There is a truth ignored by travelers that should be universally acknowledged: No one wants to hear about your delayed flight.
This message was drilled into me when I was a high school senior and listened to David Sedaris read a version of what was later published in the New Yorker as "Standing By." In the opening lines, Sedaris laments the delays and cancellations that infuriate travelers. "When it happens to you, it's a national tragedy — why aren't the papers reporting this, you wonder. Only when it happens to someone else do you realize what a dull story it really is." I left the auditorium and waited in line where Sedaris signed my book and gave me handful of condoms, his signature gift for teenagers, and then I drove home, determined that I'd never complain about my boring travel disruptions again.
