Can vs. Do

Years ago I had this friend, Ann, who was a travel agent. She didn't make a lot of money at her job, so as a result, she didn't work very hard to satisfy her customers.

One day Ann got tickets to go to Washington D.C. and invited me along. I thought, because she had been there, she would make nice arrangements and give me useful advice about what to take. After all, I wasn't a 'customer.' I assumed that, because of our friendship, she would help me have the best time possible.

Assumptions are rarely reality.

It was November. A quiet time to see the capital city, but uncomfortable wearing a dress with high heels. It was windy, rainy and about 40 degrees. And our hotel was 12 miles from 'town.’
It isn't like there is a shortage of hotels in D.C., so to stay 12 miles out seems silly, at least in hindsight. But, there's always the subway - and it works quite well if you take it in the right direction.

I remembered this story while planning my trip with Affordable Tours, the agency I used. Those memories rushed back when I asked my travel agent a very simple question about our flights, which he could have answered - if he had been familiar with the tour, or if he just read the details. But he didn't, and that was when I remembered Ann.

When our documents arrived the first thing I did was check the flight details. I researched our planes (using SeatGuru) and found that Mae and I had been assigned the worst possible seating - the very back of the planes in seats that didn't recline. To top it off, we left Nashville at 10 am only going as far as Atlanta with a 6 hour layover.

That would not do. I got on the phone and called Delta myself, knowing that my 'Ann' would not want to work out these details. I managed to choose better seats, change our meal preferences and discuss the options of altering our departure time to something more suitable.

I should do this for a living.

My D.C. trip was nice, but it was not without problems. I want this trip to be - not just nice - but fabulous. And I am the only one who cares about making that happen.

Someone who is able to do a thing isn't always the person who actually does it.