Presentation Matters

I’m writing this from a Dallas-area hotel room on a Friday night. I should have been home 9 hours ago, but a little snow and ice storm is keeping all of American’s NWA-bound regional jets on the tarmac here at DFW.

Before I resigned myself to a night in Dallas, I had one brief moment of hope when American temporarily boarded me on a plane heading home. Unfortunately we sat on the plane for 20 minutes before hearing that XNA was not fit for landings. I sat there next a very nice man named Michael. He looked travel-worn and weary like most of us on the plane. I understood quickly just how tired he was when he recounted being on a plane circling the NW Arkansas airport the night before only to be turned around and sent back to Dallas due to hazardous runway conditions. (Ouch.)

Like many of his midnight-run-to-nowhere counterparts, Michael wore yesterday’s clothes and hadn’t shaven. How much better would a clean set of clothes and a steamy shave have made him feel?

In the early days of air travel, people used to dress up to fly. It  was still something special, and people treated it as such. Unless you’re lucky enough to fly first-class, there’s very little special left in the modern air travel experience. Unfortunately, most of us have become accustomed to this less-than experience.

Seeking any comfort we can, we often look like we’re ready for movie night on the couch rather than a trip out of town. I know I do. My usual flight attire (assuming I don’t have a business meeting as soon as I land) is a pair of cargo pants (or cargo shorts in the summer,) the most comfortable shirt I can find and my sunglasses (which double nicely as sleep mask.)

So I’m half-rumpled getting on the plane in anticipation of further rumpling caused by crowded conditions, delays, cancellations and rebookings. Would I feel any better if I went into the situation nicely pressed? If clothes make the man, would clothes make the man any less stressed or fatigued?

I’m putting this to the test tomorrow. Since I hadn’t planned to travel today the only clean shirt I have is a spare dress shirt I packed for this week’s Genesis of a Great Idea event (client.) I could throw on the same comfy but overly worn sweater I had on today, but instead I will take the time to iron said dress shirt and pair it with my dress shoes. I’m still wearing jeans because I’ll likely be digging my car out of a ton of ice and snow upon arrival. But they are nice jeans.

Tags: airplanes, attittude, clothes, travel