Harvey Ain't no Rabbit


Before I tell today's story, let's send best thoughts to the people of Texas. We bitch and moan about the heat here in AZ or the cold in NY in December. They say if you put all your troubles in a sack along with everybody else, reached and pulled one out, you'd wish for your own.
Storm Harvey is the focus of today.

I drove a cowgirl from the far north reaches of Cave Creek to the airport, on her way to a horse show. As I dropped her off, I got an Uber text for a pickup, something they do if you are dropping someone off. If you are just cruising the airport, you have to go to a designated lot and wait your turn.

I picked up a grandmother, her daughter and the granddaughter, on their way home from Mexico City via Hurricane Harvey. As soon as the grandmother (an active 80) opened her mouth, I said "where in NY?" She replied Five Towns but that was over 50 years ago.She'd been in AZ since 1974. I remarked: "oh..came out as a child? (that's always good for tips)." She replied: "No..inutero." I had a real bunch here.

They had left Mexico City on Saturday and Southwest flew them to...Hobby Airport in Houston. During the middle of a hurricane. Every airport was closed, airlines had ceased operations, but not Southwest. This is their hub and they needed to get 'home,' though as a logical thinker, wouldn't you want your equipment somewhere else so you could get out and continue to make revenue? Guess Not.

Hobby is located in the city and considered one of the lowest points in Houston. Can you spell f-l-o-o-d-e-d?  Obviously I can.

They were treated to free peanuts when they landed (I must admit.Ya gotta love those SW peanuts) and sat in the terminal until they were bussed to an airport hotel and put up for the night. On Sunday, they were flown to Dallas as part of SW's humanitarian flight, again put up and early this am, flown home to Phoenix.*

They looked exhausted, had their sense of humor but the complaining about Southwest dissipated rather quickly and they spoke of the chaos and destruction in Houston. The granddaughter said it was great to have a vacation with three generations but that the image of a city under water was something she'd never forget. She said they were lucky to get out of Houston and it didn't sound like she was talking about being thankful their inconvenient travel ordeal had come to a close. No, she sounded thankful to be alive while so many will suffer for months and years to come.



*There are other reports of SW's fine performance during this crisis. This is their story as relayed to me. When there is an emergency, airlines show their best side and sometimes, their not-so-best-side. The point is: they came home with a fresh perspective on the fragility of life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Apologies to Harry Chapin

Shifting Gears on Uber

Day 5 & 6:Losing Control