Mice and Men
It’s ironic – science can fully explain how an airplane flies; air velocity, surface area, air pressure… and yet there is something magical about seeing the ground drop away and climbing high above the clouds to a vatnage point only God and the sun enjoy.
I haven’t gotten to the ironic part yet.
Airline companies, on the other hand, cannot be explained by science, nor even good common sense, and yet there is nothing at all magical about them. Take for instance my latest experience. I had it all planned out – depart Thailand 7:30am Thursday, December 15th, fly into Phnom Penh, grab my stuff, run back to the airport and fly out for the States just after lunch. I’d snuck in a 9 hour layover in LA to hang out with Matt Ford and then catch an overnight flight to Baltimore where wife and child would await.
That “was” the plan. Unfortunately I got bumped from my flight b/c in Asian efficiency, EVA Airlines decided to close their desk an hour and fifteen minutes before the flight and take all stand-bye passengers. I was on the verge of tears, but summoned my male composure and booked a seat for the following day. Unfortunately my US domestic flight was booked separately and they refused to change the flight without penalty unless EVA would call and request the change for me; sounds simple enough. Yeah right! Try navigating an airline company that speaks multiple languages fluently, as long as they’re tonal, so that they can call back across a 12 hour time difference to an automated phone system to reach a specific individual who actually knows what’s going on, on this side of the world. After 18 hours of trying to make it happen we finally sucked up the $160 change fee US Airways forced us to pay. The upside was that I would still be able to visit with Matt.
That is until my flight out of Cambodia was delayed three hours and I had to take a late flight out of Taipei, laying me up 4 hours in Cambodia, 5 hours in Taipei, and 4 hours in Baltimore. SWEET [said saturated with serious sarcasm].
Airline companies may be mysterious, but there is nothing magical at all about about them.
