Watch how people act when the flight is delayed. That’s who they really are.

Character shows in conditions that were not chosen, when nothing can be gained by performing and the frustration is genuine. Anyone can be pleasant while things go to plan. The interesting information arrives in the moment when the plan is gone and there is nobody to impress.

Watch it in others, and more usefully, watch it in yourself the next time something small goes wrong. The queue, the cancelled thing, the late reply. Notice who you become in the first thirty seconds. That reaction is trainable, and noticing it is the whole first step.