Failure to communicate

Earlier this month, I was traveling to the Bank Social conference in Miami. I’d known before I even left my house that morning to head to the airport that the weather was potentially going to be an issue. I had no idea how much.

Without getting into all the details (diverted flights, 10+ hours of delays), let me just say it wasn’t my best travel day. I tried to keep my calm because it was weather related but the day was long and I never really knew what was going on as flights were rescheduled and gates were changed.

I started speaking to two other weary travelers who were at my gate. One was coming from Paris and the other from New York City. The three of us had all been traveling for over 12 hours. One of us had crossed an ocean, one of us (raising my hand here) was less than 200 miles from home. The thing that all of us agreed on? None of the issues would have been as frustrating if someone just communicated with us. We all had the airline app and access to the website on our devices. But even with all that technology, none of it was as useful or reassuring to us as a real, live person giving us an update. As we sat at our new gate, one of my long-suffering travel mates said “Just pick up the microphone and tell us what’s going on. All we’re asking for is a little communication.”

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