The People

     One thing I can say about Australia is that the people here are wonderful. That's the first thing that I noticed about this country. Maybe it's all of the sun, maybe it's the heat, or maybe it's just a southern hemisphere thing, but everyone here has a very friendly disposition. They always seem willing to help out a "mate." As long as you have a smile on and are courteous then there will be an Aussie around to give you a hand. It's great! 

     On my way here I missed my plane from Los Angeles to Sydney. This was through no fault of mine of course. My flight to LA was an hour late and even though I got quite lost in the giant maze that is LAX there was no way that I could have made it. However, I managed to stay calm and explain the situation to the airlines attendant. I ended up having to stay the night in LA so that I could catch the next plane to Sydney, which was unfortunately not until the next night. Luckily I didn't have to go through this whole ordeal on my own because there was an Australian that missed the flight as well. It made for a much more enjoyable night. 

     I was very fortunate that the person that missed the flight and I had so much in common. It could have been some old, angry, miserable geezer, but it turned out to be a very nice guy just finishing up his last year of high school. Because we were so close in age and lived on opposite sides of the planet we had quite a lot to talk about. He taught me many of the differences between Australia and the U.S., most of them being dialectic, and I clarified a few misconceptions that he had about America. I learned a great deal about the world I was soon to be entering.

     Eventually, the next night came along and since my new Aussie friend's final destination was Melbourne the airlines put him on a different flight than mine. Or at least that's what they said they would try to do. The two of us had to fight almost the entire next day and night in order to get information out of the airlines attendants. They were not helpful at all and kept us completely in the dark about the situation until the very last minute. Finally we were able to get on our respective planes, but only with a lot of effort on our part. It should not have been such a hassle to be booked on new flights when it wasn't even our fault that we missed the plane in the first place. They made us miserable with suspense that night because they couldn't guarantee us anything. Plus, they said they couldn't help me with my connecting flight from Sydney to Townsville and that I would have to buy a new ticket. I was appalled, to say the least.

     On the 14 hour flight to Sydney I sat next to a big, tough looking Australian that probably could have ripped my head off if he wanted to. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared. But he turned out to be a really nice guy who gave a lot of great advice regarding what to do about my next flight. After talking to him I started getting an idea of what Australians were like. His advice was very unlike any advice that I would expect to get from an American. A disgruntled American would probably jump straight into yelling, getting angry, and making a scene so that he/she could get their way. That wasn't at all what the big, scary Aussie told me to do. He told me to charm them. He said that if I was stern and persistent that I would be able to get my ticket comped, but only if I was polite as well. That's when my fondness for Australians began. People that actually used their words in a calm and logical manner in order to explain something, what a concept! The Aussie gave me a bunch of tips for things to say in order to sweet talk my way in as well.

     With my arsenal of charming retorts ready I exited the plane, many, many hours later. As I walked up to the guest service desk I started running through all of the things that he had told me to say. The woman at the desk saw me and asked how she could help. I explained the position that I was in and prepared for what I would say next. She told me to hold on a moment and went to work on her computer. A few minutes went by and I waited patiently for her to tell me that there wasn't anything they could do for me. Then, the unexpected happened. She handed me a boarding pass. With a smile on her face she told me that she had pulled a few strings and had gotten me on the next flight out to Townsville. I couldn't believe it! This sort of behavior was not what I was used to, but I was definitely beginning to like it. I asked her if all Australians were this nice and she blushed with a big grin on her face. She thanked me for the complement and told me to have a good flight.

     That's exactly what I did too. I had a great flight thinking about how much more pleasant this country would be. I think that the U.S., or at least Los Angeles, could take a few hints from Down Under on how to treat our fellow human beings.