from it’s previous destination due to a delay somewhere in its multi-stop journey. I was right at the front of the waiting room, leaning on a glass wall texting, checking emails, e-sudoku, whatever, shit happens so get comfortable and just be nice, right? Wrong! Idiot supreme jumps up from his seat and storms right past me to the Westjet kiosk demanding to know more. She told him that was all the info she had and in a super-raised voice tells her (and the whole part of that room) that he has a connecting flight so he needs to get there on time. Again, she tries to calm him but he’s committed to making a scene (and a giant ass out of himself) and, even louder, states “I paid enough for this, you could at least get it right”. Wow. Like she did it, on purpose, just to mess with his almighty-important connecting flight. The packed and loud room was now much quieter as so many people tuned into this spectacle. I have to hand it to the employees who didn’t punch that moron in the face and tell him to “sit the **** down and shut the **** up”, like I really wanted to.
The media is, of course, all over it. Capitalizing on the anger of all the (entitled) travelers, they try to turn this event into a story of airline & airport employee incompetence. Well, that’s actually not what it is at all; it’s a story of “What happened to being kind?” like we’ve all been told to be for the last 2 years of REAL problems, not BULLSHIT problems like your holiday has a hiccup? Or what about the other real story, “What happened to all the employees?”. Maybe, if it’s time to un-mask, un-restrict, and un-stay-home it’s also time to un-benefit all those folks who smoothly transitioned from CERB to EI and can now be found lounging around in their parents’ basements. I have to say that I’m disappointed in the bad behavior of people, but I’m also really disappointed in the media, who has turned what is just really bad behavior into such a giant story of the fails of the travel industry who has been so brutally beaten down through the last 2+ years.
Ever the problem-solver, I’ve been thinking about this since I watched that jerk come unglued in the Kelowna Airport and I’ve come up with this checklist for travel It may not solve every problem but it may mitigate a few and offer perspective & tips to ensure smoother travel as the industry and world gets used to hosting the ugly public once again:
- If you want to travel, do it.
- Throughout your trip, whether you are in the airport, at a hotel (or B&B!!), restaurant or attraction, remember that your travel is elective, nobody held a gun to your head and forced this vacation on you. You chose to do this at exactly the same time everyone else did.
- Be prepared; your passport should be in your possession before you book your damn flight.
- Be smart; get to the airport VERY early and plan for ways to kill time while you’re there. There are plenty of places to lounge, shop, eat or just sit and read or (my favorite) people-watch.
- Try to remember that the employee (or B&B owner!!) you are barking at is probably not the one who created your problem, in fact, you are probably at the root of the blame for your problem so best to just sit the **** down and shut the **** up before someone punches you in the face lol.
- Just because the pandemic is “OVER” there is still a responsibility on you to be kind.
- If you think you can follow this list and you still want to travel, do it!
Have a lovely vacation and thanks for popping in!
s.