Time and time again.....

- Excuse me Sir, what time is it? asked the young man as I was passing by.
- In Los Angeles or in Sydney? I replied, being used to hearing that question 100 times per flight.
- No the time here, the guy replied.
- We go by the time of our departure city or our destination. We are in the middle of nowhere right now and the "here" time would not be relevant.
- Uh?
- L.A. or Sydney time?
- Forget it.

As I walked away, I wondered why so many people seemed to be fixated on time. Is it because they feel they have no control over their journey and try to put it into some kind of personal perspective? "What time do we land?", "What time is it?", "How much longer?". Of course I could blame the lack of comfort for most of those questions, but even our customers in the "good" seats want to know.

- How much longer before we land?
- Are you sure you want to know, I reply with a smile.
- Yes.
- We still have about 10 hours.
- No that's not possible; still?
- If you won't believe me, don't ask me, I thought to myself but said "I warned you. You should try to sleep."

Everybody has a watch or a cell phone but still feel the need to ask the crew. Do they think "our" time goes faster than theirs? The map on the video screen also shows where we are and how much flight time we have left. Still not good enough. They have to ask us. We must be "in the know" or something....have some information that is only shared with the customers on a need-to-know basis.

- Sir do you know what time we land?
- Yes, I reply as I keep on walking.....