Hearing my friend’s story about a mishap at the airport brought back memories of several of my traveling escapades. Specifically, this mishap from ten years ago where I almost had my car towed before I boarded the flight.
When my youngest daughter turned 21, my wife and I took all three of our girls to Las Vegas to celebrate. As you might expect, I had my hands full with the baggage that these four ladies were taking. We were on time to the airport (a small miracle in itself) as we pulled next to the curb in front of the Delta unloading area.
Being the savvy and experienced travel guide that I am, I helped everyone get their baggage unloaded and weighed (all overweight of course), checked everyone in, gave out tickets, and headed off to security and then on to our gate. That’s when my beautiful plan went south.
I heard my name being called over the loudspeaker. CeCe immediately said, “What’s wrong?” Something terrible has happened, I thought. Then it hit me like a sledgehammer! Our car was still parked outside on the curb in front of the Delta ticket counter. I flew out of the airport and met a less-than-happy police officer who was already calling the tow truck. He ripped me up one side and down the other. I explained that I had just unloaded four women with luggage, and it took longer than I had anticipated. I didn’t mention I was stupid enough to have gone through security and headed to my gate.
I apologized profusely and he finally let me move my car. Needless to say, when I got back to the girls, they had lost a little faith in their savvy travel guide. After I shared the details of my encounter with the cop, we all laughed until we cried. I was so embarrassed. Lesson learned: After unloading the car at the airport, always go park immediately. Do not check-in, park first.
Never underestimate the importance of laughter. Stop sometime when you are feeling stressed or a little self-important, and share a funny story about yourself with another team member. It feels great and helps ground us in ways that make us better. Laughter promotes lots of positive energy for teams and their leader.
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