As I enter the Orlando airport this morning to catch my flight to San Francisco, I was met by a very long line. This line, apparently was for one counter with one ticket agent. But there were 15 self-check kiosk open just to the left of the main counter. The maze that everyone was standing in had numerous openings leading to these kiosk. I stepped out of the line and up to a kiosk where I was greeted by a very pleasant women from Ireland. I asked why no one was using the kiosk and she said she had no idea.
After I checked my boarding pass and luggage, I proceeded to the drop my bag off with TSA for screening. There was yet another line of people waiting to hand in their bags. This line was blocking the flow of traffic to the rest of the terminal area. Even though TSA informed the passengers to leave their bags, they were ignored. I calmly place my bag over the stanchion and proceeded to security. People were still not listening to the agents.
Once I reach the security check point I was met by a huge line. But there were 4 other agents with no one in their lines. I picked the closest agent and went through security. Half of the other line followed me but did not take advantage of the other three free agents.
the check point line funneled into one bag check lane, but there were 6 open lanes. I walked to the furthest line for fear of starting a stampede. No one followed. All of these lines severely haulted the flow of traffic in this part of the airport.
What I gathered from all of this is that people are too willing to follow the crowd. I am not sure if it is because they are scared to go it alone or maybe they don't know any better. Either way there are way too many followers in the world and not enough leaders. There should be at least one leader per 10 people or something like that. But it does not seem like there was one leader for the hundreds I saw this morning.
The world might be a better place if there were more everyday leaders. I am not speaking of the CEOs or Presidents that get paid to lead but the everyday, run of the mill people that really need to step up. Step up and take control of the situation. I am not saying we should break the rules but if is clear that there is an obstructed path, we should take it. If you choose to follow, you will always be in the dark until the person in front of you moves forward. You will not have a plan or know your destination. This is one of the situation in our society that needs to be addressed. People are too willing to please and fall in line. Make your own path and see who follows you.
