Many years ago, the chairman of the board’s parents visited us in NH. On the day of their flight out, her dad Jack asked us to take them to the airport 5 hours before the flight. It made him feel good to know that he would be on time for his flight. We chuckled about it at the time, but I am now sympathetic.
A lot of drama can happen on the way to the airport. I tell people to leave earlier than they have to in case of a flat tire. We once had a flat tire within 5 miles of the airport in East London, South Africa. Our flight had a scheduled departure within 1.5 hours. Our host, the chairman of the board and the kids attacked the problem like a NASCAR pit crew. We made the flight.
Leaving early gives you margin. Once in Nairobi, Kenya our ride to the airport didn’t show up for the 5 am pickup. The driver had stayed up late the night before watching a soccer game, so he decided to take the next day off. After lots of phone calls, his boss finally came to pick us up and we made our flight.
I needed margin once again when I came back from Dakar, Senegal May 7th. Our team uses Bravo Services for the airport runs. My driver picked me up at the appointed time (7:00 am) in a VW Golf. Then we stopped at a gas station. It seemed so routine I didn’t pay attention to the scrapping noises the station attendant and driver were making in the back of the car. It seemed odd that the driver was tinkering with wires accessible because there was no door panel on his side. We continued down the road, but stopped at another service station before getting on the highway.
Before pulling up to the pump, the driver stopped the car and continued to play with the wires in the door. He pulled up to the pump and I heard more scraping noises as if the gas pump was being used as a pry bar. What ever they were doing was unsuccessful and we pulled into a parking space in front of the convenience store. The driver had my full attention, but I had to pry the facts out of him. The electric gas flap latch on the VW Golf was not working so there was no way to open it to put fuel in the car for the airport run. I called his boss and 45 minutes later another vehicle came to take me to the airport. I arrived at the Dakar airport 1 hour and 15 minutes later than expected, but on time for the flight. Jack was right all along.
Adventures in Suburbia 