I’d like to tell you a little story. Its about my sister, some plane delays, and how she made it home on schedule.

First, I’ll set the stage. My sister is returning to our hometown for a weekend with family in June from a conference on close relationships. She hasn’t seen anyone in a long time, and doesn’t have too many days, so getting there on time is something of the essence.

Along the way, something happened with the connecting flights so there were hundreds of people displaced off a missed flight, and there weren’t any flights going out to that location for the forseeable future. You can picture it. Lots of angry people swarming the customer service desk to try to bully their way into getting on the next one. As a customer service rep, this probably isn’t your best day at work.

My sister finally gets her turn with an agent. When she tries to talk options, all she can manage is bursting into tears and crying, “I just want to get home in time to spend father’s day with my dad!” She’s a 28 year old woman. Let’s be serious, a display of this sort is just rather touching.

The rep says quietly, step to the side, and we’ll get this taken care of, and then discreetly books my sister onto a flight, while turning down all of the other passengers in line. This flight she’s on? Happens to be a party plane returning from Las Vegas with a load of promotional people that was just stopping over to refuel. It’s not technically supposed to be taking on any passengers. And yet, my sister is let on. Once boarded, she’s showered with gifts, and told that it’s open bar. Have a great time! Is this likely to happen the next time your flight is delayed? Not so much.

The moral of the story? Better things happen to you when you come from a place of love than from a place of anger. No one wants to help that irate person. If this is you, take a lap around the airport, treat yourself to some ice cream, a new magazine, and settle in for what is probably going to be a long and frustrating wait. Yelling at the people who control ticketing isn’t going to get you anywhere fast.