A Senior Moment and How to Handle it!

Atten...hut! Today, while Nong and I are slowly climbing out of a brainfog due to 24+ hours travelling, my alter-ego, General Lee Confewzed, is here in my place so grab yourself a nice, refreshing mug of coffee, a virtual treat and listen up!

"Thank you. No need to stand! Stay sitting at your computer. I just want to say that senior moments do happen - even to the normally quick thinking and brain agile folks like my good friend Bob so listen up while I tell you about a recent encounter with a senior moment and how he rectified the situation real quick!"

See, yesterday at 0600, he (Bob, that is) and his lovely wife, Nong, hopped aboard their transportation vehicle bound for the airport in Bangkok in preparation for departure on their 1030 flight to Tokyo enroute for Toronto. Their ETA was 0730 and they arrived early, at approximately 0715. 

On checking the schedule of departing flights there was no 1030 UA flight showing. Reviewing his e-ticket itinerary, he determined that the departure time of their flight was not 1030 but actually 0710 and being as how that was 5 minutes past, they had in fact just missed their flight. Now hold on...the point is not that this was a potentially major screw-up but how an adverse situation, namely a senior moment, can, for a price, be rectified.

Coincidentally, they were less than 10 feet from the United Airlines counter. One of the ladies concurred that, yes, their flight had already departed. However, after the dexterous digits of two agents scurried around their respective keyboards, one of the agents indicated that alternative flights could be arranged...the first one leaving in less than one hour and that Bob and Nong had to be at the gate NOW! (which, if you have ever travelled through Suwarnabhumi Airport you know that NOW does not happen). First, they should immediately, if not sooner, go to the check-in counter and do that; then come back to the UA counter for their receipt, then clear Thai Customs (about 100 + people ahead of them in the cattle gate line-up)...followed by Security.

Somehow, they pushed their way through all of these people and made it to the front of the line and eventually made the flight. Despite a complete change of itinerary and the exchange of $350US per person, they made it back to Toronto only a couple hours later than their original routing.

So you see, forget that Bob had a senior moment and that Nong had a word or two in his ear, the lesson for today is 'not that you screw up but what you do about it'! Remember that!

Over and out."

General Lee Confewzed, eh!