Nothing worse than sitting in the delivery room with a wife who is clearly in pain, and knowing that there is little you can do. Worse is knowing that her contractions are not labor, so she is simply in pain for the sake of pain. The little bugger refuses to engage and come on out, and he's making mom angry. The wife is one tough broad, and I rarely see her cry; she's in pain. More tears tonight than I have ever seen. I hope we come out of here with a baby, and not another dry run.
I'm on a west bound Continental flight to SFO. I didn't get my customary upgrade or even an exit row, which always sets the tone for an interesting flight.
I was overjoyed to have a 3 and a half year old sitting next to me. The poor boy's mother was on leg 2 of three (from West Palm Beach to Houston to San Fran to Australia). I have found that since I have begun traveling with a child, I am much more tolerant of children on the plane, and their attendant needs.
That said, this little boy had some issues. The woman was literally dragging him on his stomach back to where she wanted him. He was hitting and pinching her, screaming, demanding things...basically a camera crew away from a Super Nanny special.
Even when he reached into my drink and grabbed an ice cube I remained cool. Frankly, it didn't bother me. Somewhere, deep inside me, I have definitely achieved a calm and sense of peace when dealing with little people issues and travel. Perhaps I believe that I am saving travel karma in a bank for when my little Chickpea, or soon my LittleCannon, decide to act up when we go on one of our trips.
The hardest part was not trying to control any form of anger or frustration directed at the child, but restraining from offering up parenting tips to this woman. Let's just say she did a lot of things I would not have done, and did not do many things I might have tried. Not to say that what I would have tried would have worked, but what was doing wasn't, and it was clear she wasn't getting creative.
Oh well, here's to hoping my future travel days are somehow made easier that hers.
Been on the road all day today. I hate days that start bad and simply get worse. Fortunately this day had ups and downs, so not really a terrible day. It's bad enough to have to get up at 3:50AM to shower and shave and run out the door to catch a flight, but another thing entirely to know that you are running late and see that you most clearly did not get gas last night.
Airports are always interesting because of how they ebb and flow with the level of sanity and reason. Why must all of our 3 oz bottles of liquid be in a ziplock bag? Why haven't they come up with a better way to scan shoes? And why did the clock on the wall say 6:50AM, my flight clearly had a departure time of 7:06AM (as indicated on the nice screen) and next to that it said "departed." I'm sorry, what? Three quarters of a mile of frantic running through the airport (note to self - Phoenix airport, worst layout ever) to get to a closed door at the gate. I somehow managed to convince the gate attendant that my lateness was not in fact my fault and that she should let me on the plane. Luck prevailed.
I spent the day in CA at a conference for child online safety. It was cool to meet people in the industry. I did two television interviews, and saw my company covered in the Wall St. Journal. In all, a great media day. Things with the new company are going really, really well. It's a great team, and we're having a great time.
I'm on the plane and really should catch some winks before landing in Houston at 1:30AM. This has been a long, LONG, day. Sorry for the lite posting as of late, but the new company and child are demanding all of my time.
It's been crazy with the launch of my new company, IMSafer. We're cranking away, and that's kept my personal time to a minimum. So to all the family who keep calling, yes I am alive. Here's a photo from the weekend to placate y'all.