I love my job.
Where else could I find such lessons in patience? Surely exposure to post-midnight departures, delays, line-ups, pushy security, crying babies, forced wake-up calls to eat airplane food, congested seating arrangements, silent elbow wars for armrest superiority, information break-down with ESL foreign nationals, more line-ups, more delays, more security, more airplane food, and still more to come would allow me to embrace one of life’s core values?
Perhaps it has and that, with the practical application of a core value, it pays one back in the end.
Through out the course of this 24hour + travel day I seemed to be thanked a lot “for my patience”. I know that’s stock lingo for the airline staff and everyone who’s ever put their ass in an airplane seat has heard it, but I liked to think that I was doing a fine job at practicing that patience. Helping confused looking or troubled people on a 3:00a.m. flight to Asia from Vancouver can be a regular occurrence. General politeness and no real concern for getting anywhere in a hurry allows one the opportunity to help out where one can.
I didn’t save anyone’s day or anything like that, but I may have been rewarded for 24 hours of patient traveling with a little bonus for the last few hours; which is why I have decided to write this post in the lavish surroundings of a Royal Brunei 767 Business Class row to myself.
Good Travel Karma can be very comfortable and it can come at a time when it’s most appreciated; it’s worth stockpiling!
Happy Travels.
