A delayed departure can turn strangers into temporary neighbors.

Shared inconvenience does something that shared purpose usually cannot. People who would never have spoken start comparing information, minding each other’s bags, and passing on what the announcement actually said, because for an hour they have the same problem. The community is real while it lasts and dissolves completely at boarding, which is part of what makes it easy to enter. Nobody has to keep it up afterwards.

The next time you are stuck somewhere with other people, say one thing out loud to whoever is nearest. A remark about the delay is opening enough, and it can end when the wait does.