graceland's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hard, Split-Second Desicions I'm back. Annual biz trip wasn't as bad this year, primarily because it was brief. My colleague that I flew out with is terrified of flying. I also have a fear of flying; I had a few rocky flights and that did it. Once you spend 30 minutes or an hour gripping an arm rest with a plane full of strangers, some crying, many praying, some silent and other's screaming as overhead comparments spring open and items fly out around you - you're suddenly reminded that flying is an experience completely out of your control. If you are a control freak like me, that can be terrifying. My colleague had a similar experience. Now, I'm afraid of flying but I still do it. That's my personality - I face fears. I love it. This colleague of mine...I've never seen anything like it. She completely lost her shit. In the airport she asked me if she quit right then, would she still have to go? Yes, I said. She cried in the airport. She paced. She called her Dad. She called her husband. We boarded the plane, she was completely white. Honestly, I thought she might throw up. She started crying again, begging me not to make her go. "Please," she sobbed, "Please don't make me go." I really didn't know what to do. My heart was breaking for her because she truly had made herself ill over this, but our client had paid for these tickets and hotels, plus I desperately needed her help out there. We were understaffed as it was with just the two of us. So I called I called my boss and had my colleague speak with her. I honestly didn't know what to do, but I didn't think she could make this flight. I also didn't want to be responsible for 1)the $1000 non-refundable fare and 2)dismissing staff that was required and promised for this trip. I was just about to tell her to get off the plane when she disappeared into the back/flight attendent area. I decided to wait it out and see if she could pull herself together. I spoke with the flight attendent and alerted her to the situation and she had already spoken with my colleague, reassuring her that it was going to be okay. So I sat down and waited. The top executives of our client were on this plane and seated a couple of rows in front of me, I was praying there wouldn't be a scene because I like my colleague and a scene would damage her relationship with them. It would be bad all around. She emerged from the back area and she appeared to have stopped crying, so I decided not to release her. I prayed that I made the right desicion. The stewardess was kind enough to move her to the front of the plane where turbulance would be a bit less and the plane took off. Shortly into the flight, my colleague was stable and we landed on the West Coast more than 5 1/2hrs later. She gave me a hug when I got the flight; she was mortified at her behavior. That was one of the hardest desicions I've had to make, and I work in a job that consists of hard desicions and hard lines. It's easier when you are making a business desicion, harder when you are dealing with people you have relationships with. That's why I always maintain the outlook, "It's just business." You have to. So the trip went well. I made it home. Thank God. 8:44 p.m. - 2006-01-07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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