If all the world were travelers...

I recently returned from an amazing year abroad.  It was anything but easy, especially the travelling home part!

Heathrow -Chicago
Chicago - Omaha

Easy, right?

WRONG!

Long story, short.  What should have been a 1705 flight to Omaha turned into a night in Chicago and a 1215 flight to Des Moines and a drive to Omaha.

But I don't want to focus on the awful way that Airline and Airport handled the situation.

I want to focus on 5 amazing people that I met.

Amanda - American living in UK trying to get to a friend's wedding
John - NYC teacher headed to Council Bluffs for RAGBRAI
Leonard - Headed home from Seattle
Charlie & Carla - Headed home

I met Amanda at 6 am.  We were both Standby on the 7:30 am flight to Omaha.  We were both drinking coffee nervously watching the standby list.  Leonard was also hovering near the screen, just waiting.  That's all we could do.

We made small talk.  We put on fake smiles and laughed politely at our jokes about the situation.  We were barely awake.  Amanda and Leonard had slept in the airport, whereas I at least had a bed in a hotel.  They were sore, and extremely tired.

No one made the early flight.  So we said we'd all meet later at the gate for the 1215 flight.

We found each other around 11am.  Complained about our situation. Laughed and smiled thinking we would be on our way to Omaha soon.

Little did we know, tears were coming.  Our flight was cancelled.  Tears of frustration poured out of our eyes. Why now?  I took out my cellphone to redial the number for rebooking, while standing in line for the desk.

No flights to Omaha today.  Earliest is tomorrow.

Are you kidding me?  I just want to go home.  I had to get home so I could turn around and go to Minnesota for a funeral.  I can't just sit here in Chicago!

This is where I met John.  He was standing behind me in line and overhead my end of the phone call.

He asked Leonard, who happened to be next to us, if he was in too.  So we stepped up to the desk together to get tickets to Des Moines.  Amanda was on the flight, and was calling friends to pick her up on their way to Omaha for the wedding.

Leonard and I were on as well, but John was 1st on the standby list.  The four of us walked to the new gate together with new found determination to get to Omaha.

Then we met Charlie and Carla.  They were in the same situation and had a car reserved already in Des Moines.  They offered to let the 3 of us join them in their car for no cost.

I waited nervously as the minutes were ticking away and still we weren't boarding.  Rumors of an hour delay were circling through the crowd.  People were whispering and getting worried.

Finally, boarding commenced and we then waited nervously for John's name to be called for a ticket. IT WAS!  We all boarded together, with real smiles.

Amanda got picked up by a friend and the guys and I went to find Charlie and Carla.  I asked if they were still willing to drive some strangers to the Omaha airport.

We piled in the SUV and began our 3 hour journey.  5 people who met just a few hours ago, became my lifeline.

They understood my situation and my feelings.  We helped each other.  We didn't leave anyone behind.  Charlie and Carla refused our attempt to help pay for gas. Their reason? "We would have had to pay for a car regardless.  You three were excellent entertainment."

*****************

My father told me later that the whole situation made him think about the world.

What if the world treated each other like stranded travelers?

What if we took the time to understand each other? To help each other, not for our own benefit, but because it was the right thing to do?

What if?

What could our world look like if we stopped finding the things that divide us, and instead looked for things that makes us similar?  How amazing would that world be?

So this is me declaring that I want to be like Charlie and Carla, who drive strangers halfway across Iowa.
I want to be like John, who came offered up the idea of sticking together in the first place.
I want to be like Amanda, who asked her friend if he had room for another person in his vehicle, just in case the rental fell through.
I want to be like Leonard, who stayed calm on the outside, even when everything seemed to fall apart around him.

I want the world to change.

~A