A Lesson in Communication Aboard the Airport Shuttle

Numerous Airport Shuttles run nonstop between San Francisco International and the various hotels in the immediate surrounding area. The shuttle serving my hotel also served two others. It works something like this............

You hop on the shuttle and the driver asks where you're going. You respond with something like Delta, United, American when going to the airport and Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Marriott when leaving the airport. Pretty simple, right?

So we pull up to the Embassy Suites; woman hops on, driver asks where she is going and she says "The Airport." She continues to walk onto the bus while the driver pauses. I couldn't tell whether he was amused, annoyed or confused but the pause and stare were priceless. He then asked her what airline. "Oh, of course, {pause}, Southwest."

Next stop was the Holiday Inn Express. Driver opens the door, man hops on and drivers asks "What airline?" Guess the woman taught him!

But seriously, how many times have we said something, knowing what we meant, but our words were misinterpreted.

Rich's #1 rule of communication: Assume people know nothing, nada, zero, zilch!