When my alarm went off at 5:45 AM, I was a little grumpy. I jumped in the shower, dried off, and pumped. When your baby is exclusively breastfed and you travel a lot for work, it’s a little stressful to count the frozen bags of milk in the freezer and realize that, give or take a bottle or two, he’s got just enough to make it through your trip. Every ounce counts, right?
I was disassembling my pump when I knocked over the pumped bottles and spilled over 10 ounces of milk all over floor (that is a lot of milk). Not only did I spill it, but I dumped it all over the outfit I was planning on wearing to the airport. Whoever said, “There’s no use crying over spilled milk,†was not a pumping momma. I let a loud four letter word escape my lips and then took a deep breath. I reminded myself that Henry has enough milk; those bottles were just extra.
A quick glance at my phone told me that I was getting late. I started flipping through my closet like a mad woman, trying to find something that was clean and matched. I was getting all worked up over being late. Again – I took a deep breath and thought, “Maybe I spilled that milk because I would’ve been in a horrific car accident on the way to the airport if I had left on time.†Everything happens for a reason. I suddenly felt a lot better.
I made it to the airport – safely – and got to my gate. When I walked up, they announced a mechanical error and said the flight was delayed an hour and ten minutes. I thought, “Uggggh, great. I woke up early for nothing.†I was pissed. I was doubly pissed because I had a layover; I’d still make my connection, but I really hate layovers. I had only booked a connection because a direct flight was an extra $200 more. The delay was the icing on the cake. I sent a whiny text to Kristien. Then I took a deep breath and decided it didn’t really matter that my flight was late.
Over the loudspeaker, I heard an announcement – “Caitlin Boyle, can you please come to the podium?†I walked up, nervous that I was about to get screwed, and I’d miss the presentation that I’m giving at the ZOOMA expo tonight. The US Airways rep said, “Hey, I thought I’d move you to a direct flight so you don’t have to worry about making your connection.†I was so happy and thanked him profusely. He clicked around on the computer for a bit and said, “Wow, your connection home tomorrow totally blows. Do you want me to move you to a direct flight for tomorrow, too? I’ll do it free of charge.†I couldn’t believe it! He was so proactively nice to me. It completely made my morning. You can bet that I’ll be writing US Airways an e-mail telling them all about the wonderful Christopher Gossner. Flying is usually such a headache, but the experience made my morning.
I guess this is my way of saying… Positivity pays off. If your day seems to be going horribly, it can really all turn around on a dime. That’s the nice thing about life, huh? Even when you’ve got pumped milk all over your shoes, great things can happen.
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That’s awesome! Good customer service goes a long way