Many industries and consumers felt the wave of the IT crisis on July 19. Arguably, the largest fallout radiated through the airline and industry — Atlanta’s Delta Air Lines, in particular. With droves of flights getting delayed or canceled, the backlog flowed downstream to other days and flights. Delta’s crew tracking software was a mess, so the problem snowballed. As thousands of passengers ended up stranded in Hartsfield-Jackson and other airports, anger, fatigue, and delirium set in. And so does desperation.
All of those ingredients, for me, almost bred reckless hypocrisy.
While on a trip with my Decatur City Church high schoolers in Daytona, Florida, I was asked to join my NASCAR announcing radio friends to help fill-in and call the July 21 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I booked a Friday night flight and arrived to my Chamblee condo about two hours before that scheduled flight.
By that night, the flight had been delayed until midnight, but was still set. I was relieved I did not have to rush, but then the flight got pushed to 1:30 a.m. When Delta did not cancel it, I left for the airport on MARTA and got through the long line at the main checkpoint. Just after midnight, I arrived in Terminal A to see my flight canceled on the screens dotted with that red bad news for so many other flights.
I had a choice to make and I almost made a stupid one.
My call time for the Saturday Xfinity Series race in Indianapolis was 11:30 a.m. I needed an hour to return home on MARTA. If I left my house by 2 a.m., I could technically make the race broadcast on time, barely. I had been awake and highly engaged since 5 a.m. Friday.
This space has seen me go off many times on the dangers of idea of drowsy driving. I recently noted how we make light of it during the time change in March, and other times where holiday travel can beget such behavior. The road to hell is paved in good intentions.
But I was special and had a job to do — and did not want to let people down in this first-in-my-lifetime opportunity to broadcast from Indy. I shuddered with dread and fatigue.
Thankfully, my sweet, wise wife, Momo, was six hours ahead of me in Albania and awake. I posed the dilemma to her and boldly proclaimed the heroic feat I was about to execute.
She rightfully corrected me. Thank God I listened.
I told my radio crew that I would miss the race Saturday, so I could drive to Indy that day. I grabbed a few hours of my sleep at home and hit the road in much better condition than I would have in Plan A. I arrived alive and had a good broadcast on Sunday. In fact, all of my co-workers completely understood and applauded the decision.
The same syndrome befell me that infects so many others in urgent need to push through to a destination. If we aren’t sleep-deprived, we may drive 100 mph in the rain or aggressively cut off someone to not miss a turn. We may be expecting an important text from an employer or our crush and think we have to answer it behind the wheel, instead of when we stop.
My cousin, Chris, recently stayed with us and we talked about priorities. He owns a business and has worked for years to refine his leadership and routines. I was explaining my frustration to him and he told me that when we are too concerned with urgent matters, we do not focus on the important ones.
Isn’t that the truth?
Prioritizing the destination or the near deadline over doing something reckless just to get there is certainly an example of how weary, anxious travelers like me can make bad mistakes.
Stress — especially in unexpected crises like this one — breeds desperation. Desperation, for me, almost bred hypocrisy. Thankfully, I came to my senses just in time.
Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. Download the Triple Team Traffic Alerts App to hear reports from the WSB Traffic Team automatically when you drive near trouble spots. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
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