What I Learned When It All Went Wrong

After a 6-hour flight from Cancun, Mexico I arrived in Calgary, Alberta. The bell chimed and the cabin filled with the great surge as everyone clamored to collect their stuff. It often seems like it takes forever for the doors to open and the line to start to move, but this time the doors actually didn’t open, and we all just stood there.

The captain came on and said customs wasn’t letting them open the door. Then the flight attendant asked everyone to put their stuff back in the overhead compartments and sit back down.

Finally the captain came on with the news. There had been a power failure at the airport. Customs hadn’t been able to process anyone while the power was out, so now there were 5–6 planes waiting in front of ours…one of which had been waiting for 90 minutes. With the power on, customs had just started escorting 100 passengers at a time.

I had 1½ hours to catch my connecting flight to Victoria, which seemed like lots of time until this happened. I started texting my kids at home, telling them it was super unlikely that I was going to actually make my flight.

What You Need To Remember When Things Go Wrong — everyone is disappointed. Everyone is inconvenienced. Everyone has plans and places they want or need to be. It’s not the captain’s fault, or the flight attendant or the customs agent. It’s life, and while life can be frustrating and exhausting, it is actually ‘wrong’ to take your frustration out on those around you.

Suddenly without any warning, the bell chimed again and the doors opened and we were free to go.

Hope! Maybe I could catch my flight after all. I grabbed my carry on suitcase and bag and as soon as the line thinned enough, I started to run. Up the corridor, along the hallway down the stairs around the corner and straight into a customs line snaking back and forth with dozens and dozens of people.

Disappointment! No way the line was going to move fast enough to get me through in time to catch my flight. I pulled up West Jet on my phone. I was sure many of us were going to miss our connections, and I thought I could be proactive and find out what they would recommend. I checked my flight status and saw it had been delayed for 30 minutes.

Hope! Maybe I could make it…but not if I continued to drift in the sluggish custom’s line. If you ever find yourself in that situation, remember it’s no one’s fault. My inconvenient situation is everyone else’s as well. Best thing to do is be polite.

“Ladies and gentlemen…I don’t know if anyone else has a connecting flight, and I totally understand if you say no, but I just discovered my flight’s been delayed enough that I might just be able to catch it. Could I jump to the front of the line?”

If the answer is no, I’m no worse off than I was before I opened my mouth. Everyone immediately agreed and encouraged me to go for it, ‘we’ve all been there’ one guy said as I jumped ahead of him.

Hope! I just might make it. The customs agent was in absolutely no hurry at all, but recognizing she stood between me and the door I really needed to get through, I stayed in my positive frame of mind, smiling and answering her questions as happily as I could.

Through the door I raced, and the down the hallway I ran into the room where customs checks your bags, where another agent donned her rubber gloves and slowly and methodically began an agonizing investigation of every corner of my story and suitcase.

But my inconvenient situation is not her problem. And I respect that. So I answered as clearly and positively as possible. See, I don’t think it matters if you’re being polite for purely self-serving reasons. I just didn’t want to make myself a target or give her any reason to make my bad situation worse. She finally finished and pointed to the exit.

Hope! The window of opportunity was even smaller, but still possible. I started running again, and almost headed through a set of doors before seeing a sign out of the corner of my eye for West Jet connecting flights. I backtracked and came around a corner to find myself at the back of another line.

Remember…be polite.

“Hello up there! Hey, I’m totally happy to be here at the back of the line…just want to make sure this is the right line to be in to catch my connecting flight to Victoria,” I called up to the agent.

“Yes it is, but first you have to go get your bags sir,” she replied. “I don’t have any bags to collect, just my carry on,” I clarified. “Oh, then you don’t need to be here at all. Go through those doors, to the left, up the stairs and to the right!” she called energetically.

Another good thing to remember. While my problem isn’t her problem, in that moment she had good news, and most people like to share good news with others. “Thank you!” I hollered energetically. Remember to let people know when they make your day.

Hope! If I run left then up and to the right I might make it. I barrelled through the doors, swerving to the left where an airport employee in a cowboy pointed me to the escalator. I ran like a madman arriving at security out of breath, panting, sweating AND…at the back of another line.

I stayed positive, though admittedly I was a bit anxious, watching another set of bored agents let the sands of time slowly slip through their hands. The conveyor belt actually seemed to slow to a crawl as soon as I placed my bags on it. But eventually I made it through and so did my bags.

Hope! Even slimmer than before, but still there. I scrambled to get everything sorted out and started running again. I made sure not to bump, jostle or collide with anyone in my mad scramble, cause none of this is anyone else’s fault, so they shouldn’t have to pay the price for my inconvenient life.

I see the sign for my gate above the crowd and with a final burst of speed come around the corner and find the area empty. Defeat. I missed it! But then I notice the departure board is blank, and that’s not normal. I spin around and see another West Jet employee at another gate and call out, ‘where is the flight to Victoria?” She scans her screen, “It’s been changed to gate 19!” she yells, pointing to the end of the concourse.

Hope! It’s not over yet. So I run. Gasping and lurching as fast as I can, and as I come around Starbucks I discover a large group in the process of boarding my flight. I made it!

Traveling is like any other aspect of life. We can’t avoid adversity or inconvenience, but we can decide how to respond when it happens. Be polite. Ask for help. Remember to smile and say thank you when someone does help. And don’t be afraid to try. Admit what you really want, to yourself and to others and then really try to make it happen. No one was more surprised (or grateful) that I was on the plane when it took off for Victoria.

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires — How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.