I traveled to the south a few times this month so I have become well acquainted with Delta Airlines. Honestly, it is never my airline of choice but for southern vacations it always seems to have the most flight options and best prices.
This weekend I was flying from Asheville, North Carolina back to NYC after a wedding. Unfortunately, the weather was less than cooperative and we ended up being at the Asheville airport for 5 hours. If you're in Philly or even Atlanta, you can keep yourself fairly busy at the airport. There are a lot of bars, restaurants and shops. Not so much in Asheville. I think there were six gates total and a combo bar/restaurant/bodega. Delays on a Sunday afternoon after a wedding with a few fellow travelers who may or may not have slept on the bathroom floor of the hotel, could have been a dreadful experience.
Strangely, this wasn't the case and it was solely thanks to the bartender and the man working the Delta gate counter. Both of whom had fantastic personalities and knew how to play with the crowd. What could have been a pretty angry and bitter group of people just wasn't because the two people we all were interacting with were so great. We went back and forth between the bar and gate for hours. When we boarded we said goodbye to the bartender and thanked him for a great afternoon. When we came back after sitting on the runway for an hour, de-boarded and went back to the bar he had a sign on a napkin that said, "Welcome Back."
A trip that should have taken 4 hours ended up taking over 12 hours. Getting home at 2 in the morning and having to get up for work the next day is never an ideal situation. These two guys helped us make the most of it and it lightened the mood for everyone. We were hamming it up with our new friends trying to get to Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona. We watched some European soccer and charmed our way into getting the Yankees-Mets game on. There was a lot of smiling and laughing.
So, the next time you have a delay, just lighten up. There is usually nothing you can do about it. You can either sit there and be grumpy or you can take it for what it's worth, a chance to meet new people. We could have easily left Asheville with a bitter taste in our mouthes but we chose not to and that's always good for the soul.
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| Rain and fog in Asheville, NC |
Strangely, this wasn't the case and it was solely thanks to the bartender and the man working the Delta gate counter. Both of whom had fantastic personalities and knew how to play with the crowd. What could have been a pretty angry and bitter group of people just wasn't because the two people we all were interacting with were so great. We went back and forth between the bar and gate for hours. When we boarded we said goodbye to the bartender and thanked him for a great afternoon. When we came back after sitting on the runway for an hour, de-boarded and went back to the bar he had a sign on a napkin that said, "Welcome Back."
A trip that should have taken 4 hours ended up taking over 12 hours. Getting home at 2 in the morning and having to get up for work the next day is never an ideal situation. These two guys helped us make the most of it and it lightened the mood for everyone. We were hamming it up with our new friends trying to get to Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona. We watched some European soccer and charmed our way into getting the Yankees-Mets game on. There was a lot of smiling and laughing.
So, the next time you have a delay, just lighten up. There is usually nothing you can do about it. You can either sit there and be grumpy or you can take it for what it's worth, a chance to meet new people. We could have easily left Asheville with a bitter taste in our mouthes but we chose not to and that's always good for the soul.
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