Hope for Humanity

Hope for Humanity

Perhaps there is still hope for humanity.

I should have known from the outset that things were not going to go well. We planned our trip to Albuquerque at one of the worst possible times of the year. February. After several searches for flights to Albuquerque we finally found reasonably priced tickets out of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Since it was going to be a 6:00 a.m. flight we decided to spend the night before in a motel in Scranton. I went online and made reservations. When the confirmation came I saw that the date was set for November. How could I have missed this?

I called the motel and the nice clerk made the necessary changes. We were good to go. Oh, but if only it wasn't February in the great northeast!

On the morning of the day we were to leave for Scranton I received a text message from the airlines that our flight had been cancelled due to weather conditions. We pondered our plight and decided that if we could change our departure out of Harrisburg that we could still get to Albuquerque.  Kathy at Delta was so kind and helpful. I could pull words straight from the Boy Scout Law to describe her. Helpful. Friendly. Courteous.  Kind. Cheerful. It took her a little time but she had us booked on flights that would get us to Albuquerque at our originally scheduled arrival time.

The trip to Harrisburg was not as treacherous as I had anticipated. However, I received another text message that our flight from Harrisburg had been delayed by three hours. There would be no possible way we would make our connection in Atlanta to Albuquerque.

While we dealt with this dilemma we became acquainted with a nice young man (I say young because he was younger than me) who was dealt the same blow that we had been given, only he was trying to get to Seattle. We commiserated together and shared ideas as to how we could make our ways to our destinations. We talked several times in Harrisburg and Atlanta.

By the time we left Harrisburg, Delta had rebooked us on flights from Atlanta to Salt Lake to Albuquerque. Once again, making these connections seemed impossible because of the 20 minute layover in Atlanta. Enter Rachelle from Delta.  In a matter of minutes she put us on a direct flight to Albuquerque. Yes, it gave us a late arrival, but we would not be running in the Atlanta airport to a flight that would leave without. Even if we could have made the flight, who wants to spend all that time and those miles on the plane? And every additional layover increases the risk of problems.

While waiting for our Albuquerque flight Susan began talking to a woman seated next to her. She was returning home to New Mexico. As the conversation evolved Susan revealed that she was born and raised in Los Alamos and that I had retired from the police department there. The woman's face lit up as Susan explained our history in Los Alamos and she asked if I might remember her relative Wayne Byers who had also been a police officer in Los Alamos. "Of course, I do!" Susan gave the woman my name and thus the connection would be complete when she returns home.

Most of our luggage made it to Albuquerque. The lady at the Delta baggage claim area was so helpful. She tracked down the lost bag in seconds and sent us away with a little kit of toiletries (and a T-shirt) and assurances that the bag would be delivered to the motel the next day. It was.

Most rental car agents are pushy, but Kyle at the Hertz counter was kind, considerate, and very accommodating. He was very understanding of our tired situation, and the man staffing the check-in process at the La Quinta graciously accepted my request to keep the suitcase for us when it arrived the next day. When I walked into the motel lobby late the next night he recognized me right away and offered to carry the bag to our car. I assured him that I would be able to handle it

I realized on my trip that I had forgotten my camera battery and charger, a big mistake for me. I checked online and saw that I could buy a battery and charger for my camera for about $30.00 at Walmart. I went to the small Walmart in Los Lunas and found every battery and charger that Canon makes except for mine. I began looking at cameras for a temporary fix to my problem when Carolyn, the store sales associate in electronics offered to sell me a display model camera for $25.00. It was small enough to fit inside my shirt pocket, but powerful enough to take more than adequate snapshots. I made the purchase on the spot. Later when I tried to connect the USB cable to the camera I discovered that the wrong cable had been placed with the camera. I returned to Walmart and Carolyn spotted me before I could approach her. I explained the situation and she quickly found a GoPro device that connected to multiple size ports. It was priced at $15.00, but she simply gave it to me with the approval of her supervisor.

Lots of things went wrong on our way to Albuquerque, but lots of people went out of their way to make things right. In an era of public relations and customer service nightmares, five companies along with these special employees get an A+ this time. Thank you Delta Airlines, Hertz, Choice Hotels, La Quinta, and Walmart for having staff who were effective, efficient, and willing to treat this customer with concern and dignity. I will remember these acts of kindness when I next travel, especially in the winter.

My high school friend Linda Steep Benson asked me about our trip I explained all that happened along with all the helpful people we met along the way.  She commented back to me that it was nice that I was able to be philosophical about everything. These people made it easy. Yeah, there is still hope for humanity.