The John Tesh Blog

How To Behave In An Airplane

What do you do when you can’t get your way on an airplane?  Two teen age girls traveling on Southwest Airlines from Tampa to LA discovered in-flight temper tantrums aren’t too productive.

Both teens felt slighted for not being served water before take-off and for being overlooked during the in-flight beverage service.

One teen tried to hurry a lavatory occupant by banging on the door.  Afterwards, she entered into a heated exchange with the emerging passenger. 

The two eighteen-year olds were escorted off the plane for using offensive language and threatening gestures. 

One girl, Nisreen claims the attendants singled her out based on her looks. Their over-inflated sense of self-importance showed up once more in the other teen's comments,  “I think they [the flight attendants] were discriminating against [us] because we’re young, decent-looking girls.” 

Regardless of our looks, no one is excused from using airplane etiquette and treating others with respect.  Maybe it's time for a brush-up course on in-flight manners. 

First, before take-off flight attendants are focused on getting passengers seated, buckled up and prepared for departure. They are not about to serve drinks before departure and slow down their operation. If you’re thirsty, bring your own bottle of water aboard.

Suppose you’re overlooked when the beverage cart comes around.   The flight attendants sometimes forget which row they’re working on and mistakenly skip your row. Simply let the attendants know or hit your call button before the cart travels too far down the line. 

One great idea is to use the bathroom before take-off. Due to flight scheduling and other unforeseen mishaps, you might have to wait a long time before you can use one of those miniature bathrooms on the flight.  If you find yourself in a long line to use the lavatory, you’ll have to wait your turn.  Even “beautiful people” have to wait in line. If someone’s in the bathroom too long, ask one of the attendants to knock and see if something is wrong. 

Learn how to share the armrest space.   In case you haven’t figured it out, there are only two armrests for three seats. The person in the middle seat cannot assume he gets to use both armrests. Also watch your feet and knees.  It’s very uncomfortable to have unwanted body contact for an entire five-hour flight.

If you need to use the bathroom a lot, reserve an aisle seat. There’s nothing more annoying than waking from a nap a half dozen times to let the window seat guy use the lavatory after he drinks five sodas.

Respect the space of the person next to you. It’s good manners not to rubberneck, sticking your face close to the window when you’re in the middle seat. Also, if someone next to you is reading a magazine article, don’t read over their shoulder and start commenting.

When you bring your kids on a flight, be sure you keep them under reasonable control. Kids are going to cry on take-off or when they’re bored and hungry. However, you can control kids when they’re kicking and punching the seat in front of them during an entire three hour flight to Dallas. 

One last one.  If you’re going to use a cell phone after boarding immediately on landing, keep your voice down.  People next to you don’t necessarily need to hear your business or personal calls. 

Only you and I can keep our skies friendly! Watch out for those beautiful people!

John   

Email John:  johnsblog@earthlink.net

Don’t forget. My new hardcover book Intelligence For Your Life: Powerful Lessons for Personal Growth will be released March 11th.  You can still pre-order my book before March 11th at half price and you'll receive a free concert DVD by just clicking here.

The Power of a Thank You Note

Do you remember the last person who sent you a thank you note? I bet you do. That’s the power of a note of appreciation.

Saying “thank you” in a note may be a thing of the past to some.  A recent survey found 48% of adults say they only “sometimes” hear people say “please” and “thank you” verbally. 

Writing a thank you card is not as easy as you think.  Several important questions are often raised:

Are electronic thank you cards okay?  You’ve received one of  those cute email thank you’s with their catchy tunes and animated dancing hippos?  They’re fun to receive but it’s not the same as choosing a card at the card store, writing it out by hand and dropping the envelope into a mailbox. 

Wouldn’t you rather receive a well thought out message, written on good stationery?  It says a lot about how the other person feels about you. 

When is the proper time to send a thank you note? Here’s a list of those times when you should be sending out a thank-you.

•Wedding gifts.
•For sympathy letters and flowers.
•To the hostess after a party that was hosted in your honor.
•For bridal or baby shower gifts.
•For gifts that were received by mail.
•After being entertained by your boss.
•Gifts received during a hospital stay.
•After being hosted as a houseguest for one or more nights.
•For notes or gifts of congratulations.

Is there a certain amount of time allowed to pass before you zip off a thank-you?  One etiquette columnist suggests you do it right away, and be strict with yourself. Give yourself a week because if you wait longer then you put it off one more seven day stretch. People like a thank-you note more than they even like a gift.

Always include a specific reference to the gift you’re thanking the person for:  “Thanks for the book you sent for my birthday.  How did you know I’m interested in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court judges?”

What about a thank-you note when you go on a job interview?   A careerbuilder.com survey found 15% of employers wouldn’t hire an applicant who didn’t send a thank-you note after an interview.   

Did you know only 5% of those looking for jobs perform this crucial task? If you’re looking for a way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack and to keep your name in front of a potential employer, this is the way to do it. Send a thank you note.

Career counselors and hiring managers suggest sending a thank you within 24 hours after your interview.   A thank-you note reinforces the fact you really want the job.

If you're at a total loss what to write a hiring manager after a job interview, here are a few thank-you note samples you’re free to use.

A few final words on thank-you notes. When in doubt, send a thank-you note.  You’ll never regret it.

The best part of a thank-you letter arriving in the mail is that people normally go to their mailbox expecting bills or credit card offers.  It’s nice to receive a thank-you from someone who has taken the time to express their appreciation.

John   
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

You can pre-order my new book Intelligence For Your Life: Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth, at half price plus you'll receive a free John Tesh Alive Music& Dance DVD by just clicking here.

Become a Living Lie Detector

Did you know you’re twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations than in emails?

A Cornell University study asked students to keep a communications diary for a week. The students were to take note of their conversations and email exchanges . . . and then confess how many lies they told.

The study revealed lies made up 14% of emails, 21% of instant messages, 27% of face-to-face interactions and a whopping 37% of phone calls.

According to NewScientist, people are fearful of lying in an email when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account.

My apologies to singles . . . but another place lying shows up is in online dating profiles. Online Dating Magazine finds many people tell "little white lies" on their profiles.

•About 52.6% of the men in the study fabricated the truth about their height, as did 39% of the women.

•Slightly more women lied about their weight (64.1%) than did men (60.5%).

•When it came to age, 24.3% of the men were untruthful, compared with 13.1% of the women.

How can you tell when someone is lying to you?

Using methods employed by police and security experts, here are several ways you can detect lies:

•Watch body language. A person lying to you avoids making eye contact. You may notice the individual touching their face, throat and mouth or scratching their nose. They’re not likely to touch their heart with an open hand since a person who lies does not speak from their heart but connives in their head.

•Beware of a contradiction between emotions and words.
You can hand someone a gift and they say, “I love it!” and after a few seconds they force a smile. Normally, the smile should occur at the same time the gift is given. When someone smiles naturally, many facial muscles are involved, but a forced or “polite“ smile only involves muscles around the mouth.

•Look for defensiveness on the part of the guilty person.
She may display discomfort when having to face her accuser and turn her head or body away. Someone who’s not telling the truth may place objects (a book or a coffee cup) between themselves and you as a wall of protection.

•Listen carefully to what is being said or not being said. A person covering up will avoid “lying” by not making direct statements. They will imply answers instead of denying something directly. I’ve noticed when a person is asked to tell the truth, they’ll repeat your question to stall for more time to concoct an answer.

•The guilty are quick to change the subject of conversation.
If you think someone is lying to you, change the subject of the conversation. A liar will willingly follow along and will immediately become more relaxed. An innocent person is confused by the sudden change of subjects and will want to return to the previous topic of conversation.

Just because a person exhibits one or more of these traits does not make them a liar. Though we cannot rationalize lying, we sometimes fudge on the truth out of fear of the consequences. Regardless, we also know we can count on God to offer us pardon.

John
Email: johnsblog@teshmedia.com