Volume 15 - Day 108/257, 2023 - Tuesday

I am late with this entry, it is actually Wednesday already, but I just got home from my Kansas City trip. It was a really good Broker Summit, and there was lot and LOTS of interesting stuff taken away from the couple days. The overriding thing today was whether or not we were going to get home close to as planned or not. Southwest had a 'ground stoppage' this morning, which meant no flights. Period. The stoppage was over within a couple hours, but things were backed up and delayed. One of our speakers this morning was a former CEO of United Airlines, and sometimes stuff happens just because stuff happens, and it is no ones fault, and there is really no one to blame. So, during the Q&A, I asked him what I should say to Southwest employees when I finally got to the airport and got on a flight. His response was, just give them a hug, and tell them you know it wasn't their fault. SO...challenge accepted. Since about 6:30 Tuesday afternoon, I have hugged somewhere around 20 various staff on the two Southwest flights it took to get me home, and I let them know it wasn't their fault. I expect many of them had been the brunt of inconvenienced travelers frustration, but that was not going to be me today. I also recommend that you ask permission before you go up and just start hugging people. In case you were wondering, there are PLENTY of photos documenting my mission to hug Southwest peeps late this afternoon and evening, including the one accompanying this journal entry. Photo credit Alisha. Goodnight.