My adventures with airports did not stop in Utah. I flew to Illinois several weeks later to visit some friends. I stayed a week and had a great time seeing everyone before I left on my mission. I stayed up late every night- especially the last night. Sitting around the table with my friends the Todd's as we played 'Maw' until the early morning.
After an hour or two of sleep, Carrie and Matt Todd gave me a ride to Rockford where I caught a bus to O'hare Airport in Chicago. I got to my terminal just fine. There were no knives stowed in my bags and none of my bags were over 100lbs--which was good. I promptly found a seat and fell fast asleep...
I woke up and saw that it was 3 minutes before my plane was scheduled to leave. I shook off some sleep and sat up and waited for boarding call. I waited some more. I got antcy about 30 minutes after the flight was scheduled to leave. I walked up to the desk and asked about my flight. They asked if I was Joe Hardie.
"Yeah, that's me." (Man, everyone knows me!)
"Did you not hear us call your name 3 times over the intercom?" (uh oh...)
"No, I...um...fell asleep over there." (For shame...)
"The plane is on the runway, sir, there's no way you can make it on."
Pause
"What should I do?"
"Sir, let's see if we can reroute you."
They did. I ended up spending an extra six hours traveling from O'Hare to Dallas, then to Tulsa, instead of straight to Tulsa. On the up side, I got to go to Dallas for the first time in my life.
This is one of my favorite memories. That might seem strange, but let me explain. I kept the plane ticket and wrote on the back "don't sleep through life." That ticket has become a symbol to me to never rest when there is work to be done and life to be lived. I still take a nap every now and then, but I will never let life pass me by--it's just too good to sleep through.
Optimism Exported.
Joe Hardie
1 comment:
And yet, no matter how hard you try, you will still likely sleep away about one third of your life.
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