All In Perspective

Today, I flew home from Philadelphia.

My morning consisted of waking up to rainshowers, and immediately being sent into a panic for fear of what it would do to the flight operations of the notoriously delayed Philadelphia International Airport.

Last night, when I checked my flight home, it had 24 open seats on it. I felt comfortable with that. When I woke up this morning, it was down to 15. I was starting to worry...and when I checked right before I left the house for the airport, only 5 seats remained. The next three flights were oversold. It was not looking good for me.

I thought to myself "I HAVE to be on this airplane! I have to work tomorrow!"

Some minor drama ensued at the gate thanks to a particularly surly and unhelpful gate agent (I'm not bitter, really...) and when all was said and done, thanks in no small part to a miracle of God, I got onboard the aircraft. (Thanks is also owed to the three supervisors and both pilots of this flight who all had to lobby on my behalf to the gate agent to prove to him I should be #1 on the standby list...)

I sat down next to a quite older gentleman. He asked me some general questions about Pittsburgh and the airport there (I was in uniform...it must make me look smart!) and then proceeded to tell me he was on his way to Pittsburgh for a liver transplant.

A liver transplant.

A life-saving operation. A week of tests leading up to it.

If anyone needed to be on that airplane, it was him. Here I was ... concerned about making it home in the afternoon so I could do laundry and pack and go grocery shopping for my trip tomorrow.

And this gentleman is on his way to pretty intense surgery. Not because he wants it. Because he needs it.

That'll get your attention. And it will really make you take stock of things and be grateful.