My wife Samantha and I were traveling out to Cody, Wyoming to visit with our daughter and her husband. This involved three flights; from Valdosta to Atlanta, then to Salt Lake City, to Cody.
The flight from Salt Lake City to Cody is a small commuter type jet, maybe 70 passengers. As we were boarding the plane, several people were settling in and putting away bags in the overhead bins, necessitating a wait.
As I was waiting for the aisle to clear, Samantha said something to me that made me smile. As I turned back to the rear of the plane, a businessman was settling into his seat in the 2nd row.
This guy looks up at me and sees me grinning and snarkily says, “Hello.” He was saying it like, “Can I help you?” as if I was impatiently waiting for this guy to settle in. I heard him, but wasn’t sure at first he was talking to me, so since the aisle was clear, I just walked past him towards my seat several rows back.
As I passed him, I heard him mutter, “asshole” under his breath. I get it that he was thinking I was annoyed by having to wait for him and was giving me what for.
I half turned so I could explain to this guy that I had no animus towards him, planning to clear up his misunderstanding of the situation and then I realized that I was standing on a small plane with this narrow aisle and there are 50 other people that are trying to board.
I don’t know this guy and have no idea what his issue is. Maybe he had an incredibly frustrating day and just needed to vent. Maybe he is a total jerk all the time. But, this was not the time and place for me to engage in a conversation about how he thought I was judging him for blocking the aisle.
I sat down in my seat and thought about the exchange. I have seen situations where someone would have went off on this guy for calling them a name. Who knows? A fight can break out in that situation and the reality would be that neither party would have understood the situation clearly.
I thought to myself, “That guy thinks I am an asshole.” While there are plenty of times when my behavior would warrant someone thinking that of me, this was not one of them. But, at that moment, that place and time, I didn’t have time for me to not be an asshole for this guy ….
Sometimes you just have to let it go.