We have just completed a flight from London to Sydney, with a stopover along the way. I have made the announcement of our arrival location and time to the passengers. As the passengers start to disembark and gather their overhead luggage, an irate-looking passenger beckons me over.
Passenger: “Hey! It’s broad daylight out there! Where on earth are we?!”
Me: “Sir, as we have just informed, we have landed in Sydney.”
The passenger persists in glaring at me, and I sense the need to elucidate further:
Me: “Sydney… Australia, sir.”
Passenger: “That can’t be! I was told that daytime in Australia is nighttime when it’s daytime in London, but it’s lunchtime now and the sun is shining brightly up in the sky!”
Yes, rather than grasping the concept of time zones, the passenger wrongly assumed that “if it’s daytime in London then it’s night time in Sydney” meant that Australians simply, I have no idea… stayed awake at nighttime and slept during the day. It took me several minutes to explain it to him (I was stuck close to him while other passengers retrieved their luggage). After he left, another passenger caught my eye.
Other Passenger: “Just wait until he realizes that their summer is our winter and vice versa!”
Me: “Don’t! It was already challenging enough explaining the hours, let alone the seasons!”
