When Travel Plans Fall Apart - Keeping it Fun
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Traveling is supposed to be fun, right?
I found myself in an Airbnb in Rome, Italy, just a couple of weeks ago. I was saying goodbye to the eternal city, waiting for my cab to the airport, when I got an email; my flight was canceled.
Bummer!
First world, champagne problem, yes. But nevertheless a bummer. I rescheduled the cab and requested an extra night from my host, who denied me, as her place had another guest that night. “And the cleaning crew is on their way, so could you please get out of there now, grazie very much!”
Bummer!
Thanks to modern-day technology, I was able to find another Airbnb within walking distance. I lugged my stuff over there, rescheduled clients and apologized for the inconveniences. Feeling inconvenienced myself but grateful to be having such a fun trip, I ended up roaming around Rome one more time.
The next day felt a bit like deja vu all over again, but this time I actually got in the cab and had a spirited conversation practicing Italian with my driver Luigi. We talked about Calcio Fiorentino — a brutal tradition that combines soccer, rugby and boxing — held in Florence every year.
Now, this is fun!
We were having a lot of laughs when I got another email from Delta. My flight had been delayed four hours.
Sigh. Ok, not that bad, but … Bummer.
It did take a bit of “fun wind” out of my sails because, in addition to already being a day late, I’d be getting home at midnight instead of 6 PM. I tried to appreciate the modern miracle of flight over the ocean in just a few hours … yada, yada, yada … I’m barely buying into my own optimism.
The fun is leaking out.
We get to the airport. “Ciao, grazie Luigi!” and I’m off to settle into as comfortable a seat as I can find for the next several hours. Another email from Delta. Flight canceled.
BUMMER!
I’m just plain upset at this point. Fun is nowhere in sight. I call Delta, and the automated thingy tells me, “Your wait is ZERO minutes.”
45 minutes later, I’m talking to Carla in Tampa, who tells me she’s very sorry; there’s nothing that can be done. But rest assured, my new flight tomorrow will “probably almost definitely happen.”
But I’m not reassured at all. I start to think about that Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal, in which he lives in an airport for nine months. I go down a rabbit hole in my mind: How tall would my son be when I saw him after that long? Taller than I am? It was just imagination but felt eerily possible.
After walking around some, I found a line of people in front of a “Delta” sign. 30 minutes later, I hadn’t moved up a single person. After 1 ½ hours, I had moved up just 3 places, and my frustration was boiling. So I started pacing and looking for something interesting and fun as a distraction. As soon as the thought of “fun” came to mind, the Delta attendant called out:
“Does anybody want to go to JFK?”
“Can I sit in first class?” I yelled back.
“Business class, ok?”
“I’ll take it!”
“Ok, but I don’t have a connection.”
“I”ll take it.”
“Ok, but it’s leaving right now.”
“I’ll take it!”
And it was on. I ran to Gate 24, where the back end of a herd was boarding the plane.
As I ran up to the Delta folks, who all looked exhausted from corralling passengers, my new best friend Maurizio was madly typing away. He looked up:
“Mr. Morris?”
“Si!”
“I can get you first class to Atlanta and economy to Sarasota. Ok?”
(I didn’t know whether to cry or kiss his bald, beautiful head.)
“Va bene … grazie!” I said with glee, then backed away to give him room to work.
The Delta people asked if I had to run far to get there and made pleasant chit-chat as we waited for Maurizio to get me on the plane. I was still trying to think of something fun, but the tension was high as I was the last passenger, and we were beyond the departure time.
An excruciating 10 minutes later, he handed me my boarding passes. As sweat dripped from each of our foreheads, I looked him dead in the eye and asked him a question:
“Can I get a vegetarian meal on the plane?”
He stood there confused for a couple of seconds, and then I almost thought he would hit me.
I said, “I’m just joking, man! Thanks!”
We shook hands and had a good laugh as the tension melted for all of us. The world is changing, and it’s changing quickly. But there is still time and opportunity for some fun.
~ Brett
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Fundamental of the Week #10: KEEP THINGS FUN
Our day-to-day work problems are small compared to those facing most of the world. Laugh every day; don’t take things too seriously.
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