WHEEEEEE!

Business trips can be fun – they give me the opportunity to visit new cities and sample different cuisine from around the world – all on the company tab (thanks Graco!).

I did not, however, enjoy my recent business trip to Shanghai. Oh, getting there and being there were great. Getting home – not so much. Due to some mechanical mishap on board the plane, near the end of the flight home, we had to land quickly in Chicago and make our exit from the plane via the inflatable exit slides. You know, the ones the flight attendants tell you about when you’re not paying attention? Sure I’d seen it done in the movies a bunch of times, never actually did it myself, though. In fact, I’ve never been a huge fan of sliding boards in general – it’s not so much the sliding or the height that bother me, but the sudden stop.

Anyway, all we passengers made our way to the exits and then one by one (just like in the movies) we hurled ourselves out the door and down the slide. I could just imagine my kids doing this, shouting “Wheeeeeeeeee” as they slide down that long fluffy slide – no doubt they would have asked if they could do it again. I on the other hand, jumped and then braced myself for that sudden stop, but you know, it really wasn’t that bad – better than the playground slide, really - higher, faster and a softer stop, too! It was nonetheless, unnerving.

I was so glad to be safely on terra firma again, so happy I’d be seeing my wife and kids again soon. When at last I did, I told them my toiling travel tail. My kids thought it sounded like great fun – like I spent the day at the O’Hare International Fun Park – had to remind them it was the airport – and that they probably had more fun hearing the story than I did living it. I suppose they got the impression that my business trip consisted of jumping around all day in one of those bouncy-house inflatable things like at a carnival or something. I wish! It was a long, scary trip and I was exhausted. Couldn’t wait to just unpack and take one last slide - into bed, “Wheeeeeeeeee!” Now that’s MY kind of fun.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 8:48 am and is filed under Office Talk . You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.