Links
I arrived at the Montgomery Airport at 4 am, found myself to be second in line. I was so excited! Then I saw the announcement board: "Flight delayed until 7:30". My original flight was supposed to leave at 0600. I eventually got on an 0800 flight.
I missed my connecting flight to Atlanta and Japan. But unlike my flight from Japan to Alabama, I am not alone in this traveling ordeal. There are a few of us traveling to Japan that's staying at a nearby hotel. I figured since the airline gave us a free night stay with some meal vouchers that's better than nothing. The airline had lost one of the other passengers luggages. I don't know if mine did. I'm not stressing over it though. I'll deal with it when it happens to me.
I tried talking to the attendant to see if the airline could fly my traveling friends and I to Europe to catch a connecting flight to Japan. It almost worked but the complexity of transferring our baggages made us think otherwise. But it would have been nice to have visited Rome, Italy, even if it was just being in the airport.
As the plane to Atlanta was about to land, I realized that I had left my special book in the car I had rented. Thank goodness for friends willing to help out! One of the friends I had made in Montgomery agreed to pick it up and hold it until I send for it. Overall, I find myself to be very fortunate. The other officers I am with right now are outgoing and amiable. A considered trait of many Air Force officers. We had a good laugh at the fact that we could all be mistaken for brothers. All wore glasses, and Vietnam, Saipan and the Philippines are countries we have close ties to. I teased that I've never hung out with these many Asians before.
A brief history lesson for a second: According to my genealogical research, I am of Proto Malayan descent. Some anthropologists don't consider the Philippines as part of Asia. Some have even made the distinction that Asia is the Middle East to Japan and China. While the Philippines is part of South EAST Asia. But that's okay. It doesn't really have anything to do with what I experienced today. Back to my airport story--
One of the other gentleman told us that a sense of humor will help us a lot in our career. Never take yourself too seriously, especially as the stress of daily life and the workload gets even more heavy. He then looked at me and said something similar to: You won't have a problem with that. We all had a good laugh.
I am finding that as my values and standards differ with some of whom I associate with, they respect me for it nonetheless. I have not felt pressured into doing anything to the contrary. I really appreciate that. In fact, I have found that there are others who I have many in common with as well. I am not the lone non-drinker, non-smoker or family oriented person in the Air Force. We also get a kick at the stupid mistakes that others make. While some of my friends would go to places I wouldn't go to, they respect me for my standards and could care less if I went with them. I find that to be very reputable of their character. These are the types of people I like to surround myself with: people that will help me sustain my standards.
I went to a store close to the hotel I am staying at earlier today. I thought it pretty interesting to see the cashier behind a well reinforced bullet proof glass. I placed my groceries on a wheeled tray and it went into a 2 feet tunnel. The cashier bagged my groceries and counted the change then rolled the tray back to me. That was pretty exciting. I made a mental note not to return there at night.
Well, I am off to bed since I didn't sleep at all last night. But not before I watch my last ounce of TV. I'll probably just leave it on then fall asleep.
