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Loosing Schmoozing
Err Travel · December 12, 2000

On a recent trip to Chicago, I had the opportunity to act as my own ticket agent to check myself in for my flight back to San Francisco. Traveling on an E-ticket, I was able to bypass the line at the check-in counter and go right to an automated United Airlines kiosk where a touch-screen monitor stepped me through the check-in process and automatically issued me a boarding pass.

It was easy. In a matter of only a couple of minutes, I was able to complete the check-in and be on my way to the gate. I felt clever. I felt empowered. I felt somehow smug.

But something was missing.

Then I was off to the waiting area. (Okay, I stopped along the way to be ripped-off for a $5 brewski. But that's another story.) In the waiting area, I joined a number of other passengers who were watching CNN Airport Network on overhead monitors as it carried news of George Bush winning the presidential election. (Note that this was the first time Gov. Bush won -- way back on election night!)

I was comfortable and entertained, but something was missing.

As we boarded our flight, I found myself sitting next to a seemingly nice enough chap who acknowledged my greeting with a "Hi." He then went back to his Wall Street Journal until we were airborne. Then he switched to headphones for the remainder of the flight.

The in-flight service was good, the meal was fine, and the flight was on time. But something was missing.

A week later, while catching up on travel-related events on the Internet, I came across a story by Tamara Chuang, who was in Las Vegas covering the Comdex computer trade show for The Orange County Register. Chuang described a system being developed by InnTechnology that was installed at the Venetian Hotel to demonstrate the application of Bluetooth technology in hotels. This technology allows guests with Bluetooth-enabled handheld organizers to use those devices to check themselves into the hotel as they pass through the lobby, bypassing the registration desk altogether.

It was then that I realized what had been missing from my trip back from Chicago. Actually, it wasn't so much what was missing as it was what was imposing on my trip: Technology. Technology, it seems, is displacing human interaction. And it turns out that I like a certain amount of human interaction.

Maybe it's because I'm an extrovert. Maybe it's because I get most of my ideas for this column from other peoples' experiences. Maybe it's because I work alone at my computer much of the time -- too much of the time, according to my wife -- and like the opportunity to talk face-to-face once in a while. Whatever the reason, I do like to schmooze.

Indeed, schmoozing can be one of the wonderful side benefits of travel. Sure, many of us have encountered the pitiless ticket agent, the obnoxious airplane seatmate, and the clueless registration clerk. (And don't even get me started on traveling infants.) But on the other hand, I've met the most interesting people while traveling: The gold miner from Nevada working as a waiter, the dot.com entrepreneur from London schlepping his bags through duty-free, the meat-processing manager from Iowa tending bar in a hotel, the university biologist from Pennsylvania on his way to Boston in search of research funding, the audio-speaker designer going to Hong Kong to straighten out a manufacturing problem, the ski instructor from Norway working as a ticket agent in Spain in the off-season, the Silicon Valley software engineer returning from his honeymoon in India, and the exotic dancer from Wisconsin on her way to Las Vegas for an "audition."

None of these people were operating automated kiosks or watching TV or wearing headsets or using handheld organizers. They were talking with me. We were conversing. It was enlightening, and it was fun.

I hope to continue to schmooze with interesting travelers, but technology is interfering.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.