On Friday, July 19, many industries and consumers felt the ripples of the IT crisis. It’s no exaggeration to say that the airline industry was the hardest hit, especially Delta Airlines in Atlanta. Massive flights were delayed or canceled, with backlogs spilling over to other days and flights. The problem snowballed as Delta’s crew tracking software was also in disarray. Thousands of passengers were left stranded at airports like Hartsfield-Jackson, spreading anger, fatigue, confusion and hopelessness.
To me, all these elements created an almost reckless hypocrisy.
While on a trip to Daytona with some high school students from Decatur City Church, I was asked to join some fellow NASCAR radio announcers and help out with play-by-play as a stand-in for the Brickyard 400 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 21. I booked a Friday night flight and arrived at my condo in Chamblee about two hours before my scheduled flight.
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By that evening, my flight had been delayed until late at night, but was still scheduled to depart. I was relieved that I wasn’t in a rush, but then my flight was postponed to 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Delta didn’t cancel the flight, so I took MARTA to the airport and made my way through the long line at the main checkpoint. I arrived at Terminal A a little after midnight, and the screens dotted with red bad news for many other flights showed that my flight had been canceled.
I was faced with a choice and I was about to make a stupid one.
The assembly time for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race in Indianapolis was 11:30 AM ET. It took me an hour to get home on MARTA. If I left the house by 2 AM, I could still make it in time for the race broadcast, but it was a close call. I’d been up and tuned in since 5 AM on Friday.
I’ve argued many times in this space about the idea that drowsy driving is unfairly tolerated, and recently found myself disregarding it during the March time change, among many other times when holiday travel can be an inducement for drowsy driving.The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
But I was a special man, and I had a job to do, and I didn’t want to deny people the opportunity to broadcast from Indianapolis for the first time in their lives. I was shaking with fear and exhaustion.
Thankfully, my sweet and wise wife, Momo, was up and about six hours earlier in Albania, so I confronted her with the dilemma and boldly proclaimed the heroic feat I was about to undertake.
She duly corrected me and I’m glad I listened.
I then told the radio crew that I would not be able to make the race on Saturday because I would be driving all day to Indy. I got a few hours of sleep at home and left in much better condition than I would have with Plan A. I arrived safely and had a good broadcast on Sunday. In fact, all my colleagues completely understood and praised my decision.
The same syndrome that infects many people who need to rush to get to their destination happened to me. If I wasn’t sleep-deprived, I might be driving 100 miles per hour in the rain or forcing someone to cut me off so I can make a turn. If I’m waiting for an important email from my employer or a crush, I might feel the need to respond while I’m driving, not at the car stop.
My cousin Chris came to stay with us recently and we were talking about priorities in life. He runs a company and has worked for years to hone his leadership and routines. As I was explaining my frustration to him, he told me that if we get too distracted by the urgent, we end up not doing the important things.
Isn’t that true?
Putting the urgency of a destination and deadline above the recklessness and hypocrisy of getting there is an example of how a tired, anxious traveler like me can make a huge mistake.
Some of you who fled the recent tech meltdown have finally made it to your destination, likely renting a car and driving to work with no mental fuel left. We wish you a safe arrival.
Stress, especially in an unexpected crisis like this, breeds desperation. In my case, desperation almost bred hypocrisy. Thankfully, I came to my senses just in time.
Doug Turnbull, PM Drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. Download the Triple Team Traffic Alerts app to automatically hear reports from the WSB Traffic Team when you’re driving near a problem area. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
