For the hurried traveler, encountering the TSA security lines can sometimes feel like a flashback to grade school confusion. I’ll explain.
Remember the days of waking up and fighting with your parents about not wanting to go to school? Some of you may be having those very same arguments with your kids right now. Without fail, the daily dialogue always ended with a phrase that went something like this, “You don’t get to choose whether you go to school, it’s the law.”
Even for the child who enjoyed going to school, the notion that you had no choice in the matter was confusing and frustrating.
As I watch the security lines in our airports, I wonder whether we are approaching them with the same youthful confusion and frustration. Are we spending too much mental energy on “why do we have to do this”?
We know the experience from our end, but do we ever appreciate the view from the other side? Recently I spent five minutes chatting with a TSA worker about the experience from their perspective. This is what was shared with me (by a very nice woman):
* “It gets frustrating because people don’t seem to understand or respect that we have a job to do and that we don’t make the rules.”
* “90% of the people coming through the lines are actually pretty good, but the 10 percent that are bad, they are really, really not very nice.”
* “It’s interesting to watch people move through the process because they often just follow the person in front of them – without thinking very much.”
Perhaps it would do us all some good if we were able to release the need to fight the system with those that don’t create the structure. If the person behind us is going to follow what we do, maybe we should start with gratitude and compassion.
After all, we can still have a nap time on the plane.
Jason Barger is author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport
Jason Barger spent seven straight days flying 6,458 miles to seven different cities – without leaving the airports the entire time. He studied 10,000 minutes of observations at all four corners of the U.S. and reflected on how our airport experiences can teach us about our lives TODAY. The funny and inspiring stories remind us how to change our daily world in our personal lives, businesses, schools, and faith communities! Join the movement. All four editions of Step Back from the Baggage Claim are motivational books perfect for anyone looking to impact change in their life and work.
