First Janice Hough shared her thoughts on entitled travelers.
Then, Christopher Elliott enlightened us about the traveler whose letter to an elite passenger was published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. So, now it’s my turn to talk entitlement.
This Thanksgiving, I’m declaring that the “pain in the butt” passenger is going out of style. I know there still are many of them out there, but the number of polite, grateful and helpful passengers around the world is growing by the minute. Some airlines and airport personnel are also seeing the benefits in joining this more positive movement. Evidently, kindness is contagious too.
As the madness of holiday travel begins, join the movement by entering the crowded spaces with a spirit of patience, compassion, and oh yeah, Thanksgiving.
Spread the spirit. Travel Gracefully.
Jason Barger is an author, speaker, consultant and creator of the Step Back from the Baggage Claim movement.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great video!
As the madness of holiday travel begins, join the movement by entering the crowded spaces with a spirit of patience, compassion, and oh yeah, Thanksgiving.
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This made me smile. In any given month, I can fly some 30 to 40 flights. Each flight is different. You work with different co-workers, you go to different locations, have different pilots up front and you can have different passenger types in the back. After a few transcon’s back to back, it can take a toll on your body and mind. Just this week, after a long trip, I encountered a large group of BIKERS and their families coming from the islands to Syracuse, NY. They definitely SET THE TONE on our flight. All tanned faces, had a wonderful week in the caribean, joyous, happy and in good company. Before I knew it, I was joking too. Joining in on the fun. I thought, what a great way to start the thanksgiving holiday AND end my long trip of 24 HOURS in the air in 4 days. We mentioned the temperature in SYR, they all groaned and laughed.
As they left the aircraft, I wished them all a safe ride home and reminded them, there’s no place like home and they would all sleep well that night.
THEY’RE JOY WAS CONTAGIOUS.
I don’t know if its appropriate to share stuff like this here, but your article reminded me of a blog post I just read this week – here is a story of people being kind while flying: http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/2009/11/kindness-of-strangers.html
This story made me vow to be a more compassionate traveler, for sure.
What a great concept.
I hope to become more patient while traveling.
Thank you for the reminder, but I think it’s a shame that people have to be reminded to be kind and considerate of others in ANY situation. Maybe we can start a “pay it forward” movement to spread congeniality. A smile is contagious . . . let’s start an epidemic!