Power vs Force

In late July this year, I took a Wizz Air flight from Vienna to London (and back). It was a quick three-day trip. Wizz Air is a Hungarian low-cost carrier that is proving to be a formidable player in the low-cost market. I had flown them before in 2018. Back then I flew them from Rome to Vienna. I was sceptical back then as I booked the flight. I wasn’t even sure if it was real. I paid EUR 40 for that flight. Even short-haul bus trips are more expensive than that!

But I asked around and a couple of my friends had flown Wizz, so I thought to myself, “they are real”. And I had a good experience with them in 2018. They were on time, and efficient with their check-in. The only thing that was a little surprising was that they took my cabin bag off me and stored it in their hold as I was boarding the flight. The flight was full they said and overhead storage was limited hence my bag would have to go into the hold. I would get it at the baggage carousel in Vienna.

That was something I was trying to avoid. Waiting for luggage is a delay but I also knew that Vienna Airport was efficient, so I consoled myself. Not to say that I had any say in the matter! At least they did not charge me for it.

In July this year, I had a completely different experience with Wizz. And it was my fault. I was excited that I could get a flight out to London at short notice and the price was reasonable. This summer, most European Airports were facing some form of crisis as were British Airports. British Airways was not plying that route (Vienna – London) because Heathrow Airport had limited the number of passengers it would process per day.

Ryanair, the other low-cost carrier, was amazingly expensive. A one-way with Ryanair was more than a return on Wizz. I was delighted that Wizz existed, and they had a new route that was flying into Gatwick. That suited me well.

My memory of Wizz Air was based on my 2018 experience. When I booked my ticket online in July, I visualised myself walking onto the plane with my cabin bag. I read some of the fine print but did not give it my full attention. To cut a long story short, the same bag that was allowed on my flight from Rome to Vienna was now chargeable! I did not know this. Later, after talking to friends who had flown low-cost carriers, I found out that all low-cost carriers had changed their policy about cabin bags! Only a backpack is considered cabin worthy at no cost. Most of my friends were caught out at boarding too.

My point in writing this article is to describe my experience at the boarding gate at Vienna Airport. A Wizz Air ground staff approached me to check my boarding pass and immediately realised I had not paid for my cabin bag. In a straightforward but borderline polite manner, he told me I had to pay for it. I was shocked. I went to the desk and promptly stated that I had flown with this same bag before without paying extra for it.

They told me the current rules don’t allow it and that their policies during booking say so. They said I did not read it. Which is true! I hadn’t read the fine print and was stuck in my old ‘Wizz Air paradigm’. The airlines had moved on. But what was interesting was that one of the ground staff was rather aggressive. I had not experienced this before and I called her out on it, dispassionately. She responded that I was being rude and that if I did not pay for the bag right away, both my bag and I would be off-loaded! This was a case of bullying.

Dr. David Hawkins, in his book Power vs Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behaviour”, states that we work from a consciousness level at a given moment. He splits this consciousness into power and force. Our outcomes are based on the level of consciousness we operate from. He works on a simple premise that force requires energy from us whereas power is energising! It is a complex topic, and I am still trying to appreciate Hawkins's work on this.

In hindsight, I could have ‘played’ the scenario better. Instead, I matched the ground staff’s aggression (force) with force when I should have used power. But I also believe that at times force has its place. But this argument is for another article. Like I said it is complex.

Incidentally, my return flight from London to Vienna was uneventful! No one checked that boarding passes correlated to their bags. Go figure.

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com