Alternate Paths
Posted on July 22, 2008 - Filed Under Business |
It’s funny the things that go through your head when you’re at 35,000 feet.
Nearly 10 years has passed since my full time flying experiences really began. Switching airlines, frequent flyer mileage, red-eye flights, lost baggage . . . Yet my greatest anxiety when flying is not flying itself but rather the weather conditions which can prevent flying.
One such instance occurred nearly 8 years ago. My connecting flight from Detroit was in Cincinnati and then direct to the City of Angels. We managed to land in Cincinnati but no more flights were had that day. The entire airport was shut down, due to Old Man Winter. This meant hotel and delivery pizza.
As can be imagined, zombies crawled all over the morning airport. Dozens of flights had been cancelled, hundreds of people wandering aimlessly. Since zombies don’t shower, the smell emanating from the airport made high school locker rooms smell like a garden spring day.
My objective: Los Angeles.
Standing in line behind a lady who had obviously done some hard time at the airport. She had the worse case of bedhead I had ever seen. Pleading with the ticketing agent, the ladys goal was Southern California. Same as mine.
The ticketing agent confirmed the gravity of the situation. Every flight for that day was in an “over sold” condition (ie more tickets sold than seats on a plane). Along with the “over sold” state, hundreds upon hundreds of airport zombies needed to be back to LA. Each flight was 30 deep with standbys. Every flight back to California was the same story. San Diego or San Francisco.
Exasperated the lady turned and walked away.
On a fluke, I asked “What about flights to Vegas?” At the worst I could always rent a car once in Vegas and drive the five hours to LA.
“Sure I can book you to Las Vegas.”
I think sometimes people become so focused on the objective that they don’t stop and think that another path to the objective may be a bit easier or a bit faster. If your model isn’t working, time to throw it out and create a new one.
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