Travel
That Time I Was Warned A Pandemic Was Coming
Nobody cares about a Pandemic until it’s a Pandemic
Airport Shift Briefing, in July of 2007
“Can I speak to the team about an urgent matter of Health and Safety?,” Brian asked.
He was a senior, and respected, Health and Safety rep.
“Ok, but we have to get out there soon,” I replied.
I was a brand new manager with the airline, and this was supposed to be a 5 minute shift briefing. It was 6 a.m., and there were already about a thousand customers waiting for our staff to come out and serve them.
“It shouldn’t take too long,” he said matter-of-factly, walking up to the front of the briefing room.
He then proceeded to talk to his 50 or so colleagues for 15 minutes straight. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead, as I tried to think of a way to politely end his presentation. I couldn’t. I didn’t.
Finally, my boss Angie burst into the briefing room.
“What’s going on in here?!” she said, shocked to see all the staff still not in their positions. “Customers are going to miss their flights!”
“Nothing,” Brian replied. “Just finishing up a quick Health and Safety presentation”.
“Brian! This is not the time for a Health and Safety presentation! You have to ask permission from management!” Angie protested.
“I did ask permission,” he said.
“From who?,” she replied.
“From him,” he said, pointing to me.
“I, uh, yeah — actually — he did ask me but I, uh-,” I stammered.
“Ok everyone — please go to your positions!,” Angie interrupted. “Have a good day! Hurry to your positions!”
Stern Warnings
Angie took me into her office, and gave me some very stern, but motherly advice about taking control of my briefings. She told me I couldn’t let the staff, or the Union, or Health and Safety, or anyone else, take control of the briefings or they would spiral out of control. Which is exactly what happened.
She then called Brian into the office, and they had their own stern chat behind closed doors. She told him he was NOT to relay messages from the Health and Safety team at the shift briefings,without her permission.
But he WAS allowed to post Health and Safety Bulletins.
Silent Protest
The next day, at 6am, the briefing room was packed again. Angie accompanied me to ensure I handled it better this time. Brian entered late, as I was delivering the last few minutes of the briefing.
He was wearing a pink scarf around his mouth.
Everyone in the room turned to look at him.
He walked silently over to the bulletin board, posted a bulletin, and then stood there quietly for the rest of the briefing, dramatically wearing the scarf tied around his mouth for everyone to see.
“Why the scarf, Brian?” I said after the staff started dispersing to their shift locations.
“Because I’ve been silenced,” he said, and then he left.
Nobody Cares About A Pandemic Until It’s A Pandemic
“Good briefing, Keith”, Angie said.
“Thank you, Angie,” I replied “It looks like Brian posted a Health and Safety bulletin today”.
“Yes, what does it say?” she asked.
I walked over and read the title of the bulletin out loud:
“We Must Prepare For The Upcoming Global Pandemic”.
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