The Airport: A Stadium of Human Ethics
Airports are funny. Even when everything goes without a hitch, catching a flight is often a stress-filled experience. Sometimes this is due to being tight on time. Other times it is because of your fellow passengers, airline employees, or the dreaded TSA agent.
Yesterday, as I walked through Sky Harbor International, I realized that airports are really just stadiums for human ethics. Passengers and airline personnel enter the stadium under immense pressure and compete to maintain their humanity in trying situations.
The airport creates heroes and villains. There is the college student who gives up her seat so a family can sit together, the flight attendant who makes the extra effort to ensure that a young traveller is comfortable for the flight, and the passengers who remain seated so others can catch their connections.
On the flip side, there is the rental car employee who is determined that you will not get what you paid for, the lady who finds it necessary to skip to the front of a patiently waiting line of customers, and the flight crew that is openly complaining about passengers.
Who do you become when you step into the arena? Do your actions reflect the type of person that you want to be? When the TSA agent rebukes you for not following his chaotic commands, what do you do?
Next time you are preparing to travel, prepare your character as well. I know that it is only the airport, but I believe that the airport reveals deep insights into our character. Can you remain a reasonable, honorable, and inspiring person while traveling?
Everyone has a bad day and no one will be perfect. That being said, take advantage of entering the stadium of human ethics and perform. It is your opportunity to be the hero of someone's story!
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