Last July I flew from Sacramento to Long Beach, California
to visit my brother before catching a flight to Delhi. After a one-hour ride, we landed, taxied
to the terminal, and the seat belt sign switched off. A half dozen passengers leisurely stood to
retrieve their bags from overhead while the rest of us remained seated, waiting
for the door to open. When it did, we exited by rows. I grabbed my things
when my turn came and followed the folks ahead of me to the terminal. All very
normal; just another summer day in California.
Last week, I wrapped up a workshop in Chennai and flew home
to Pune. After a little over an hour
flight, the plane landed, taxied to the terminal, stopped, and before the seat
belt sign switched off, fifteen of the passengers where on their feet opening
the luggage bins. Moments later, the
aisle was packed, shoulder to shoulder, with passengers surging forward, anxiously awaiting the
opening of the plane’s door.
I was in a middle seat so I simply waited; the aisle was
full but I could feel the fellow by the window next to me getting antsy. The door was still closed yet he could hardly
contain himself and began to crawl over me to force his way into the crowd. I blocked him with my arm and simply said
with a smile, “Let’s all wait for our turn. OK?” He sheepishly sat back down. As the seats ahead emptied, we were able to
stand and go. My seatmate, right behind
me, hurried to the baggage carousel, there to await the eventual arrival of his luggage.
I’ve seen this scene played out again and again and never
stop wondering, “Why?” Where does the compulsion to hurry and push from one spot to the next come from, especially when one must simply wait
some more at the next place. There is a rush to get off the plane only to stand and wait for a bus to the terminal, jostling to get on the bus and then a rush to the baggage claim to wait some more. I could understand if one had a need to catch a connecting flight, maybe meet someone waiting outside or
if by pushing ahead, something useful is accomplished, but ninety nine
times out a hundred, there is no good reason.
It’s just a habit and makes no sense to me.
I was at the Newark airport a few years ago awaiting a flight
to Delhi. Arriving early, I had already
watched flights leave for Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Istanbul. As these flights were called, passengers
assembled and boarded in an orderly fashion.
Before my flight, airport personnel came with stanchions and cordoning for
crowd management, knowing Indians’ tendency to push to the front and ignore
boarding instructions.
I’ve pondered over this for years because it relates to
driving, behavior in queues, getting on and off the Metro or being anywhere groups
gather. Indians want to get ahead and
maybe this accounts for their success when abroad. They are willing to work
very hard and are highly intelligent, but they also seem, to my eye, stressed
and anxious. Maybe it's because they are forced to wait for so many things in life--government services, traffic, the repairman who always comes late, the fellow who says he will "definitely be there" but never is. Of course, maybe none of this is true and I'm just seeing things through my laid-back Californian eyes.
I suspect Indians have learned that waiting one’s turn is
not a good strategy when resources are tight and when others are willing to
push you aside to get their share (and yours) first.
With so many, many people, standing politely aside simply isn’t a
reasonable option. “Yield” signs on the highways don’t exist; they are a foreign
concept. I’ve asked my Indian friends to
explain this to me but have yet to hear a satisfying answer. They just laugh and
maybe that’s the best approach.
