Maui Wowie

Maui Wowie!

         I travel frequently on business, often on short notice. In 2013 the scheduler sent me an e-mail telling me I had to deliver an online class. I dislike our version of on line training, since all I see are small emoticons on the screen, with very little student interaction as I deliver the class. I decided I would call her about it.

         “Maria, you know I dislike online classes.”

         “I know Jim, but I need to free Rick so he can deliver a Mototrbo class. Since you’re doing me this favor, I will give you one of his field classes.”

         “A field class?” <perk>

         “Yes, but it’s the week of Thanksgiving.”

         A lot of things went through my mind when she said this, the main one being, ‘What customer would want a class delivered the week of Thanksgiving?’ I had to ask of course. “Where are you sending me?”

         “Maui.”

         Of course I was thrilled, I’d lived in Hawaii while stationed in the Navy, and loved visiting there any chance I got. Luckily I only had to deliver the one online class to receive this great opportunity.

         Before delivering a class, I always exchange a few e-mails with the customer to learn their expectations, what they wanted to know by the end of the class. I also had to plan my travel, where to stay, how close to the training site, etc. When it came time to reserve a hotel, I looked for Hilton brand hotels on Maui. I saw none, so chose to stay at a Marriott near the airport. Marriott is not a Motorola approved chain, so I knew this would be out of policy. I no sooner submitted my travel plans before an immediate response from American Express was received. It always happens when your travel plans are not per policy. For some reason, this one really rubbed me the wrong way. My mind jumped to Hilton hotels, and something told me to look at their website. I did, and discovered there are two Hilton brand hotels on the island. One is a series of bungalows on the beach, but the cost was one thousand dollars a night. There was no way I could justify that. Next to those bungalows was a Waldorf Astoria hotel, a Hilton brand! You may have heard of it. The Grand Wailea Resort. It was $395 a night, and the Marriott I had reserved was ‘only’ $185. But Hilton is an approved chain, so I made plans to stay there. Additionally, I used Hilton Honors points to stay a couple of extra nights.

         The day of the trip finally arrived, and to make this all the better, I was taking my honey with me. We were leaving the Friday before Thanksgiving for this trip, allowing ourselves two days on Maui to recover from jet-lag. Friday we arrived at O’Hare two and a half hours early as we should. As we were checking in, I noticed that the name on her boarding pass was spelled wrong! Of course, being the weekend before Thanksgiving, O’Hare was packed. The area around the United counter was a madhouse with people needing help as badly as we needed it. A recent storm had stranded some passengers trying to get home for the holiday. Of course they were working to arrange alternate flights. My ‘little’ problem didn’t seem significant to some United employees, or so it seemed.

         It took over two hours to straighten out her name and get a new boarding pass issued. However, this also meant we had missed our flight, so not only did we have to get her name corrected, we were also booked on a later flight. I was a bit upset at first, but when I thought about it, we were still getting to Maui, though later in the day than I wanted. We were much better off than many other travelers.

         Getting through the TSA checkpoint was a breeze compared to the check in process, and we found ourselves with plenty of time. We walked down the walkway of Terminal A, making our way to my favorite place to eat at O’Hare. Rick Bayless’ ‘Frontera Grill’. I always order Eggs and Rajas when dining there. There’s a server there named Cordele who does a great job of taking care of people. He saw me and greeted me with a warm smile.

         “Happy Thanksgiving Cordele, a few days early. But still….”

         “Thank you sir, I hope you have a nice one too.”

         “We will, we’re off to Maui for the week. A little business, and a bit of vacation.”

         “Oh man, you make me jealous.”

         Cordele had to take care of most everyone else packed in that small venue, and excused himself. Our meal arrived a short time later, and we both enjoyed it greatly. I tipped Cordele the usual 20%, but as we were leaving, I shook his hand, wishing him Happy Holidays. As we shook hands, I slipped him an extra $20, and said, “It’s not much, but I do hope you have a great holiday week.”

         He grasped my hand in a firm grip and said, “Travel safe sir, hope to see you through here again soon.”

         The next part of our adventure was having the plane de-iced. The flight to Maui was smooth, but long of course. Our two days of ‘jet lag recovery’ were spent visiting Haleakala, driving the road to Hana. Class went well, so the whole week was a nice work-cation. Remember, I’d arranged to spend a couple of days on Maui after the class. I just couldn’t see going back to snowy Chicago when we could be on Maui. And Thanksgiving dinner? Why, we managed to get tickets that day, and attended the ‘Old Lahaina Luau’! Truly a trip we’ll never forget.

Jim Dorrell
11/19/16

979 words