2946. Travel Stories - Laggards get scolded in a tour

Oct 16, 2016   Slovakia
Bory Mall, going to Bratislava


"Why are you so late!" the wife, waiting outside the coach with the tour leader, admonished the husband who arrived with another retiree, Charles.  The lunch at Bory Mall was for one hour and strictly no shopping. When the husband went to the spot where the coach had stopped for passengers to disembark for lunch, there was no coach and no other fellow travellers. Why?

"I think the others may be waiting at the other exit of the Mall. Let's go and look for them."  Charles is one person who tends to "think out of the box". This was not logical thinking and the husband did not let him do it.

Both walked further up the car park. They saw the blue and white coach parked far away from the original disembarkment spot and the angry wife with the tour leader waiting.

A good tour leader would have gathered all at the same disembarkment spot or at the exit of the Mall. He would count them and all would walk to the coach parked further away.

Charles had a poor impression of him earlier and this served to reinforce his bad assessment of this experienced tour leader. Yet he did not tell the tour leader of this failing. Neither did the husband. No confrontation and so no learning for the tour leader to improve his management.  

The tour leader could have informed all that the coach would be waiting far away from the disembarkment point. However, not everyone in the large group of 31 travellers could have paid attention. In a large group, the meeting point should be inside the Mall in this case or at the place of disembarkment. Tour leaders do make bad judgments but wives should not scold their husbands and able-bodied daughters should not scold their old fathers for being late in embarking.