It’s remarkable how effortlessly people develop a sense of community. Not hard at all, especially if you’re a business traveller stranded at the airport. As I write this, I sit in Terminal D of Zurich International Airport. I got up at 5:45 to catch the 8:20 flight to London. I queued up at the gate and got on the bus taking passengers to the plane. When we arrived there, the bus took us right back to the gate. It didn’t even bother to stop. It merely performed a pointless loop around the runway, as if on a sightseeing tour. Back at the gate, we were informed that the flight had been cancelled due to foggy conditions in London (surprise, surprise). I queued up again to be rebooked to the next flight. So here I am, drinking my third coffee of the day at the Montreux Jazz Cafe, waiting to board.
The whole ordeal has been going on for about 90 minutes (I wish I could say 60 minutes, or 60 pages for that matter), and I have already developed a strong, if entirely silent, rapport with a bunch of people who are with me in this. The tall guy standing next to me on the bus, whose bulge bracket employer can easily be identified by the canvas sports bag between his feet. The billionaire sitting in the back of the bus, whom I almost didn’t recognize because he keeps such a low profile and who seems really humble. A gentleman from a company I used to intern at many years ago, whose name I have forgotten but who hasn’t changed a bit. Another tall guy in a turquoise, double-breasted jacket, pretty audacious for business attire. In case you’re wondering why no women are in this list – well, there weren’t that many. More importantly, they tend to be more relaxed and less conspirational in these types of situations. With male business travellers, who mostly belong to the “alpha” category, it’s all about eye-rolling, cussing and this knowing, implicit solidarity when they lock eyes.