A missing trash can delayed my flight but didn’t rob me of my positive attitude

Hello again;

Last week I left Houston on American Air Lines headed to Erie Pennsylvania for a series of book signings and speaking engagements.

My plane was supposed to leave at about 3:45, but it was over two hours late leaving Houston Intercontinental Airport.

The pilot tried to say it was a missing piece of equipment like it was something important. But we would later find out from the flight attendants that the culprit was a missing trash can.

Yes, you read that right. The plane was held up for a missing trash can.

And it gets even more interesting. Apparently, you can’t take another trash can off of just any plane. It has to be one from a plane that is the same make and model.

I know because the staff tried to borrow one off of another plane. And they were told that wouldn’t work.

So, we had to wait on the taxi way until they located the right piece of equipment. lol

Then we had to wait while the plane was re-inspected. Other passengers told me this involved about six men in yellow cover alls walking around the plane making sure we didn’t miss anything else.

When we finally got in the air the staff told us that many of the other flights were delayed due to weather. This meant there was a chance that I could still make my connecting flight from Charlotte to Erie.

However, when we got to Charlotte I found out that my flight had left over thirty minutes before I got there.

Now, when I travel by plane I always accept their assistance for people with disabilities.

This meant that there was someone waiting at the gate for me with a wheel chair to transport me to my next destination in the air port.

The man pushing the wheel chair was named Scott. He helped me to a gate agent and made sure they took care of arranging how to get me to Erie.

While waiting I talked with Scott. And I was my usual positive upbeat self.

For starters I told him how the plane was delayed by a trash can. And we laughed about it.

But I followed that up by saying that it was a good thing.

After all,, when people don’t follow the rules of operation people can die. And we don’t want pilots picking and choosing what items on the check list are important and which ones can be ignored.

He thought this was a very understanding way to think about the situation. I told him that while the dangers weren’t as serious in the carnival business that we too had inspections and check lists. And that you didn’t run even a kiddy ride that didn’t pass its daily check.

I also told him how I had confidence that the air line would figure out how to get me where I needed to go. And that since I didn’t have to be in Erie until Saturday afternoon that there was a good chance I’d still make my speaking event.

We talked about other things, and I shared with him about my books and some of my travels.

He commented on how positive I was. He mentioned that he sees lots of people with disabilities and many of them do have positive outlooks on life. But you are like over the top positive and finding the good in life.

Told him that’s the only way I know to be. Also mentioned that it’s easy to be that way when you’ve had lots of practice looking for the positive.

I didn’t tell him this, but I often say that I’m really good at picking myself up because I’ve spent a lot of time on my ass. lol

He was so impressed he asked where he could find my books. I told him that if he had some money on him I’d sell him one then and there.

He happened to have just enough for the price of my New York City book on him. And I signed the book for him after being paid.

Lesson to authors: Carry copies of your books with you, talk about them when the opportunity arises, and you too could make some additional sales.

So, I sold my first book of the trip to the guy pushing the wheel chair through the airport.

I’d like to say that sale bought my dinner that night but all the restaurants were already closed.

Before I left the air port in Charlotte I was given vouchers for a hotel room, a meal, and the shuttle to and from the hotel.

I got in late that night, but did get a few hours of good sleep.

I got up the next morning and went to the air port to make my way finally to Erie.

I used my meal voucher for a great breakfast from Burger King of a Croissandwich, hash browns, and coffee.

I tweeted about that hoping maybe someone at Burger King would want to support The Blind Blogger, but no such luck. 🙂

Once aboard the plane to Erie there were no more problems.

I got to Erie and was picked up by my friend Amy Bovaird’s brother.

He took me to the event center to give my talk about using podcast interviews as a virtual book tour.

We made it there with only twenty minutes to spare.

I had time to get another cup of coffee and speak with a couple of the attendees.

Then I went in and gave a great talk. In fact the president of the organization said she learned quite a bit from me.

Good things can happen if you decide in advance they are going to.

Yes, mistakes, setbacks, and disasters are going to happen.

How we come through them depends on how we decide to deal with them.

You can decide to be positive and find solutions.

Or you can be negative and decide there is no way out.

I stayed positive and made a connection with someone most people would see as just the hired help.

I started the process of making a friend and sold a book.

This post is representative of how I approach life in general. I hope a bit of my can do I’ll find a way will rub off on you.

My friend Lorraine Reguly recently said Max you get into more shit than anyone I know.

She went on to say but somehow you always come out of it smelling like a rose.

I’m hoping to hear about some of your adventures.

I want to hear about those times when you said things look tough but went ahead anyway.

I want to hear about times when things went all wrong but you found your way through somehow.

If you aren’t comfortable leaving that in the comments, then please send me an email through the contact form.

I want you to know that I couldn’t keep doing this without you.

Knowing that you are out there following along and rooting for me to succeed goes a long way in keeping me moving forward.

I don’t want to disappoint you anymore than I want to disappoint myself.

Until next time thanks and take care out there, Max