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airline troubles

What A Day This Has Been

Chet McDoniel speaks at Fenton Right-to-Life

Two weeks ago, my dad and I were headed to Fenton, MI to speak at the Fenton Right-to-Life Annual Banquet. The morning started out just fine, however very early as we made our trek to the DFW airport around 4:30AM. American Airlines loaded us onto the plane along with everyone else who was going to Chicago (where our connection was waiting to take us on in to Flint, which is very close to Fenton).

Then, the problems began…

Right around our scheduled departure time, the pilot came on the intercom announcing a problem with the plane, and that we needed to get off this plane in order to get on a different one (hopefully, one that was working!). We quickly realized that our connection would not work as it was only a one-hour window originally, and this delay would make it impossible. American Airlines gate agents were extremely helpful, however, the next flight to Flint from Chicago would not get us to the banquet on time. They re-routed us to Detroit, however, our bags had to stay on the original schedule. That meant that our clothes, sales products, and some materials we use in the presentation wouldn’t arrive in Flint until just after 6PM. The banquet started at 6:30PM.

We decided that all was not lost. We arrived in Detroit and Enterprise was happy to transfer our rental. We drove into Flint to find a Men’s Warehouse where we could buy new clothes and have them tailored on the spot. You see, I can’t just go out and buy a new shirt because of the sleeves. The tailor at the Flint Men’s Warehouse did a great “emergency” job. We called the director of the Right-to-Life group, and she was very gracious and even happy that we were in town. She said as long as we were there that evening, she would be pleased.

Well, our bags arrived while we were at the banquet and my cousin who lives nearby was able to grab them at the airport and rush them over to us. The table of sales materials was set up while we were speaking, and the DVD and CD we needed for the presentation arrived with only a minute or two to spare.

All in all, the evening was a complete success. And, not only that, but our day was not ruined by all of the travel issues. Keeping a positive outlook on the day allowed us to not worry, and to be ready to deliver our message that evening.

Remember, only you can ruin your own day!