So while I was waiting for my airplane this morning, actually waiting until they would let us through the security gate to check in since the terminal wasn’t opened yet, There was this fairly loud or at least lively woman. At that time in the morning you really don’t want to hear someone speaking seriously loudly when you are half asleep and cranky, but I bit my lip and waited for them to open the gates. The thing that really bugged me though was that she kept asking everyone when they will open the gates? Meanwhile everyone she asked was a passenger so most of them didn’t know and the people that did, mainly because we take these morning flights each week were just to annoyed to answer.
So anyways, she ended up finally running out of people to ask, not asking the regulars who all recognize each other, and they let us go through security.
After getting through security, I decided to walk over and see what they had at the Italian place (the only restaurant open that early in the morning in the terminal) and it was a nice quiet line and some people were speaking quietly and saying “ohh look breakfast strombolis, what a great idea”, and to be honest I thought the same thing when I first saw them and loved them even more when I tasted them,,,however they are not part of my diet anymore so no strombolis for me; when the lovely loud lady comes a charging in to the line and the first thing you hear is,,,ohhh what are those! After her fifth time saying the word Breakfast Stromboli, she starts with the questions that no one can answer to everyone in the line. This time it was, do you think my husband would like these? Finally, someone else in the line said “If your husband is like my husband then he will love them”. When the loud lady heard that, she smiled, then asked the guy who actually serves the food and then finally ordered a couple and moved on.
It was great to have her finally move on so we could all have a short bit of quiet time and I still had a good 30 minutes until my flight left so I decided to stand by the Dunkin Donuts cart.
While I was finally relaxing and enjoying my quiet time, I get someone tapping on my shoulder. I turn around and there is my good friend, they lovely loud lady again. I couldn’t believe it, was she stocking me or what the heck did she need to ask passengers questions for, she probably didn’t work for the restaurant, probably not the airport Marketing and Stores team, and chances are she wasn’t security, ?!?!
I turn around and she asks the question, “Do they sell donuts here?”, I was in complete shock at this question and the only thing I could say way “I cannot wait to get my sub and buffalo wings, they have the best subs and wings for breakfast.”, Not funny or clever I know, I could think of many more things to say now, but I had already been up a couple hours and had pretty much no sleep in me so that was the best I could do at the time.
I sort of felt bad for saying that, especially when she just sat there staring at me confused and I decided to be nice and tell her that although they serve coffee very early, she’ll have to wait for the donut cart to get there to fill the cart with donuts. She then asks, well what time will they be here (meanwhile there is an actual Dunkin Donuts employee sitting right there), and still deciding to be nice, and so there won’t be any more questions, I asked which flight she was on.
She said she was on the Dallas flight and I told her that chances are the donut cart with the donuts will probably show up right before they board their plane and she should walk up ask the guy to hand her the donuts she wants and pay them, then get in line to board or join her husband. Then before the next round of question came, I excused myself politely and told her I had to make a call…again a complete lie since it was around 5 in the morning but it got me back to enjoying peace and quiet.
Ok, I finally relaxed a bit and enjoyed a really good breakfast sandwich to calm my nerves and then I felt really bad. As the Donut guy came to stock the Dunkin Donuts cart, her plane started boarding and she was just staring not knowing what to do.
I wanted to walk over and tell her to just hurry up real quick, but the poor lady just sat there staring for about ten minutes, then picked up her bags and got in line with her husband.
The point of this story is that while she sat there staring at the guy unloading donuts for ten minutes while the Airline attendant pre boarded, then boarded the flight to Dallas by group, the lady could have had her donuts; instead of just staring at them and wishing she could have had them. Don’t let something hold you back. If you have the chance to do something, go for it and don’t worry, just make sure you have the ability, the strength and the time to do it and you know what, you may get your donuts and you may not. Even if you don’t get your donuts, at least you gave it a shot and without knowing that you could have had the donuts, you could have gotten a raise at work, you could have gone on vacation, etc… and because you knew at least you tried, you’ll never have to wonder if you would have succeeded and that is much more satisfying than having to always wonder what that donut would have tasted like or if you would have gotten that promotion at work or the raise you worked very hard for.
The other point I would like to make is to not beat around the bush. Why ask everyone around you the same question or why even ask a random person something when there are people around who are more knowledgeable about the topic and can give you a solid answer?
The lady should have asked the person who worked for Dunkin Donuts the question or the Security Guard at the Airport when the gates opened or even what the best breakfast was to the store clerk. She would have gotten a straight answer that was much more accurate and at the same time also have been able to feel a little more secure. Sure she may have wanted attention and she was very sweet, kind of like a grandma but younger, but at the same time, if you put this in a work situation, why ask a question that your peers or ask someone who definitely would not know the answers or cannot answer the question and distract the entire office when your boss or someone who is hired to do that role or did the role you are asking about is right there?
If you constantly bug people who don’t know the answers you are wasting time. If you go right to the person who can actually answer the question, you not only save time and let everyone else be more productive, but you can also solve answers and get projects done faster. Before you start asking questions or when you need to find something; take a second before you ask and think about who would know the answer and then go straight to the source. It usually works out in your favor.
This also leads me to another point though about the airlines and the lack of food on commuter flights.
I take a flight almost every week to one city or another. Usually it is the same flights and I know the Flight Attendants and some of the other regulars from seeing each other and one thing all of us regulars have in common is that we are hungry!
The commuter flights are usually only an hour long or less, sometimes an hour and a half and usually we have tight connections if there is no direct flight so we do not have time to stop and eat. We also usually don’t have time to stop on the way to the airport since we are at Client sites or at work all day and when you get to a restaurant in the airport, they are packed and the stands with sandwiches are always way to expensive, $8 to $10 for a sandwich and then another few dollars for a drink. Sure you can pack your own for the flight out, but you cannot really pack one for the flight home and because of the short flight time, the airlines now usually don’t serve any food or have any for sale, and if they do it is just trail mix or nuts which hardly make a meal.
I talk to lots of other commuters and the flight attendants and one thing we all want is a sandwich, even if we have to pay $5 like we do on cross country flights.
The airlines have to load drinks and alcohol and nuts or trail mix snacks on the flight, so why not load a tray of food as well, just a chicken or turkey sandwich and a salad option for vegetarians. You’ll be amazed at how many of the commuters will thank you for it and completely buy them. I know I’ll be grateful for the sandwiches and will gladly buy at least one each week and the other commuters I have spoken to will too, or at least on a regular basis.
Anyways, that was just a quick complaint from a hungry traveler, and btw, the Donut Lady from Texas and her husband would have probably appreciated the sandwiches too.
