I had to go to Chicago to try and rectify a problem with a company who ripped my church off for a lot of money. So I was edgy and a little tense to begin with. I left for the airport early in the morning and pulled into the first parking lot I could find. Not being familiar with the Duke's airport, I didn't realize that my airline was at the extreme opposite end of the airport. So early in the morning I walked as fast as I could in my business dressy shoes...for almost a mile...maybe more. I pulled into my airline line and then had to walk another quarter mile or so to get my plane. By the time I got to the plane...my dog's were howling at me. But they sat through six hours of airplane ride without any real relief.
So when I land in Chicago the weather was cold...I mean really cold...sub freezing cold. So I disembark from the plane and start walking about a half mile to the car rental booth. They of course botched my reservation and sent me walking to the train station and another mile of cold weather walking...in the same dressy non comfortable walking shoes. There of course I get no help, no change, and no sense of relief...so I had to walk the mile back to the airport...not happy.
Quick thinking gets me a ride to my hotel where I regroup and plan out how I'm going to get to where I need to be...without the assist of a car. So I walk about a half mile to the L Train station and get on the train. Three stops later I am faced with another mile walk to the business I need to do and then another mile back to the train and then another half mile to the room.
It is there for the first time my achin feet get some relief. If you're keeping score I walked about 6 miles that day, all of it in shoes better suited for a fashion runway than the mean streets of airports, train stations, and gritty snowy dirty sidewalks of Chicago. I was trapped in Planes Trains and Automobiles for 12 hours and my feet were suffering. Needless to say...sleep came pretty easy that night.
Upon further reflection of the day, I concluded a couple of things.
1. I'm a wooss (or wuss). I was way more complainy than I ever thought I was. Not happy about who I was while on my journey.
2. Fancy shoes are great for show...but not for go.
3. There are lots and lots of people who have to face this kind of crazy travel challenges every day and they do it without complaining.
4. It is truly amazing that someone can walk in California in the morning...you know the sunny Disneyland world of SoCal...and the cold frozen sidewalks of Chicago in the afternoon and evening. A trip that would have taken weeks just 50 years ago is now reduced to a few hours.
5. The world is getting smaller and smaller all the time. As we like to say here in Disneyland..."it's a small world after all."