Denver has a cool looking airport, but I wasn’t a happy camper when my short layover there turned into an unexpected overnight.
(I didn’t take pictures of the unexpected evening in Denver, so I’m posting some prettier scenes of the Isla Holbox instead.)
On Thursday, September 16, my flight to Denver from Cancun went smoothly. When we landed on time in Denver I had a two-hour layover before my flight on to Oakland at 9:10 pm. But at 7:30 pm SW notified us that the flight would be delayed until 12:02 AM September 17. That’s a long layover!
So naturally, I went to the bar/restaurant and had a salad and a glass of Malbec.
Seated at the bar, I had conversations with the men on either side of me. One young guy was on leave from his navy base in Virginia and anxious to see his girlfriend in Colorado Springs. The other was an army veteran, now a mechanic, who talked about how he loves his kids, but also how he misses all the travel he did in the army. In both cases, the time passed quickly with laughs and interesting tidbits being shared. Sometimes during travels I go out of my way NOT to get into conversations with strangers, but this huge wait time between flights was threatening to put me in a bad mood, so I welcomed the company.
Alas! When I returned to the gate to spend the last two and a half hours writing on my laptop, Southwest made another announcement. The flight was canceled. They had begun rebooking passengers on flights the next day, Friday, and they were really sorry. 
Which brings me to the point of this post. I often talk about travel with an almost obsessive enthusiasm. I love it. That doesn’t mean that every aspect of a trip has always gone perfectly. I could create a separate blog about detours, mishaps, lost items, wrong trains, etc.! But if I’ve learned one thing during my traveling years, it’s this:
When something happens beyond your control, it really helps to practice the old “Serenity Prayer” and not sweat what’s already happened or been caused by someone or something else. It’s done. If you didn’t create the challenge in front of you, why waste time yelling about it? Make a new plan!
Southwest had booked me on an early departure the next morning, but only to San Diego, where I would have to change planes to get to Oakland! Folks, the flying time on a direct flight from Denver to Oakland gate-to-gate is two hours and ten minutes. This flight with a change would take me FIVE hours. I just didn’t want another drawn-out plane experience after the wasted time already. So I got in line to speak to the customer service agent to ask if there was a direct flight I could take instead.
The woman in front of me was yelling at the hapless young man—a ramp agent that had been called to help the gate agent deal with the long lines. He obviously didn’t know all the information that the gate agent did, but he was trying. The woman, however, began ranting about how this change was inexcusable! The airline should pay for a hotel room for her and her two children! This was going to cause more problems for her because she can’t get home tonight! Etc.
I stood there holding my own tongue—not to keep from yelling at the agent for all my troubles, but to keep from telling the woman to shut up! I actually had to turn around to keep my cool, and met the eyes of the man behind me. He said, “You’d think the guy had personally ordered the plane not to land here, huh?” Then he rolled his eyes.
I laughed and felt better.
At the counter, I asked my question politely and got a direct flight departing later in the day. It turned out that my previously purchased Early Bird boarding assignment couldn’t be honored on this new flight (I was now C27 instead of A41). That was frustrating, but it was the airline policy, not this poor guy’s evil wish to make me miserable. I thanked him for his help. Before I left, I also said, “You’ve got a hard job tonight. Hang in there!”
The next day while waiting at the gate, I discovered that it would be a full flight, which meant that not only might I have to have my bag checked, but also that I might not be able to get an aisle seat. An aisle seat gives me and my new knees access to multiple stretches and short walks. I was starting to make myself upset about losing that access.
But I’d been watching this gate agent handle things with people professionally and with a cool head, and I thought, “Well, if I don’t ask, I’ll never know.” I went up to him and asked if there was a way my previous Early Bird boarding position could be honored so that my knees wouldn’t cry all the way home.
I really didn’t expect much, but he said, “Oh, you have some issues with your knees?” I explained and he asked for my boarding pass. On it he wrote with a black marker “XT” on its front. He said, “This will include you in the group that boards between the “A” group and the top tier flyers, and the “B” group. It’s not quite as good as your original position, but it will help you get that aisle seat. It’s the group with families with small children and people who need extra time—that’s you, by the way. You’re ‘XT'” He smiled.
Truly surprised, I thanked him profusely and waited to board with my new group. When I passed him at the boarding pass check in, I said, “Thanks for being so pleasant and offering help. Have a good rest of the day.” He looked genuinely surprised, then said, “My pleasure!” I got that aisle seat and a space in the overhead bin for my bag, and the flight went without a hitch.
So I’ve been thinking about these human interactions I had in the Denver airport.
Stuff happens. Sometimes during my travels I make stupid mistakes and stuff happens. Other times mother nature or mechanical problems or some other trigger not controlled by my own fingers royally makes stuff happen. I can yell at myself all I want, which I do. 😉 But I’ve learned that venting at some poor person in harm’s way not only doesn’t expedite a solution, but it also darkens everyone’s mood, including my own.
And being in a bad mood is NOT why I travel! I’m home safe and sound, back to my life of feeding birds, squirrels, and a cat. And making my own cappuccino again! All is well. Like the band “Human League” sings, “I’m only human..” But I can choose how I present THIS human when I travel, and it’s always worth it to make the effort to be kind.
PS. Oh, and let this be a lesson to you: I bought a basic travel insurance policy for $57 through World Nomads before I left home. As soon as my flight home was canceled and I knew I needed a hotel room, I called them from the Denver airport. The agent answered quickly and assured me I simply needed to send a claim with backup documentation to get fully refunded. In all the years I’ve traveled, I’ve never had to file a claim with them, but I’m glad I had the policy this time! BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE!
Thanks for reading and look for my next post on Friday!
