To get to work each day you have to drive to your local airport and hop on a small commuter flight. The plane holds 24 passengers and each day you travel with the same group of people. The flight takes exactly one hour and you actually enjoy flying and the idea of having an hour (both ways) to get some alone time and work on whatever you need to work on.
One day a wrinkle is thrown into the mix. One of the passengers gets a little unruly about halfway through the flight and it creates tension. The route is very short but there is a small, fifteen minute window, where the pilot informs the passengers they can remove their seat belts. Some of the passengers take this time to visit the restroom or stand up to retrieve some things from the overhead compartment or even change seats if they want to talk with different people on the flight. However, on this day one of the passengers becomes agitated by the idea of other passengers not wearing their seat belts and begins to loudly voice his concerns.
This becomes the new norm. Everyday this same person flips out when the pilot gives the green light to remove the seat belts to the people on the commuter. One passenger, let's call him Leon for convenience, starts ranting about the danger of removing the safety belt . Leon screams and yells and tries to scare others into putting on their seat belts. It makes him nervous and uncomfortable to feel the need to wear his seat belt and observe others demonstrating such a carefree and nonchalant approach. It bothers Leon so much he feels the need to create a fuss about it.
How would you handle this situation? Consider Leon's actions disrupt from an otherwise peaceful and enjoyable flight. Leon's actions have turned this two hour window in your day (an hour at the beginning and end of work) from something you used to enjoy into something you dread. You know he's going to get loud and start going on about the fact some planes wreck and the safest option is to wear the safety belt at all times. You know he's going to purposefully ruin it for everyone else because he's not happy with the current reality of people standing up and or walking around. He's going to try to make it miserable for everyone else to enjoy the flight. Do you do anything about it?
I don't know what your choice would be in this scenario but I know what mine would be. At some point I would have to address this situation. My first option would be to try to reason with Leon. I would find out why he feels this deep seeded fear and try to present him with comforting facts about flying. I would explain to Leon that only 1 fatal accident occurred per every 2.5 million flights in 2012 . I would explain to Leon that I'm fine with him not removing his seat belt if he doesn't want to but he shouldn't feel he has the right to impose his views on the other 23 passengers that enjoy the rules as they are. What if that didn't work?
At some point, if Leon refused to respond to logic but insisted on creating anxiety in my life, I would turn the tables on him. I would find a way to make it uncomfortable for Leon to make it uncomfortable on me. I work very hard to enjoy happiness whenever possible. I'm not cool with others affecting my harmony simply because they are idiots and happen to be rude idiots at that. If Leon wants to live in fear then so be it. If Leon wants to round up four or five other people and convince them they should always be on guard and always be on the lookout for the worst then it is what it is.That's not my choice. When the situation affords me the opportunity to take off the safety strap and enjoy the ride then I'm going to seize the moment. None of this changes the fact that sometimes planes fall from the sky.
