10/20/25
I travel a lot.
Over the last two months, I’ve been to Chicago, Billings, Denver, Las Vegas, Utah, Nashville, and there’s a lot more travel to come before the end of the year.
That means I’m at airports quite often.
I find that you can learn so much about human behavior by observing people at the airport.
While I’m at the airport, very often I’m texting my wife Alex about how people are acting.
A few months back, I was at the airport in Aruba, and the wait to get through security was much longer than usual.
As I was waiting in line, I noticed a woman behind me who was most likely in her early 50s, complaining about the wait.
She looked irritated.
As the line moved slowly, this woman was getting more and more frustrated.
When there was an opening and the line began moving a bit faster, this woman was getting closer and closer to me.
I looked away for a moment, and all of a sudden, this woman was in front of me!
She cut me in line!!
I was shocked at how she did this so unapologetically, as if she did nothing wrong.
I started laughing at how ridiculous this was.
As the line kept moving, I kept watching her, and on 2 other occasions, I witnessed this woman cut people in line.
Similarly, a few people just laughed as she moved up the line without even acknowledging the fact that she was cutting in front of multiple people.
I was texting the “play-by-play” of this to Alex, and found myself so entertained by this woman’s behavior.
It then occurred to me that my experience of this situation is based entirely on the story I tell myself about what this woman is doing.
So rather than choosing the story that suggests she is rude and inconsiderate of everyone around her, I narrowed it down to two possible stories.
1. She’s Truly Unaware
As crazy as this may sound, it is possible that she just isn’t aware that she’s behaving this way.
She may have been so “zoned in” to getting through security…
Or possibly even had a mental deficiency…
That led her to behave this way.
2. She’s In A Huge Rush
While we were all trying to get to our flight on time, she could have felt such fear and urgency that it propelled her to cut people in line without saying anything.
Maybe the fear of missing the flight or the urgency to get to where she needed to go was so heightened that she was acting on impulse.
What if she were flying home to see her mother who was on her deathbed?
Look…
I’m not saying her behavior was justified or reasonable…
But I am saying that how I interpret it affects my mental and emotional state.
And if I had a choice of how I felt as I’m waiting on that line, why would I choose resentment? Why choose anger?
So instead, I chose compassion, and I forgave this woman despite her silly behavior.
This is always a choice you make in any interpersonal situation.
First, you need to be aware of the story you’re telling yourself.
Then, determine if that story serves you.
If it doesn’t, simply choose a better story.
Rooting for you,
Jay (encouraging you to choose compassion over resentment)