The dawn of the human's guide...Part One

I had never really considered keeping a blog. One fateful day, however, changed my mind.

I was flying back from Las Vegas in late August. My connection was in St. Paul. After landing in St. Paul we found out that there was some major scheduling problem and basically everyone who had connecting flights missed them. An airline official had us all wait in line to reschedule connections and to set up hotel arrangements. It was about 9pm, so there weren't many outgoing flights left, if any.

I watched adult, after adult, after adult, turn into a 10 year old child. I was cut in line by at least 5 people. I didn't say anything, not because I lacked the heart, but because I had another plan. I continued to watch in amazement as all these people, most of them parents of children, suddenly viewed the world as revolving around them and their needs. All traits of civility, compassion, kindness, and sacrifice had long disappeared and were replaced by selfishness. People were cussing at officials who were trying to help us and saying how they were never going to fly with this carrier ever again.

So I watched each angry person in front of me yelling at the officials to give them what they wanted, only to see all of them denied their outrageous requests and sent to their Motel 8's. I was literally the last person in line. I looked at the name tag of the lady who was helping me, addressed her by name, and calmly stated my problem. I asked politely if she could squeeze me on a connecting flight to Indianapolis. I also vocally sympathized with the position she was in. She crunched some numbers, called a couple gates, and was able to put me on a connecting flight to Indianapolis. She said it was the last seat. Everyone else before me was too angry to actually effectively communicate to another human being, they just wanted to be mad at someone.

So as I was walking to my gate I had the opportunity of reflecting on the scenario that just happened. I saw parents and professionals abandon reason and thoughtfulness, succumbing to their first instinct of rage and self-righteousness. I was embarrassed for them. They were acting like they were part-time circus employees, running around, throwing their hands up, and yelling at the top of their lungs. When a crisis occurred, these particular people, most of whom I'm sure are perfectly reasonable and kind when things go according to plan, cared only about their immediate needs, unfortunately at the expense of others. No one was able to step outside the problem and self-analyze. Do these types of situations actually show the true nature of people? Who can say, but I hope not.