I travel for my job. The joys of traveling for work can include stays at wonderful hotels, exceptional meals that you would never cook for yourself at home and endless people watching entertainment. The flipside of traveling for work provides amusing “Murphy’s Law” storylines for sharing at cocktail parties or the dinner table.
On a recent weekend jaunt to “beautiful” Newark, NJ, I arrived at EWR (a facility that has not changed in years and is still as dreadful today as it was 20 years ago-http://www.panynj.gov/airports/newark-liberty.html) to find that the ONLY rental car company that was off-site was the one where I had reservations. After taking a car to the plane, to a train, I needed to take the shuttle bus to get a car to drive to the hotel.
The irony in all of this is that I could see the hotel with the brilliantly lit neon sign at the top, shining like the North Star. Basic orienteering for a kindergartener would have scored easy access to the facility. The rental car company was also within eyesight, however there were numerous chain-linked fences with barbed wire and approximately four highways between the cars and me!
Once on the bus we drove in circles for ten minutes to exit onto the highways continually, looping out of the nautilus and finally ending at my destination. As I complete the paperwork for my rental my cell rings with news that there are complications with the event and we may not be able to participate as planned. I finally get the car and have to navigate BACK through the nautilus of roads and fences to return inside the airport property where my hotel was located, all the while receiving additional calls including my crew telling me they were not able to pick-up product.
At this point it was late and I was tired and had traveled hours. I am left in limbo regarding IF we even have an event to attend and think how appropriate it is since we can’t get product either. Once at the hotel the phone calls regarding all the “issues” went on until after 1 AM.
At 7 AM the calls began again. For the next two hours I field calls and learn that we cannot proceed as planned. So, I place calls to change travel arrangements for my return home. No go! Nothing was available so I had 24 hours to kill in the maze of roads and fences.
After making arrangements to meet a friend for lunch I head to the hotel lobby to get cash. The ATM is broken. I head out and reach one toll, then another, and then the third. I am buried in lane 6 of a 9 lane road feeding into 3 lanes to cross the George Washington Bridge. The toll is $8.00 and I have $7.42. The toll taker was so nice and only took $7.00, leaving me with $.42!
My friend and I agreed to meet at the Pepsico Sculpture Garden, a beautiful sprawling exhibit of art and foliage on the grounds of Pepsico corporate headquarters, open everyday of the year! As I pull up to meet my friend, I see the ending to this crazy 24 hours of travel, “GARDENS CLOSED FOR PARKING LOT REPAVING.” I had arrived at Wally World. I love to travel.
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