The Free Thing You Can Do To Make Holiday Travel Better

Not sure if you heard, but this is one of the busiest travel days of the year!

And maybe it’s just me, but I sense a lot of angry, unhappy people dealing with stuff right now. (So many folks tie everything to politics. If you looked at my neighborhood’s Facebook group, you’d think Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the Iron Triangle of Fascism all live up the block. “Has anyone tried the new Italian place on Broadway?” “No! I’m never going because Italy was once run by a fascist, just like…”)

The economy is either fantastic or makes the Great Depression look like the Roaring ’20s, depending on who you talk to.

It’s a cataclysmic year in the National Football League and college football. (Don’t even get me started on the Minnesota Vikings and their personnel situation. And the CFB Playoff picture, oy vey.)

There seems to be malcontent everywhere!

So, here we are: one of the busiest travel days of the year. (Oh, and there’s crappy weather that might affect travel, too.)

If you’re going through an airport, hotel, train station, gas station, whatever, there’s something you can do that makes a HUGE difference for a lot of people. And it costs you absolutely nothing.

Ready? Here it is:

Be nice. Stay calm.

I know that sounds simple but a lot of people seem to forget it. Just talk to airline employees. They get blamed for everything: the weather, bad food at the airport, the in-laws’ neighbors’ friends you have to put up with at Thanksgiving dinner, you name it.

I worked at a hotel. I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas behind a front desk and driving an airport shuttle van. Holiday pay is nice, sure, but some people would rather be with their families.

And how about your fellow travelers? Yes. I know a lot of them are complete morons who have no idea what they’re doing. They do stuff like take their shoes off at PreCheck! Or ask if their flight is boarding when it’s clearly not! The worst, I tell ya. To paraphrase something the Real Mormon Housemom Wives of Salt Lake City (or whatever that deliciously scandalous, trashy show on Hulu is) say all the time in season 2, give them grace. Holidays can be emotionally rough for some people for various reasons. Perhaps they removed their belt at PreCheck because they’re preoccupied thinking about an ill relative who won’t be around for Christmas. (Or they’re just clueless, sure.)

You can even actively be kind.

Smile and hi to the flight attendants who welcome you on board. Say “thank you” to the gate agents (who watch you scan your own boarding pass, I know). Thank people for working during the holidays. Little stuff like that can go a long way.

And remember this, above all: if you can’t say something nice, then come sit next to me 😉 .

Happy travels, everyone!