Flying Frustrations
A few days ago I woke up at 5:00am to drive to the airport for a trip to Chicago. I got to the airport on time, went through security and arrived at my gate with time to spare. I went through all the motions of boarding the plane, waiting to take off, and finally leaving the ground. As we were in the air, we were informed of inclement weather in Chicago and told that we would have to land somewhere else (South Bend, Indiana). So we were diverted to wait for the weather in Chicago to clear up. When the weather eventually improved, we refueled and finally took off. I missed an important lecture and felt that I had wasted most of my day.
When I think back to my day of traveling, I can’t help but cringe at the thought that my expected two-hour trip took six hours. And even though I have taken many flights longer than six hours in the past without feeling bitter, this experience was particularly annoying for two reasons.
The first reason has to do with the nagging feeling of idleness that I experienced when I was stuck on the plane on the ground, just waiting. And this reminds me of a lesson on the design of air travel: There once was a clever engineer who noticed that the carousels for luggage are spaced at different distances from different gates – some farther and some closer to where the passengers were deplaning. And this engineer redesigned the allocation of carousels such that they minimized the distance to their gate, and therefore minimized the amount of walking that passengers would have to do to pick up their luggage. A few airports implemented this highly efficient system and patted themselves on the back. They were very pleased with their improvement – that is, until people started complaining.
Of course, everything that the engineer predicted was true. By refining the assignment of carousels to match up with their corresponding gates, people had to walk less and could get to their luggage faster. The problem was that this system worked too well, and passengers were beating their luggage to the carousels. When they arrived, they had to twiddle their thumbs while they waited for their luggage to catch up with them.
Think about these two ways to get your luggage: With the original airport design, you walk ten minutes, but when you finally get to the carousel, your baggage gets there a minute after you (taking 11 minutes). In the other, you walk three minutes, but when you arrive you have to wait five minutes for your luggage (taking 8 minutes). The second scenario is faster, but people become more annoyed with the process because they have more idle time. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr. noted, “I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely.”
The “good news” is that airports quickly reverted to their former (inefficient) system, and we now walk farther to our suitcases just to avoid the frustrations of idleness.
Now, it’s one thing to waste time, but it’s particularly bothersome when you feel like you are backtracking. In my case of flying to Chicago, the trip took a detour that sent me in away from my final destination. This is the second reason that my flight experience was so irritating — it included an element of backtracking in the opposite direction of my goal.
Let’s think about this idea with another example. Imagine that you are taking the train from point A to point B. You can choose between two paths, both taking four hours but with one key difference: In Trip 1, you take the slow train from point A to B. In Trip 2, you take the fast train, but the train passes B and continues for another hour until it gets to C, and then you change trains and backtrack for an hour to B. It turns out that the second approach is more irritating, even though we should care only about the time and not the direction of progress.
My flight had both of these annoying principles, idleness and backtracking. We wasted lots of time, and we were diverted in the opposite direction. Now, I am positive that this will not be the last time that I experience these travel elements, so the question is how I will deal with these irritations in the future. To overcome the feeling of idleness, I can try finding something to make me feel that the time is spent productively (maybe I should start making lists of things to do and use idle time to manage these lists on my phone). And what about overcoming the annoyance of backtracking? Maybe ignorance really is bliss — and the only solution is not to think about the route that we are taking.
My latest book, The Upside of Irrationality, explores some positive and some negative ways that irrationality plays out in our lives.
Dan, on the train we would also need to consider which journey had the more scenic view, the better facilities (buffet, toilets, electrical sockets), the comfier seats, and even which journey had better mobile phone reception! And don’t forget cost too!
Dan,
Relative to the train scenario, opportunity cost might be a factor as well. If you’re on a longer, but non-backtracking journey, there can be more of a consistent time period to accomplish work, to read, listen to music, etc. If a person is getting on and off a train, that person can lose time waiting in newly formed lines in train stations, and other time-consuming activities to board the new train.
Maybe time that could be devoted to work or recreational activities definitely has a higher opportunity cost than non-productive activities, so when time is lost, frustration can ensue (even though the non-productive activities can be part of a more economically efficient path).
Thanks for the interesting post!!
I have found that the idea of carrying a small e-book reader with short tutorials and texts regarding bits of information I want to learn or teach myself to do is great. I feel I don’t have enough time to learn about things that are lower on my priority list so a situation like yours would be almost a forced break from normal routine if used properly.
I wouldn’t be able to avoid the frustration of having missed the lecture or the inconvenience from the whole affair. However I do think during the time waiting I would probably be so distracted that I may actually become irritated when my time was over.
Ignorance may be bliss but it also fails to improve anything.
In addition to Eric’s comments, I would add that by being required to switch trains at point C you run the risk of another possible delay if the train taking you back to point B is delayed. Thus the preference would be to take the slow train from point A to point B as the probability of further delays is decreased by removing other variables that could cause delay.
Dan,
Given the fact that the airline likely knew about the poor weather conditions in Chicago and nonetheless departed (likely for the same rationale as the luggage belt scenario you described), if you could have chosen to have your flight delayed or have had the experience you did, which would you have chosen (assuming the total trip time was identical)?
I had this exact experience this weekend with returning flights from Amsterdam to London. On the way out, I was required to wait at the airport, on the way back we were notified in the plane and needed to wait in the plane at the gate for 2 hours until conditions improved. What surprised me is that I preferred waiting in the plane. In hindsight I believe it was because I felt I was at a more progressive stage in my journey despite the fact that the plane was much less comfortable airport lounge (as experienced on the way out).
The solution to all of these is distraction. Airports and airlines should provide adequate entertainment. It works when we’re home, right? Internet, movies, games, and the such.
Inspired by this:
http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html
I always divide my time up so that I use it in fractions. The bulk of my time is spent either at home or in the office, but in those times I am travelling, I like to read all the blogs and books I’ve been promising myself.
This way, every delay or waiting period is productive. Even 5 minutes waiting at a bus stop, or 10 minutes on the underground is a great way to catch up on my reading.
Alternatively I carry an ipad, on which I can do work too – therefore keeping me productive in other ways too. I’ve always found that I’ve stopped getting annoyed now, since I dont even notice the waiting time anymore and the longer I have to wait, the more time I get to do what I never normally have time to.
Dear Dan,
I live in Russia, Saint Petersburg and got into a specialist in waiting. cannot better say it then Tolle below.
thank you for your inspiration, studying the Predictability of irrationality here to see how to decrease stealing, it’s really interesting.
Are You Waiting to Start Living?
By Eckhart Tolle on 10-13-2007
Are you waiting to start living? If you develop such a mind pattern, no matter what you achieve or get, the present will never be good enough; the future will always seem better. A perfect recipe for permanent dissatisfaction and non-fulfillment, don’t you agree?
How much of your life do you spend waiting? What I call ‘small-scale waiting’ is waiting in line at the post office, in a traffic jam, at the airport, or waiting for someone to arrive, to finish work, and so on. ‘Large-scale waiting’ is waiting for the next vacation, for a better job, for the children to grow up, for a truly meaningful relationship, for success, to make money, to be important, to become enlightened. It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.
Waiting is a state of mind. Basically, it means that you want the future; you don’t want the present. You don’t want what you’ve got, and you want what you haven’t got. With every kind of waiting, you unconsciously create inner conflict between your here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future, where you want to be. This greatly reduces the quality of your life by making you lose the present.
There is nothing wrong with striving to improve your life situation. You can improve your life situation, but you cannot improve your life. Life is primary. Life is your deepest inner Being. It is already whole, complete, perfect. Your life situation consists of your circumstances and your experiences. There is nothing wrong with setting goals and striving to achieve things. The mistake lies in using it as a substitute for the feeling of life, for Being. The only point of access for that is the Now. You are then like an architect who pays no attention to the foundation of a building but spends a lot of time working on the superstructure.
For example, many people are waiting for prosperity. It cannot come in the future. When you honor, acknowledge, and fully accept your present reality – where you are, who you are, what you are doing right now – when you fully accept what you have got, you are grateful for what you have got, grateful for what is, grateful for Being. Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity. It cannot come in the future….
Even if you make millions, you will continue to experience the inner condition of lack, and deep down you will continue to feel unfulfilled. You may have many exciting experiences that money can buy, but they will come and go and always leave you with an empty feeling and the need for further physical or psychological gratification. You won’t abide in Being and so feel the fullness of life now that alone is true prosperity.
So give up waiting as a state of mind. When you catch yourself slipping into waiting, snap out of it. Come into the present moment. Just be, and enjoy being.
This piece is taken from Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now.
Zig Ziglar tells a story where his flight is cancelled due to a mechanical problem. His response to the gate-person: “That’s fantastic!” This is a guy who travels 300 days a year- and knows of what you speak. I had an experience once when a flight was diverted, and the moment the plane touched down in DC, a man from the back of the plane burst forward screaming,” you don’t understand! I need to be in New York- now!” He became so agitated that he had to be taken off the plane by police. Ziglar’s response was based on this premise- who would want to be on a plane that’s in a dangerous situation? How irrational is that? He had paperwork to do, and he’ll get on the next plane out- what’s the point of getting agitated? Yes, you should look for ways to make these situations better, but just realize that, statistically, when you involve hundreds of people, computers, aircraft, and- the weather- things are bound to go haywire sometime. Sit back, take a breath, and maybe even go to the bar and interview people for your next book, “The inevitability of the irrational thought”.
Maybe the irrational act was flying on the same day you needed to be in Chicago for the lecture. NEVER bet on the airlines to be timely. I was late once and complained to a customer service rep because she would not get me on another plane – her airline or another – so I could get me to my destination on time. Her response, “Sir, we don’t guarentee to get you anywhere on time. We only guarentee to get you from point A to point B.” Live and learn Dan.
I agree with Brian. I learned long ago not to rely on the airline schedule (or the train, or even the car – traffic accidents and construction ofter cause unanticipated delays). Instead, if I have an inportant meeting, or a long awaited vacation to get to, I typically travel the day BEFORE, even if it means a hotel stay, rather than risk missing the meeting, etc. (Try being late for a cruise! You have to fly to the next port of call, incurring extra expense and increasing frustration levels to the point where it takes the rest of the vacation to unwind from the travel delay.)
The key to unhappiness is expectation: in what our children will do (for us); in what Congress will do (for us); and in what traffic will do (for us).
Having expectations frequently means we’re in our head. Missed appointments aside – I like the suggestion to always assume there will be delays – we need to get over ourselves.
Remembering to be present and enjoy life in whatever form it presents is the key to happiness.
Easy? No, but it gets easier with practice.
Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope!
>this experience was particularly annoying for two reasons.
I can think of more:
1. You only have Angry Birds on your son’s cell phone.
2. You haven’t learned to check the weather in your destination city before leaving home. Chicago: They have WEATHER there. Lots of it. Enough to keep many of us happy in almost any conditions, just being able to think, “Well, it’s worse in Chicago.”
3. It didn’t occur to you that the time could be used to catch up on sleep.
4. Not being grateful that you have a travel budget that didn’t force you into a Saturday stay-over just to get the cheapest flights.
5. I’m reminded of some university president (?) who said he knew his life was off track when he looked forward to a root canal simply because it was the first time all month he wouldn’t have to handle incoming phone calls.
6. If I have a pen and paper, I can be useful to myself. Once, it was airline napkins when I ran out of notebook space.
My mother always used to have knitting in her bag wherever we went. Delay at doctor (another subject), no problem, out came the knitting.
We need to list those tasks we never get around to because they are generally of a lower priority. That way, when a delay occurs, it leaves you something to look forward to. Have a list of say 3 things and the means to execute those three things, with or without battery. (Ever run out of battery on a delayed flight cell phone/pda or other? This lead me to buying lumacolour pencils and some textured paper for mind maps – great tactile escape.)
At the basis of it all is a feeling of a lack of control. Its like watching your favourite sports team – when they lose you feel like you should have taken in the game. When you pass point B you feel like you had some control over leaving the vehicle which leads to frustration with yourself. Those people who can accept the circumstances as facts probably dont feel the same frustration. Its like the different stages of grieving.
I want to expand on asher’s comments. The feeling of loss of control is very hard for most people.
Back in the day when airlines served meals, I’m told that airlines provided a choice of meals so that passengers could exercise some element of control during their trip, and that it reduced the anxiety of the passegers because at least they had control over something, no matter how meaningless it was.
Congress actually just passed a law recently that prevents idleness on planes. Basically the airline gets fined an obscene amount of money if they are taxiing for two hours. Others think this makes the airline industry more conservative and they cancel flights as a result. So one threat to idleness might trigger another!
I actually had a case where the from a cross Atlantic flight to NY was diverted to Boston, then toke off again to NY.
one person on the plain was very frustrated, he actually wanted to get to Boston, but they did not allow him to get off the plane, and he had to travel to NY, then take another plane back to Boston
toke about a frustrating back-tracking
You are not alone
As always, this has been an interesting read and it made me think about my work. As a UX designer, I usually do my best to make online processes as short as possible but I never really considered what happens if people are able to get very quickly up to a point and then have to either wait (for a loading, “heavy”, page for instance) or be slowed down (by a nagging form with lots of typing and clicking). I think I will be more aware of the importance of rhythm now, so thanks for that.
I also agree with Asher’s comment about the sense of control. I think it’s an important factor. A few years ago I remember having a discussion with my psychology teacher about PTSD. We studied about it and she pointed out the fact that studies show that lower-ranking soldiers have higher chances of suffering from PTSD. I suggested that this has to do with the fact that higher ranking officers have a much greater sense of control. Even if that sense is sometimes false, it is still better to FEEL like you’re in control then just be a “victim of circumstances”.
So, going back to the airport, Do you think it could be a better solution to give people the shorter route to the carousels and then give them a better sense of control? This can possibly be achieved by showing a “status meter” indicating what stage your baggage is in and what other stages it has to pass till you get it (this works pretty well in Domino’s Pizza’s website, where you always have to wait 30 minutes for your pizza, but feel better about it when they show you this meter indicating what “happened” to you pizza so far).
Great post. We just can’t seem to be alone with ourselves. Exhausted when self contimplate, its better to be distracted by work. Thanks for the post.
Here’s another example of what i believe is a better expeirence through the sense of control:
http://vimeo.com/31864942
This machine shows people how it makes potato chips. The fact that you can see the whole process (+ the fact that you started it by throwing the potato in) gives you a sense of controll.
I’m guessing that people would feel happier with this machine then the one where they can’t see the whole process and that just drops down a small bag of chips, even if they have to wait a little longer for the chips. (let’s asume that all other aspects, like the cost and the amount you get are equal).
your way of writing the post in simple words is very unique, you gave good information about traveling and also share yours precious moments to the people.
The rationale in the first reason: people love exercises, a little walk is better than idling. The rationale in the second reason: energy saving is better. Faster trains and longer (backtracking) distances cost more energy. People might feels irritating, when it is not beneficial from different aspects.
“With the original airport design, you walk ten minutes, but when you finally get to the carousel, your baggage gets there a minute after you (taking 11 minutes).”
A minute after you? I’m guessing you’ve never been to LaGuardia.
Seriously? I think it’s time we stopped theorizing about our behavior and started demanding decent service. This big box mentality of our culture is becoming unacceptable. Shareholder value? What about customer service?
Actually, the baggage carousels are only efficient or inefficient depending on the results you’re trying to achieve and how you define the problem. The “real” problem is not speed and efficiency. The “real” problem is customer satisfaction. If you are trying to get baggage to a pick-up point in the shortest amount of time, then yes, the old way IS inefficient. If your goal is to keep your customers happy, then actual time wasted or saved is a perception, not a reality. All efficiencies/inefficiencies, results/consequences that we complain about are based on the stories we tell ourselves, how we define the problem, and what the end results are.
The reality is, people feel competent, efficient and timely if things FLOW, not if they stand around. IKEA discovered this (as have others) by creating check-out lines that flow from one center line to the next available cashier rather than having people line up at six different cashiers. People actually wait LONGER, but FEEL like they’re waiting less because they see movement. The same thing happens in banks, at the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. People like to know SOMETHING is happening. I think the “old” way worked best because it truly solved the problem.
Although idleness bothers me, it’s restricted motion that really gets me.
As for backtracking, I’ve found pairing Fate with something you enjoy doing to be a helpful coping mechanism. Your plane got rerouted for a reason. You were supposed to help someone, hear a funny story, find a great deal, meet a new business contact, eat a really good cheeseburger, buy some local wine, whatever. Is it really Fate? I don’t know. All I know is it switches the frustration to adventure.
Have we always had this idle issue or is it a modern issue. I tend to use these times as thinking time. Not active, but not idle either. These days if people are not doing they seem to believe rhey are not contributing. More thinking time would benefit many.
Sorry to keep bugging with this “sense of control” idea, but i think this App by Delta Airlines answers this exact need. It offers no real control, but adds some information that may induce “peace of mind”
Sometimes it is just a little triumph?
Bullet train from Frankfurt Airport to Cologne. It speeds up to 300 km / h and when it has achieved the peak speed the train goes parallel to the highway, where the risk taking car drivers achieve 200 km /h.
Some of the trains do not stop before Cologne.
The feeling of short-term superiority justifies a backtracking?
This is precisely why I always carry my mini-computer and reading material and work with me when I travel. I also mentally toss away the entire day as under my control so I can simply focus on what I’ve brought to do.
This brings back some bad memories of flight delays. To add to my airport frustrations, the flight was delayed by an hour and a half which wasn’t so bad considering my connecting flight wasn’t until 9am the next morning. The longer my delay, the less time I would have to sit in Fort Lauderdale. It turns out there wasn’t much open at the airport overnight and I sat on my computer soaking up the free wifi and watching movies
Driving a car at normal speed, you will almost always meet the guy who overtook you driving like crazy, at the traffic lights.
This world we live in is so fast and hectic but there are situations that no one is to blame for and if you make up you mind not to go mad with frustration, life could be so much easier.
“but people become more annoyed with the process because they have more idle time”. The idea was originally to help people to reduce their walking distance. However, since the customer is always right and some customers are easily irritable, many airport has changed the system. Some other airports are making sure that before even the time for call passenger that they luggage are already moving in ahead of them, this helps to kill the idle time. Sometime even the machines work slower than necessary. All needs to patient to prevent bad stuff from entering the plane
Its a pleasure to read what you write..
I feel it is the uncertainty that is frustrating not the wait. When will my luggage get here? Did I come to the correct casserole? Is it a 1 minute wait or a 8 minute wait? 8 minutes – I have time to run to the restroom and make a quick cell call.
Were you ever told that the delay is expected to last at least so many hours? Were you updated on the delay every 30 minutes or less. If you have ten minutes delay you would adjust your activity for ten minutes. If it was 3 hours than you would adjust activity for 3 hours.
This is why some restaurants give pagers to their waiting customers.
Here’s Russian saying: “ЖДАТЬ ДА ДОГОНЯТЬ — НЕТ ХУЖЕ” – “there’s nothing worse than waiting and catching up”. You were waiting (idling), and catching up – actually, even worse – _not_ catching up, even falling behind.