A young lady was struggling to fit her bag into the overhead bin. The flight attendant commented,
“Ma’am, if you can’t get your bag in the bin, we’ll have to check it.”
The passenger knew that. She was doing everything she could to stow her bag. The flight attendant may have been right, but her pronouncement wasn’t useful.
What a difference between that flight attendant and those who use their experience to help solve the problem. What a difference between, “Ma’am, if you can’t get your bag in the bin, we’ll have to check it,” and
- Let me see if can help you find a spot for that. If we can’t, we’ll check it for you.
They watch the whole boarding process and know where possible openings might be. Their experience has taught them tricks of the trade that passengers might not know about how to get things to fit. I always appreciate it when a flight attendant gets on my team and helps before pronouncing consequences.
Think about this before you play cop. If someone is struggling to accomplish something, it’s not the time to tell them what will happen if they fail. It’s time to help them succeed.
The young lady was able to successfully stow her bag. I was glad she didn’t give up too soon.