As I write this, my TAP Portugal flight for 8:15 AM was cancelled. Slept at 1AM and woke up at 5AM to catch this flight. They didn’t send an email about the cancellation, so we found out only when we got there. We then went to the counter to ask about this and they told us that we changed our seat (we didn’t) – as if that was the reason the entire flight was cancelled (we didn’t the flight). Now my flight’s at noon instead.

But there’s nothing to complain about. The miserable prick hiding behind the counter will lead a miserable life. And here one can and should deploy gratitude in the following ways:

  • I only need to wait an extra 4 hours, instead of 4 days. It’s Easter holiday season in Europe, so it could have been a lot worse.
  • Since I’m going from Portugal -> Spain, I have a plethora of other options even if there were no more flights. Uber, trains, busses are 3 ways I found when they said the flight was cancelled. Turns out, Uber from Lisbon to Seville is like 300€ only, which turns out to be cheaper than our flight.
  • I’m not the guy working behind the counter who feels the need to blame paying customers for asking about a flight their company cancelled. This is because the mind driving that attitude likely means they’ve no internal locus of control and blames the world for anything that happens to them.
  • I get to spend a few more hours in the Priority Pass lounge where they have infinite booze and a napping room.
  • I get material to write this post.
  • Lesson learned: check Google for the flight before leaving the hotel. The airline does not inform its customers, but Google apparently has access to some database that does know if a flight is cancelled.

Don’t Waste Time Complaining

Complaining is a waste of time. It makes you depressed and angry, and it’s unproductive because it doesn’t help create solutions. Why do it?

Something bothering you? Deploy gratitude immediately (like the above example) and go into problem solving mode ASAP (i.e. looking for alternate ways to get to the destination). When my girlfriend pointed out that the flight was cancelled, I felt no anxiety at all. I’m confident in my ability to get us to our destination regardless of this flight.

Or maybe I’m just sleep deprived.

When To Complain

Complaining is good in some ways because it lets you vent. And we all need to vent from time to time. Thus, you should give yourself permission to complain if and only if all the conditions below are met:

  • You’re already working to fix the issue at hand.
  • You’re conscious of the fact that your complaining makes you sound like a whiny bitch and doesn’t help.
  • You’re conscious that the sole purpose of your complaining is to help you vent; not to play the victim or to get sympathy or make excuses (nobody cares).

It’s fine to complain if you’re already doing something about it. Don’t ever complain if you’re not even doing anything about it. Your friends and family don’t want to hear it; they got their own shit going on. And the loser friends that go “oh, poor you!” when you’re trying to cop sympathy ain’t your friends at all. They’re enabling you to do nothing about the problem so you can stay being a loser so they can justify their own loser existence.

Don’t fall for it.

P.S: You may also complain in the form of writing bad reviews for companies that are bad for society (you could even argue you’re morally obligated to do it).