Personal Authority – A Test

During a 15-hour layover in Paris, I went to the Air France lounge to recuperate from the long flight from Houston, handle my email, and prepare for the next long flight … to Johannesburg, South Africa. All went smoothly.

Later in the day, I went for a long walk. When I returned to the lounge, Monique at the counter informed me, in front of a group of newly-arrived travelers, that I was not eligible to stay in the lounge, that I was tourist class.

I explained that I was a member of the Continental Airline club, and that Air France and Continental had reciprocity with their membership. “No,” I was informed again, “Sorry.”

What my mind interpreted that to mean was that I didn’t belong there. That belief is an ancient one. Added to that was my embarrassment for having been told that in front of about 7 or 8 strangers (who DID belong).

I turned tail and started to walk out with my bags. In a few seconds, I went from being embarrassed to being pissed off. Knowing my track record for bad behavior when I’m pissed off, I took 3 conscious breaths, turned around, walked back to the counter, and asked Monique for her full name and for a copy of the computer printout that said I was ineligible to be there. I was monitoring my tone of voice very carefully … authoritative, no nonsense, not angry, not whiny.

At that point, Monique started back-tracking, checking the computer yet again. Then she said she would let me in … this time. I said, “No, I want Continental to know what is happening in Paris.”

Then she turned to a new woman who had just arrived, told her about the Continental Card, and the woman said, “Yes, of course, her card is good here.” Monique apologized, I accepted.

The combination of being travel-weary and taken by surprise made it easy for my mind to default to an old paradigm. In the old days, that little scenario could have taken many hours and lots of self recrimination and blame. Thank you, More To Life Program, for the skill set to change my paradigm.