Last week was one of those traveling weeks that I just dread. I was scheduled to speak in a different city nearly every day of the week. That meant I slept unusual hours. (My earliest presentation was scheduled for 7:30 a.m., requiring a 4:30 a.m. wake-up. Ugh!!!) And throughout the week, I never once fully unpacked. It also meant that even a little bit of inclement weather could disrupt an entire schedule and send my week into a tailspin.

Anyone who has flown lately will not be surprised to read that I did encounter a bit of bad weather. On Wednesday evening, my flight from Chicago to Orlando was delayed. That’s hardly newsworthy. What is worth mentioning are some events that took place on that flight and the lessons I learned.

 

Because of the number of miles I fly with United, I am able to board most flights with that airline early. I did so that evening. As soon as I took my aisle seat, I stuck my nose deep into my newspaper and tried to get caught up on the previous day’s events. Rather quickly, the seats around me filled. First, a gentleman slid into my row and took the window seat. Then, another gentleman took the aisle seat across from me. And soon the plane was pretty well filled.

 

Then Halle, a 20-something blonde beauty, walked on . . . carrying several pieces of luggage, a soda and talking non-stop on her cell phone. Halle threw her soda and handbag onto the middle seat next to me and then moved further down the aisle. Eventually, she attempted to lift her suitcase into the overhead bin. All the time she continued her cell phone conversation. Despite her best efforts, Halle couldn’t quite maneuver her luggage into the overhead bin. It started to fall upon another seated passenger, three of us rushed to catch the suitcase before it boinked his head, and all of us shouted, “Put your cell phone down.” Halle burst into tears, and with a bit of venom in her eyes, looked straight at me and said, “I can’t. I’m talking to my fiancée, who is in Iraq, and I haven’t spoken to him in ten days.”

 

Halle took her seat. I took mine. She continued her cell phone conversation. I am embarrassed to admit I overheard her tell her fiancée, “And I’m seated next to this horrible, rude woman . . . . Yes, right next to her.” I also noticed that she continued to look about the airplane and suddenly realized she was hoping to be reseated. Eventually, I lowered my newspaper, looked at Halle, and said, “Don’t worry. As soon as you finish your phone call, I’ll apologize.”

 

A bit later, Halle did finish her call. Immediately, I told her I was sorry. Too often, I see flights delayed by people who are thoroughly immersed in cell phone calls about critically important issues like “I can’t decide whether I should I buy the pick one or the green one.” I explained to Halle that I understood her call was important, and it was wrong of me to assume that she could easily end it.

 

By the time my flight finally arrived in Atlanta, Halle and I had become friends. We had learned a lot about each other’s lives.  Dare I say, we had paused and stood in each other’s shoes. At a minimum, we had seen and come to appreciate each other’s worlds.

 

Lesson learned? Never underestimate the value of saying, “I’m sorry.” Those two words helped defuse a stressful situation that, as a neighboring passenger later said, could quickly have escalated into a nasty cat fight. Once we were both able to operate in a sane and rational manner, Halle and I realized we shared much more in common than we ever would have thought.