The Detour Before London, the Tale of Chicken Wings, and the Companionship of Good Friends.

So many things can happen in 24 hours and sometimes detours are story-telling moments.

Leaving Pensacola International Airport

When we left our Pensacola home on Wednesday afternoon at around 2:30 pm, the skies were beautiful, the weather was pleasantly bearable, and we hopped off our 15-passenger van to a few tearful eyes from my six-year-old. I hugged him tight and told him I’d return in a week. He’s the kid who gets emotional even when I leave for the office in the morning or if I go on a quick trip to Birmingham. But leaving the country may have impacted his little heart differently. Chesterton said something about fighting for the thing you left behind. The older I get, those little humans are becoming what I am most willing to fight for.

The Fellowship of the Delayed Flights

I knew our flight to Charlotte was going to be pushing close. Our arrival at CLT needed to be just right for us to catch our connecting flight to London. But Pensacola Airport was low on workers that day. The end result was an hour’s worth of delay. I knew we couldn’t make our flight to London. That led me to the first of four interactions with American Airlines’ customer service. My strategy is always to treat the conversation with customer service like I would a chef making my food. I don’t know if they have my flight on their screen in their private bunkers in Arizona or if they are playing Fortnite, acting as if my flight is on their screen. And I surely don’t know what the chef will do with my food. I pray for the best and hope our brief interactions lead them to treat my flight or food with the dignity it deserves.