Business Travel and Being Civil

Did anyone watch NBC News on November 19, 2007 "Skivvies are the new civic duty." TSA is now telling us how to pack. I've had enough.

I've had a recent discussion with a long time Psychologist about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I believe - and I'm not a psychologist - that when we travel whether for business or not, we are actually exposed to such trauma that we are challenged as human beings to remain civil.

For instance, I was recently in Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport traveling alone with my 3 kids who each had their own bag to carry and put on the conveyor belt, etc. I was, of course, in charge of everything else including all of the car seats, stroller, and toys necessary for a successful trip (not to mention the safety of my 3 kids). As soon as we were approaching the metal detector, we began placing all of our paraphernalia on the belt when a loud rude TSA agent starts yelling “Place all of your items on the belt; place all of your items on the belt; place all of your items on the belt.” Since I was doing just that I ignored her. When her nagging rude voice wouldn’t stop, I looked up and she was looking in my general direction and it appeared she was addressing my 7 year old who was wrestling with his bag, coat, and shoes. While I was helping my daughters disrobe, her caustic rudeness grew louder and louder. I finally said, “Layoff he’s only 7!” She immediately responded “Ma’am I am addressing you.” I replied “Yes, and I am addressing you.” After we finally made it through metal detector Hell and I gave her the dirtiest look I could muster – God forbid any civil bone in her body allow her the decency to help me with all of my stuff. She then decided I needed to have the hand wand. During this adventure in mindless gerbil activity, I proceeded to witness another traveler steal another person’s sweater off of the conveyor and then another passenger drop her coat. I dragged all of my stuff out of the way and had my daughter catch up to the coat dropper and to the sweater stealer I grabbed the arm of the person whose sweater it was and said “She is walking off with your sweater I believe.” Nice security. Boy do I feel safe!\


This in tense lack of civility can only be called trauma and yes, indeed, since I am still talking about it, I must have experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in albeit a much smaller dose than from a war, but still a shock just the same, as that psychologist agreed.

We all go through it. From the airport vendor who doesn’t give you the right change, to the rude Frenchman who cuts in line, to the McDonalds employees giving away the store for $5.00 no matter what your order. Where are these people coming from? We all stand in horror as we watch it happen to other people and wonder how that is possible. We hear about folks stuck on the tarmac for hours while the toilet facilities get over run before the flight even leaves the ground. What an intense feeling of entrapment that must be! How is that okay? The only way that will change is if we make a stand and disallow that sort of rudeness to prevail.


What can we do? We must attack this problem on two fronts: 1. Standing up for ourselves at the ticket counters, the lunch counters and the security lines. We cannot fight rudeness with rudeness however. When every fiber of our being seeks to scream, dump our baby formula on the floor and go into hysterics (so we can be cuffed, led to a room and left to die) and the like, we have to draw on our reserves and be the better people but demand civility: civility in ourselves, civility when dealing with each other and with those TSA agents who could give a crap - they are being paid no matter what they say anyway. 2. Writing the airlines, TSA, our Representatives and anyone else who has an address as well as participate in our ultimate power: voting. Isn’t it interesting that the civil liberties being taken away are actually causing us to be less civil? We need to take them back by being more civil. Folks, we have been tortured long enough!

Travel safe!

Gretchen Koehler-Swaney
Prairie Business Partners LLC
www.prairiebusinesspartners.com