Where in the world are Mike & Wendy...

DISNEY "WORLD" - ORLANDO, FLORIDA!








Wendy and I left Tuesday really early in the morning to catch our flight "direct" to Orlando. We got to the airport 1 hour early which has always been enough time (to spare). But, not yesterday! We stood in line as the personality challenged Delta employees assisted highly anxious passengers. We were actually 3rd in line behind an older couple doing all they could to either avoid the swine flue or stimulate the medical mask industry and 2 serious marines that you could have bounced a quarter off from (including their clinched facial muscles).

There were at least 12 stations of which 3 had employees manning them. One older lady kept walking the entire length of the 12 stations fiddling with this and fiddling with that. I kept watching her as the other 3 employees "s l o w l y" tried to prI pocess the 3 "groups" of international passengers. To the best of my ability to determine ethnicity I believe one group was going to Korea, another to Italy and the last to somewhere in the middle east. I have only seen that much luggage in 1 place before - the baggage claim merry-go-round. To process all the baggage would have been time consuming enough but then each group had to have each and every person in it ask questions in their tortured english. For being an international airport I found it curious that the only Delta employee that appeared international was the lady from Mexico that ended up finally helping me. Check that... there were the 2 Somolian baggage employees that sat on the edge of the conveyor speaking Somalian and laughing for the entire hour I was in line. At least they aren't pirates. Maybe that is what they were talking about.

So, we finally get our turn. They lady doesn't even attempt to use cordiality. She went straight to "I am in charge and nothing you do or say will change my mind and becoming aggitated will only slow me down so choose wisely..."

I chose. Not what I wanted but what I decided would best help our situation. I was nice. And hey, it paid off. Instead of paying the normal $100 per person addition for re-booking we ended up getting one heck of a deal... half off. And to further reward my kindness she booked us on an emergency row. With my long legs that is a bigger perk than you might think! So, we found our lost selves once again found. After only a 2 hour delay we caught our flight which instead of going directly to Florida gave us the added bonus of landing in Atlanta (Hi Em and Shawn) for a 1 hour lay-0ver. I spent 45 minutes of that time standing in line to "correct" the mess that my mexican aid had created. I guess her generousity of discounting my price caused a computer glitch that rejected my tickets. Oh, and by the way, a new thing with Delta is that NO bags are included in the flight you have to pay $15 for each.

After standing in line waiting for my turn with the 1 Delta employee working in Atlanta I was finally getting close to my turn with only a very nice older gentleman from Japan in front of me when a surfer dude about 5'2" with moppy hair came up and stood next to the Japanese man as if the "empty" station next to the guy helping everyone else had someone standing at it. I watched as the nice older Japanese gentleman progressively overcame his reserved nature to finally tap the kid on the shoulder, turn and point at the 20 people in line and say "Line" in a very heavy oriental accent. It did the trick. I smiled at the Japanese man that appeared embarrased at what he had done and glared "down" at the surfer dude as he passed because he hadn't made an error - his lame attempt at cutting in was foiled by Japanese superiority.

We finally boarded the plane. We had the emergency seats due to my successful "be nice" approach with the latest Delta employee. And better yet, the ones that are between 1st class and 2nd class so we not only had leg room we got to sit directly in front of the Delta employee as they sat in their seat facing the 2nd class passengers. I have a question. Why is it that as a passenger I get a seat strap that was outdated even in my parents 1972 Buick stationwagon and the Delta employee gets an Indy Car style strap system? If I didn't know better his jumper seat might have had an eject buttom and built in parachute. I didn't hold it against him and thankfully. He was quite the enjoyable individual. As he sat down we smiled at him and he said, "you didn't know you were going to be entertained on this flight did you?" He then said, "I am the singing steward" (joking). Well, the ice was broke and we proceeded to have a great conversation the rest of the trip. His name is Sam. He was adopted in Taiwan by an American soldier during the war when he was 8. He has a girlfriend from the Philippines and goes there every month. There was our angle. "Have you heard of Mormons?" Our daughter is a missionary in the Philippines. We then discussed many things about mormons and missionaries and the benefits the service will have on their lives and others. I witnessed to him about "true happiness" being found in recognizing the importance of our relationship with Christ and the importance of family. He told me that he let 2 young men into his home years ago and they were very nice. We had a wonderful visit and I believe he came away with a positive opinion and outlook as to Mormons and missionaries. I hope the next time he lets the missionaries into his home he listens a little closer and catches the message of true happiness.

So, after all is said and done I thank my Mexican Delta employee's short and direct help in arranging our new flight.

Wendy and I landed safely in Orlando and checked into a beautiful hotel with a room that has a patio setting just feet from the bay. We are going to have a wonderful time here and feel very blessed in a world of chaos to be able to enjoy such serenity and beauty. I thank my employers for sending me to this convention. My last boss would never have been so generous!