There are bound to be times while traveling when you realize that you can't always anticipate the things that might come your way. Due to the frequency of my travelling it's happened to me many times. When these unexpected turns occur, I've observed people behave in a number of ways, and quite honestly, in many cases if I hadn't been there to witness some of these behaviors firsthand, I wouldn't have believed it myself.

Admittedly, sometimes there are mitigating factors. Sometimes there are cultural differences that enter into the equation,  sometimes there are personal issues, family, work or a combination of pressures that make people lose it. But at other times, people are just downright rude and disrespectful for no good reason at all. I've seen drunk and belligerent passengers on flights harassing passengers and crew. I've seen irate and sometimes infantile behavior when a passenger's bags don't show up on time or when a flight is delayed or cancelled.

I guess if there is something I would recommend to people that don't travel often when they are facing an uncertain and frustrating situation is to ask themselves the following questions:

Is this really a big deal?
If I take a look at the big picture, will this adversely affect my life?
What is more important, my safety and well being or getting to my destination on time?
If I lose my material goods will my life really be negatively impacted?

The bottom line, I think, is that people can forget about the big picture when traveling. For instance, when a flight is delayed due to weather, people often get upset about the delay and forget about what effects the weather can have on the overall safety of their flight. Their desire or need to be somewhere at a certain time trumps the safety factor. Of course there are situations when time is of the essence and people absolutely need to be somewhere at a certain time, etc., but all too often I see people that are just being impatient and have lost sight of what is truly important.

My last piece of advice if you find yourself in a less than desirable situation is to realize that no matter what the circumstance, there is probably nothing you can do to change it by overreacting. So calm yourself down, take a deep breath, and keep the big picture in mind. If you can do this successfully, I bet you'll find that you manage to get through the situation without adding unnecessary stress.