A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. – Author Unknown
After waiting for my cab driver for about an hour, I called to find out where he was. He had hit a patch of ice and was stuck, but promised to get to me shortly. Another hour passed, there was still no sign of him. One of the hotel guests offered to give me a ride to the airport since he and his wife were heading that way. It was tempting but I decided against it. It wouldn’t be fair for my driver to take all that trouble to come to me but I had already gone. But with the passing of another hour, I started to regret that decision. I went up the front desk and asked the clerk who had reported to work at 3 am in the morning after an 18 hour commute what I should do. Another guest approached the clerk with questions about what the best way was to get to the airport.
“If my ride doesn’t show up, could I go with you?” I asked.
He looked a bit surprised. “I think so … By the way, my name is Greg. What time is your flight?”
“2:30”
“Mine is after 4… It’s 11:30 now… I can’t leave right away, but I’ll be back after lunch in about an hour.”
“I’ll switch to a different flight if I have to miss mine. I just need to get there.”
“Okay. You know this can be an adventure, right?” He smiled.
With one more hour to kill, I took out my laptop and started working. When I looked up, there was a handsome black gentlemen standing in front of me, smiling.
“I said I’d be here to pick you up. Here I am. Oh, what a trip!” He extended his hand to me.
“I can’t believe you finally got here! Let me put everything away, so we can hit the road.”
I asked the front desk to thank Greg and let him know that I had left.
The highway was salted and not too bad. There was a section that was really icy that caused our car to swerve a bit. I texted Joe around 1 pm, “Arrived. I think I am going to make the flight!”
Turned out I spoke too soon. The UA check-in section was like a ghost town. All flights for today had been canceled. Announcements were taped on each of the self check-in monitor. Joe did some online searches and told me that Delta was still flying. I walked over to the other side of the airport to the Delta region packed with stranded travelers like me. I called Joe back and asked him to book me a return ticket. He found one at 4:15 for over $300. Well, my company would have to pay for that.
I was told to wait in the winding line to check in my bag. I went outside and noticed a much shorter line for luggage check-in. It took half an hour to accomplish that task. Security check was another hour and a half. I called UA while waiting in line to cancel my return flight. The agent said he’d give me a $200 credit towards my next trip, but a $200 fee would be charged when I used the credit. I was going to have none of that even though it wasn’t my money. In the end, he credited $200 to my Corporate Card. As I was walking to the gate, I got a call from Delta: my flight would be delayed for 2 hours. Life can be very complicated, but for today I have a simple goal in mind: to get home.
I had an enlightening conversation with the cab driver. We talked about his divorce, his relationships with each of his 3 children and our dreams of life. He said there were a lot of nice people in Atlanta. He is definitely one of them. I am grateful that he persisted 3 hours to arrive at my hotel and got me to the airport. People like him, writing, a sense of humor and a wonderful husband help me get through a rough day like this.
I am on my way home!