Business Travel Etiquette

Business Travel Etiquette?

Does it exist? This week I had the opportunity to travel to New York City. This is my 15th trip to the Big Apple and every time I go I get to add to my perspective…some good and others not so. Let me explain.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed lately but every flight I’m on is either 100% full or really close to capacity. Suffice to say, I NEVER seem to get an empty seat next to me. No worries, I love to talk, meet new people and at the same time, I don’t mind catching up on lost sleep. On my outbound entirely full flight I got the supreme honor of sitting in row 27, seat B. Yes, that’s a middle seat. Being a big guy I try my best to be as narrow as possible; I cross my legs and arms so I don’t bump against my travel mates, whom I don’t know. I don’t care how hard I try to be slim and not touch or infringe on other peoples space, it’s inevitable that arms, shoulders or legs will touch. I pay particular attention to the arm rests and under seat area and ONLY take half of the arm rest and keep my legs within the seat frame. WHY don’t other people do the same?

The lady next to me in 27A was a wiggle worm, had to go to the lavatory 4 times….count’em…4 times. That means all 3 people in row 27 had to get up, stand in the aisle and wait for her to return. It’s never pleasant, but I smile, nod and if talked to say something innate like, “no problem.” When inside my head I’m steaming because this same person can’t sit still, needed to get in her under seat bag 5 times and always acted as though she was entitled and never said “sorry” or “thanks”, just a look of oh well.

After 5 hours, and what seemed like 10, we’re finally walking off the plane. This squirmy lady looks at me and thanks me for being such a nice guy. Ok, I started to feel a little better, telling myself “at least it wasn’t a 300 pound guy sitting next to me.” This lady’s sense of entitlement came from the fact that her husband was a pilot for the airlines we were flying and she told me, “I almost always fly first-class and not used to sitting so close to someone.” Oh, I now feel better for her squirminess….not really!

Suggestions from a guy that’s traveled the country extensively the past 20 years; Always be polite to everyone, especially the gate attendants, flight attendants and fellow travelers. Think small, check your oversized bags and do your best to occupy as little space as possible and clean up after yourself. As a big guy I really appreciated this lady’s final comment to me, “you’re such a polite flyer, I saw how hard you tried to not infringe on my space and allowed me to squirm, and didn’t say a thing, roll your eyes or make me feel bad…thanks.”

It was a particularly harsh flight, a non-stop 5+ hour flight from SFO the day after I’d run the Disney ½ Marathon. My legs, back and head were throbbing the entire flight. I’m convinced, the energy you give, gets reflected. And if everyone tried being a little smaller as they flew on their next flight, we’d all have a more pleasant experience.

My next blog I plan to talk about airline employees; this should be interesting!@#%$#@