While I was originally planning on being in Massachusetts right now, I am actually back in Nashville a few days early.
Evidently a whole lot of Southwest flights weren't able to make it to Midway airport in Chicago last night (weather, presumably), which meant that planes weren't physically on the ground this morning for more than half of their flights.
My mother and I got to the airport at 6:45am for an 8:15am flight, and there were probably 300-400 people already there by the time we arrived, with the line wrapping around all the way down nearby service corridors. Ours was among the flights canceled, and everybody had to try and fly standby to wherever they were going, so we waited in line for 4 hours before working out a Plan B with a representative.
Weighing the options, I decided to try to fly back to Nashville directly, instead of back to Massachusetts with my mother. I'm disappointed to cut short my travel plans, especially since I was really looking forward to catching up with some college friends while I was home. But we've both made it back safely to our respective destinations, and our time in Chicago with my brother was really good, so I'll take it.
I'll say more about the Chicago part of the trip sometime soon, but for now I'll just comment that there was some interesting people-watching while waiting in that line at the airport this morning. Various types of people there--the loud guy calling attention to himself complaining on his cell phone (loudly), the self-important guy who thinks he can cut the line for whatever reason, the guy who steps out of the line to stand up to that guy since nobody else is doing it.
Circumstances like that can bring out some of the worst of human nature, but it only got semi-ugly once. Still striking though, cause it was a little picture of how a mob can work and just how quickly things can turn into a little uproar. Human nature looking out for its own interests, not necessarily the interests of one's neighbor and how to love and serve them. Mea culpa.
Otherwise, typically, I'm a fan of Southwest. I fly with them because they usually have pretty cheap fares and it's straightforward. Their customer service is also generally agreeable. But customer service is relatively easy when everything is going smoothly. It's situations like today and how they handle the craziness that show their quality or lack. There was one employee who distinguished herself today, but for the most part, there was a real lack of preparedness and leadership, of management taking responsibility even just to corral the hordes and organize the lines uniformly. Today's unexpectedness was certainly a bit extreme, but not a complete anomaly for an airline. Not a good day for them.
Would I rather be back home in Massachusetts for a few days right now? Probably. But it was a tricky decision I made for various reasons, and so I'm here now.
More about Chicago fun later.
