Longing for Home
by Greg Alexander -- this post was lost in the
cyberspace following assembly.
Well, while most of you who left
Portland today (Thursday) are now enjoying the comforts of home, there is a
significant number of us who were no so lucky. The realities of air travel
reared their ugly heads. Instead of sitting in my own house anticipating a great
night’s sleep in my own bed and in Nora’s treasured presence, I,
along with scores of others, are sitting in a fleabag motel in Detroit courtesy
of Northwest Airlines. Delays caused us to miss our connecting flights home.
I was rather proud of my self for
the courtesy shown to the poor agent behind the ticket counter. He typed and
frowned and typed and frowned as he tried to find me a way home. I really
appreciated his efforts. After about five minutes he sheepishly raised his head
from the computer screen and looked up at me and said, “I’m really
sorry, sir. I cannot get you home this evening.” Then he looked behind me
at the fifty or more people in line waiting their turn to try and get home. I
asked, “Is this pretty much your life these days, spending most of your
time apologizing for situations you did not create and cannot change and facing
endless streams of frustrated and disgruntled customers?” He smiled and
said, “Yes, sir, it is. I just wish people would understand I’m just
the middle man who has absolutely no say in any of this.” I nodded my
understanding, grabbed my re-routed flight information and walked away, thankful
I get to spend my days, even the bad ones, among people who mostly understand
the concept of grace.
I’m
still pretty angry that I’m in a fleabag motel, with no luggage, no change
of clothes, no toiletries, and no phone charger to charge my dead cell phone
battery. I have been inconvenienced, but lest I forget, I have only been
inconvenienced. Thanks be to God for another opportunity to appreciate the
enormous blessings so graciously bestowed on me I too often take for granted. I
pray that all those other people that the ticketing agent faced today may, like
me, know the blessing of inconvenience.
Filed Mon - August 15, 2005, 05:29 PM in
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