Lessons from a Stuck Suitcase

Have you ever seen what happens in an airplane after the very last passenger deplanes ?

In an effort to be helpful on a recent flight, I place+ my carry-on bag under the seat in front of me. While doing so, I am as loud and as attention getting as possible?to ensure the flight attendants notice my generosity—after all, our flight is completely full. My efforts work, "Sir, thank you for saving overhead bin space for other passengers." Excellent, but deep down, I’m disappointed they didn't acknowledge the leg room sacrifice I’m making—hey I’m 6 feet tall !

We land. I check my phone, delete 3 emails and answer 2 texts. There's about an hour before my connection leaves. The seatbelt light goes off as we stop at the gate and then I reach for my carry-on.

"Woah—it's wedged in."?

It won’t budge. I can’t get any leverage on it. As people leave the plane, the guy next to me goes into the row in front of us. He pushes, I pull.

It still won't budge.

The Flight Atttendant says,

"Are we having an issue with your luggage ?"

"It’s stuck."

20 minutes pass and all of the passengers are off the plane—except me. Sweat is dripping off my forehead and it feels like I just ran 5k—and my valise hasn’t moved a hair. The cleaning and catering crews are now on board—it is a beehive of activity. The flight attendant says, "Maintenance is on the way." I overhear the flight attendants discussing the fact that they can’t leave the aircraft until all passengers under their care have deplaned. So besides risking my connection, I realize "my generosity" is holding up the entire flight crew and preventing the next flight from boarding.

Behind the flight attendants, the pilot glances over my way. I’m thinking "this is a good time to inject some levity into the situation”, so I draw on a famous line from my grandson (actually it’s a line both of our kids frequently used when they were young),

"It’s not my fault !"

Based on the looks I get back, no one thinks it's funny. They weren't mad at me, they were consumed by the seriousness of the situation.

Time is getting tight and I’m starting to worry about making my connection.?

Another ten minutes pass and finally the maintenance guy appears. I gently raise my voice, "I’m so sorry.” Again, we need to ensure everyone within earshot hears me. He says,?

"Don’t worry. It’s not your fault !"

I look up and see that the?growing throng of airline staff?has finally found some humour in our unfortunate shared experience !

Within minutes, the maintenance guy emerges from my row—suitcase in hand, "Here you go sir."

"You are amazing—thank you so much !" I make it to my connection just in time and everyone lives happily ever after.

Here’s the thing—when you find yourself in a stressful situation in which you have absolutely no control:

• trust the people around you. In this case, I had no choice but to trust the airline team because any sense of control I had evaporated the moment the flight attendant noticed the situation. Being completely dependent on them made it easy for me to trust the team. However for most of the events and situations in our lives, most of us have a false sense of control—because in reality, we are not in control. I believe our sense of control gets in our way of completely trusting the people around us. This takeaway is deserving of dedicated post all of its own.
• be calm and be gracious to those who are helping you—they are doing their best. This is one thing I nailed.
• don't seek attention and act like it’s all about you. I failed on this one a few times.
• find the funny in the situation. In my opinion I did ok with this but my timing may have been off.
• be open to an outcome you may not want. This will help you remain calm. I was running through different scenarios in case I missed my connecting flight—fortunately I didn’t have to follow through on these plans.

So for you—when you find yourself in a challenging situation, I encourage you to?reflect on what you're grateful for in that very moment. Fortunately, I did a pretty good job at being grateful on that plane. Gratitude in the moment helps you maintain a positive, thriving mindset enabling you to be calm, empathetic, trusting, creative and humourous.

What strategies do you use to control your mindset in stressful situations ?