Flight delays are frustrating and time consuming. They send stranded passengers on a mad cycle of phone calls, emails, texts, Facebook messages, overpriced bottled water, lots of Starbucks and Auntie Annie's salty pretzels.
But there is also something beautiful that comes out of a flight delay – people bond and form friendships – almost cult like – they unite, commiserate and share deep thoughts about the weather.
Before you know it you are telling all sorts of “Gate Strangers” where you are from and whether your favourite show is "Dragons Den", "Shark Tank" or "Honey Boo Boo".
The funny thing is that if your flight was not delayed chances are the only thing you would say to anyone on the plane would be “Excuse me – I just need to get to my seat” or a gesture that says “That’s my seat – right there – next to yours so can you please get up and let me by and whatever you do – don’t talk to me.”
This is George Clooney deciding whether he should have a caramel crunch hot airport pretzel or a honey mustard extra salty hot airport pretzel. Which one do you think he should have?
I have experienced flight delays where people are sharing photos of their kids and husbands and wives (but not their mother-in-laws) and I’ve witnessed romances forming right there in those plastic metal seats that aren’t big enough for even the tiniest of people.
The exception to the rule is that one very angry passenger who spends their entire life being angry. Their faces turn red as they continuously verbally abuse the airline staff. They are in utter disbelief that no one is able to stop the wind from blowing or the snow and rain from falling.
They become the bully in the schoolyard (which is really an airport) until the flight delay ends and they board the plane with the "Love Fest" that has formed among the other passengers.
I always wonder if these irritable, unhappy individuals ever calm down enough to realize they have gone too far.
The other thing about flight delays is that once we arrive at our destination we pretty much forget about the whole thing and switch into automatic going about our business and doing whatever it is we went there to do.
We do a lot of waiting in our lives. We wait to receive medical care. We wait for our turn at the ATM. We wait at the pharmacy. We wait at the grocery store. We wait at restaurants.
We wait for our lives to get better or worse. We wait for the right person to come along and tell us that they love us and really mean it. We wait for our children to grow and evolve and find their place in this crazy world.
We wait for test results that may set our entire lives off course.
We wait for the right time and the right place to say things we aren’t quite sure how we are going to say.
But mostly we wait for things to happen that we can’t make happen ourselves.
Sooner or later the wait is over.
We get what we waited for whether it's good or bad, happy or sad and then we chew on one of those hot airport pretzels...
...and we sit there and wait for whatever we are going to be waiting for next.
Voyages Groupe Ideal - Ideal Travel
We are there for our clients if they have a flight delay - We are there for them all the way.
Yours in Social Media & Travel lisacohen@groupeideal.ca
We plan travel at www.groupeideal.ca
We get what we waited for whether it's good or bad, happy or sad and then we chew on one of those hot airport pretzels...
...and we sit there and wait for whatever we are going to be waiting for next.
Voyages Groupe Ideal - Ideal Travel
We are there for our clients if they have a flight delay - We are there for them all the way.
Yours in Social Media & Travel lisacohen@groupeideal.ca
We plan travel at www.groupeideal.ca
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