I'm sure you've heard the expression "you can catch more flies with honey than you can Vinegar". Well, my husband Todd has become the epitome of this expression. I'm talking about a man who never thought of himself as a people person. But since he is a frequent traveler he has learned how to use this to his benefit during his travels. Last year when we went to New York and we were there during the hurricane, I got to see him in action. It was really quite eye-opening. Here's how that went:
Todd and his siblings all pitched in to buy their mother an 80th birthday present of a cruise To the Bahamas. As it turned out only four of us ended up going on the trip. Todd and myself, his sister and his mother. When we were in the planning stages we did not realize that there would be a hurricane in New York on the weekend that we decided to go. We planned it months and months ahead of time. Our goal was to have a nice sunny tropical vacation and get my mother-in-law on her first cruise ship. When we realized that we were going to be departing from New York City, we decided to go a couple of days early so that we could see the city. As the time for departure drew near, the news began to predict hurricane Sandy hitting on the same weekend that we were arriving. We were not all that nervous because much of the time the news has a tendency to overhyped things like hurricanes so that they can have a weather story.
We weren't even nervous in New York because the weather was so beautiful when we arrived. But when the storm hit they closed the ports and all incoming ships were stuck out to sea. Our cruise was delayed by four days, and we never did make it to the Bahamas. While we were waiting I got to see my husband using his "rappot" technique in order to get us extended stays in our hotel, food and transportation. It was a beautiful site.
I blogged about our trip last October, so I won't go into all the details of what we did in New York and on the ship.
When we returned to New York after a cruise we were facing a blizzard. This is when I really got to see Todd in action. Here's what happened.
We had been listening to the reports on the news about the blizzard that was getting ready to hit New York. We were able to disembark the ship rather quickly but what we saw once we did leave the port was a huge taxi line to the airport.
This was a problem. Because we were four people dragging a luggage cart that carried 12 pieces of luggage. It would've taken 2 to 3 taxis to get us to the airport. But, a man came up to us with the van and said he would get us to the airport in time for our flights. With the pending storm we took him up on his offer and we were so glad we did because the new report was that they were closing the airport at 3 o'clock. Our flight was due to leave at 3 o'clock.
The taxi driver dropped us off at the airport and this is where the fun begin. We made our way inside with our 12 pieces of luggage; one man, two women and one 80-year-old woman. We were not fast. But because of Todd's frequent-flier status he was able to get us to the front of the line. Thank God.
Of course, he was told that our flights were canceled. It was really cool watching my husband put on his "rapport". He transformed into the nicest guy you've ever seen. After he had been told that there was no possible way for us to get out of New York that day. He asked the clerk if they could just check and see if they could get us onto any flight, to any location, just out of New York before the airport closed down. And of course, he was told no. But he did not let that stop him. He began to ask the lady things about her family such as "How was your family affected by hurricane Sandy?" They chatted as she continued to check for flights out. She kept saying "I can't find anything" or "it's just not gonna happen today." But he just kept talking to her In a calm and soothing way about her family and offering helpful advice, until she finally said "well I can get you to Dallas. But I can't guarantee you flights out of Dallas today." Of course we took the flights to Dallas. He just wanted to get us out of New York so we weren't stuck there for several days in the storm. It hadn't hit yet but you could certainly feel it in the air. And once we were actually on the plane, at 1 o'clock, on the runway, the snow began to fall.
She would not have taken the time that she took with him and continue to search for flights had he been abrupt or rude like many of the other passengers were being.
Once we made it to Dallas I watched him start that entire process all over again with the attendant in Dallas. We made it home that very same evening. It may not have been on the same flights, but we all made it home.
Proverbs 16:24 says "Kind words are like honey sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. (NLT)
Have a blessed day.
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