Reality distortion field

(You can suggest changes to this post.)

Sometimes I’m accused of having a “reality distortion field”, which warps the universe in such a way that it makes my life better. Today’s arrival at the airport was an amazing example of that in action.

I’m flying back to Australia today on a reasonably late flight; at least, I thought that I was. Upon arriving at the airport, and presenting myself for check-in, I was informed that my flight was tomorrow. I had arrived a day early.

I felt a little foolish, but overall my reaction to this discovery was amusement. I’d been jetsetting about so much, and really having such a great time at KiwiFoo and my friends, that I hadn’t actually noticed the off-by-one error when it came to my flight date. In the worst case scenario I head back into Auckland,do some exploring, and find myself a cheap hostel or backpackers to stay in.

But since I was already at the airport, and I’m very much looking forward to getting back home, I thought I’d ask to see if I could be transferred to today’s flight. If it ends up being too expensive for my tastes then I can always decline, and asking is a relatively quick task.

So I headed over to the ticketing desk. There was one man, with three phones and a radio, clearly having a bad time. The phones wouldn’t stop ringing, the radio needed constant attention, and he seemed to be terribly overworked. As I was to discover, he was effectively doing the job of two people today. He looked stressed.

And this is where I reveal to you how the reality distortion field works. You be extremely nice to people; if you can, you try to make their day awesome. I made it very clear with my body language and my smile that I was totally fine waiting.

When the phones stopped ringing for a few minutes, I noted that he looked very popular (which actually elicited a smile), and that I really didn’t want to bother him. He thanked me for my patience, asked how he could help, and then apologised when the phone rang again.

A few minutes later, again between calls, I explained my situation. He consoled in me about how his day was going, and explained how all the phones worked, and what sort of emergencies they represented. Holy smokes this guy was keeping a lot of things running.

While was was on TWO phones and a radio (one in the hand, one on the desk, and one under the shoulder) he indicated with his remaining hand that he’d like to see my travel documents. Because this is a guy who multitasks like a boss.

When the phones quietened again, he smiled at me and said: “Hey, thanks for being so patient. Today’s been pretty busy. I’ve moved you onto tonight’s flight, and put you in an exit row so you’ve got extra legroom. Does that work for you?”

I explain that it most definitely does, and I ask if there’s a transfer fee or anything that I’d have to pay. I’ve got an economy ticket, and I know that normally to change flights is going to be rather pricey. But I ask this mainly as a formality, it’s pretty clear by this stage that reality had been distorted.

“Oh no, you’ve been so patient I can’t charge you for that. You have a nice day.”

I comment that he’s just made my day, and he comments that this is the second time he’s heard that today. I grin, and tell him that this must be because he’s making the world a better place. He directs me over to priority check-in (even though I don’t qualify on this flight), and I thank him again while all the phones start to ring once more.

The story continues with priority check-in making sure that I’ve got pre-clearance for immigration and customs (because they can), and making sure I’m actually happy with my seat because it has limited recline capabilities. I assure them that really, it’s fine (I don’t like reclining my seat because it feels rude to whoever’s behind me), and wish everyone a fantastic day.

Of course, the reason everyone was so lovely to me is because I was so lovely to them. Of course, the irony is that being lovely to others comes most easily when I’ve been having a great day myself. The reality distortion field is most likely to take a great day and make it better.

But either way, I’m still pretty happy. I’ve got a flight a day early, I’ve got a quick route through customs, and after I post this entry, I have my first opportunity in a fortnight to seriously right down and hack some code. :)

~ Paul

Bitcoin QR code This site is ad-free, and all text, style, and code may be re-used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. If like what I do, please consider supporting me on Patreon, or donating via Bitcoin (1P9iGHMiQwRrnZuA6USp5PNSuJrEcH411f).

comments powered by Disqus