Traveling Adventure, by Jane Smith
This is a first world problem, he said. No question – not hard to get that as we sat in the airport on Tuesday night, confronting delay after delay to the last flight out of Cincinnati to Charlotte, now already too late for me to make my Raleigh connection. It’s a miracle of our times that we can start our day in two different cities, get in the long silver tube with seats, meet up and be in another city, then go up into the air and land to lead an afternoon program an hour from the airport, then return the same day.
The Spanish speaking ladies didn’t see it that way, nor did the vacationers who wanted to get to Myrtle Beach that night. They complained, loudly and often – “I can’t believe this, this is ridiculous. They are going to pay for my hotel.” Not happening, this was an act of God that stacked the delays up like dominoes all through the country…a tornado between the runways at the Denver airport, thunderstorms and wind through the Midwest, East and South. One plane late, the next late, the next cancelled, and on it goes. The jolly, a bit roly-poly young man behind the counter at our gate A17 just smiled, engaged, and changed tickets, once it was apparent that people would miss all connections. Then we learned that, as the speaker said, “when it rains it pours, and it has poured all day here. We have to do some maintenance on your plane, put some sealant in the dents they discovered in the baggage area, and then it has to cure…will take about another hour. So you’ll leave about 11:45pm.”
The Spanish-speaking woman demanded “you WILL get me a shuttle to Greensboro tomorrow, they have done it before and YOU will.” The sweet young man just smiled and said “well, M’am, I’ll ask about it, but I don’t think we do that.” He just listened to her powerfully, and her rage abated. I wound up sitting beside her when we left on the plane, and she was still chattering “ain’t it awful.” I nodded a lot, and just listened.
Doug and I found me a $50 a night hotel in Charlotte for my 3 hour sleep, and the plan was made – get his car from remote parking when we get to Charlotte, take me to the Econo-Lodge, and I would have a morning flight at 7:30am. My day handled on both ends. A slightly drunk fellow traveler with a generous spirit loaned me a phone plug so I could charge my phone…traveling light for just the day…as we waited, up to 100% charged by the time we got on the plane. Another first world problem solved.
As we arrived at the hotel, Doug, who had not traveled so lightly, said, “would you like one of my clean t-shirts, I have two in my bag.” What a joy, to have a t-shirt to sleep in, just like magic solving another of those things I tend to obsess over in my first world...what to wear to the bed in the motel when I had nothing. Thank you, Doug, and you’ll get it back, clean again, when I see you in Raleigh next week.
I love going up and back to Cincinnati on the same day, and it usually works well. Next time I’ll take a few extras, just in case. Good company, friendly people, and a story to tell…no, fellow travelers, not so awful.
The Spanish speaking ladies didn’t see it that way, nor did the vacationers who wanted to get to Myrtle Beach that night. They complained, loudly and often – “I can’t believe this, this is ridiculous. They are going to pay for my hotel.” Not happening, this was an act of God that stacked the delays up like dominoes all through the country…a tornado between the runways at the Denver airport, thunderstorms and wind through the Midwest, East and South. One plane late, the next late, the next cancelled, and on it goes. The jolly, a bit roly-poly young man behind the counter at our gate A17 just smiled, engaged, and changed tickets, once it was apparent that people would miss all connections. Then we learned that, as the speaker said, “when it rains it pours, and it has poured all day here. We have to do some maintenance on your plane, put some sealant in the dents they discovered in the baggage area, and then it has to cure…will take about another hour. So you’ll leave about 11:45pm.”
The Spanish-speaking woman demanded “you WILL get me a shuttle to Greensboro tomorrow, they have done it before and YOU will.” The sweet young man just smiled and said “well, M’am, I’ll ask about it, but I don’t think we do that.” He just listened to her powerfully, and her rage abated. I wound up sitting beside her when we left on the plane, and she was still chattering “ain’t it awful.” I nodded a lot, and just listened.
Doug and I found me a $50 a night hotel in Charlotte for my 3 hour sleep, and the plan was made – get his car from remote parking when we get to Charlotte, take me to the Econo-Lodge, and I would have a morning flight at 7:30am. My day handled on both ends. A slightly drunk fellow traveler with a generous spirit loaned me a phone plug so I could charge my phone…traveling light for just the day…as we waited, up to 100% charged by the time we got on the plane. Another first world problem solved.
As we arrived at the hotel, Doug, who had not traveled so lightly, said, “would you like one of my clean t-shirts, I have two in my bag.” What a joy, to have a t-shirt to sleep in, just like magic solving another of those things I tend to obsess over in my first world...what to wear to the bed in the motel when I had nothing. Thank you, Doug, and you’ll get it back, clean again, when I see you in Raleigh next week.
I love going up and back to Cincinnati on the same day, and it usually works well. Next time I’ll take a few extras, just in case. Good company, friendly people, and a story to tell…no, fellow travelers, not so awful.
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