I was sprinting toward a gate, trying to make a connection. Our first flight had landed ninety minutes late, leaving ten minutes to make it. With a minute to spare, four other passengers and I made it to the gate, out of breath.
That’s when the gate agent decided to get snarky. Complaints, comments, no interest in helping. Eventually a supervisor walked over and she asked if she should process us.
Lucky for us, the supervisor knew the context and said yes.
It stuck with me because of how circumstantial power like that is. For a few minutes, this one person stood between five or six of us and our flight, through no fault of ours. And in that moment, she chose snark over empathy and chose to get in our way instead of getting out of it.
It is worth remembering for all of us for the next time we’re the ones holding that kind of circumstantial power that impacts someone else.
A Learning a Day 