I checked out of a hotel recently and took the hotel shuttle van to the local airport. Simple enough story, yes? Except it wasn't.
After packing my bags, the shuttle driver got in the driver's seat and asked which airline I was flying out on. I informed him that I actually needed to catch another shuttle to another airport -- and that shuttle was picking me up at the Arrivals section of the airport, not the Departures.
Without looking back at me, the driver gruffly replied that he only dropped people off at the Departures section and not Arrivals as he started the van and began driving.
I just smiled and chuckled to myself. I wonder how this will end.
Citing his manager's rules of what he "can't" do and some other bullshit that all amounted to, "I hate this job, so I try to take my frustration out on hotel patrons like yourself, and what else can I do in life besides work here?", we ended up at the exact spot I told him to take me in the beginning.
I will note that the entire episode ended with the shuttle van driver pulling off from the curb with both back doors and the sliding passenger door wide open, and him yelling "Asshole!!" at me as he sped off.
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I'm not telling you this story to impress you (though I did feel slightly vindicated when I got out of the van). I actually felt disappointed for the guy.
He was an older guy; not by his age (maybe late 40s-ish) but by his body language and energy. He obviously does not enjoy his job and tolerates it at best. His slumped shoulders and downward gaze say a lot without him saying a word. His weak attempt at inconveniencing hotel guests -- I'm sure I was not the first -- is his only method at "winning" anything is his day-to-day life.
This is not a take-down of that guy -- I highly doubt he would read my website if he knew I had one, especially after that whole ordeal -- it's a story to illustrate a point. Because I see a lot of people who are clearly unsatisfied with their position in life or business or relationships but won't take any proactive action to change things.
And that truly disappoints me.
You've heard the cliché that life is not a dress rehearsal. There isn't a second act where you get to do it right the next time. Every day that passes is the only one you'll ever get. Why use it doing something other than what you actually want to do?
Yeah, I know -- the timing isn't right. You have responsibilities. Bills have to be paid. People are depending on you. You see opportunities and possibilities, but you can't take advantage until 3 months from now when everything lines up.
It was 2 years ago when you said that.
What makes opportunities what they are, is the fact that they never present themselves at the perfect time. And you know what most people do when the timing isn't perfect: they ‘Pass on Opportunities Repeatedly’ (POOR). Then life goes on, not terrible but not good at the same time... And it's 8 months later. And five years later. And 15 years later. And all those great hopes you had for your life fade into dust.
What happened? You never had any opportunities, right?
You probably don't drive a hotel shuttle van back and forth to the airport and never will. But a lot of people are living the equivalent of that driver I mentioned or headed that way at 100mph.
When do you change course and show up at Arrivals?
#WorkOnYourGame