Friends of Dave #282: believe you me

Don't dwell on the setbacks. Sh*t happens.

The first sign of trouble was my Wordle streak coming to an end.

The day quickly spiraled downhill from there....

There I was, in the Munich airport, searching for a reliable wifi connection so I could keep my daily Wordle streak alive before I had to board my return flight to the US. I had caught the craze like many of you, and for over 90 consecutive days I had successfully completed the daily Wordle puzzle. I needed my fix.

We were completing our first real family vacation in over two years visiting our son who was studying abroad in Germany. Despite the time change, the sightseeing and schedule disruption, I had not missed a Wordle puzzle since I first started doing them almost 3 months before.

Seriously. Like what in the name of Alex Trebek was I thinking?

But sitting at our gate with over two hours before boarding, I figured it was as good a time as any to check it off my daily to do list.

I guess all of the running around and the messed up sleep patterns caught up to me that day. I could not come up with a strategy to guess "FOYER" within the 6 chances alotted.

F*ing FOYER....

Oh well. Happens to the best of us. I figured I would drown my sorrows in the some airport currywurst and fries before flying home. A new streak (and diet) would have to start tomorrow.

About an hour and a half later, I hear my family's name being called on the airport loudspeaker -- we were being summoned to see the gate agent.

We had checked in online the night before, had boarding passes and were through security at this point, so I wasn't sure what it was about. My wife and I grabbed the family's passports and approached a very serious looking young male gate agent.

"COVID REQUIREMENTS. WE NEED YOUR COVID REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR FAMILY," he said in English with a heavy German accent.

COVID requirements? I'm thinking, oh, they just need to check if we have vaccinations. So I show them my phone with the digital vax cards we had read we should have for me and my youngest son.

"NO. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE VACCINATED. I NEED TO SEE PROOF OF A NEGATIVE COVID TEST WITHIN LAST 24 HOURS."

What? A negative test? But we are all vaccinated and boosted. We don't need that. What?

"NO SIR. YOU NEED PROOF OF NEGATIVE TEST IN ORDER TO RETURN TO THE USA. SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE THAT, YOUR FAMILY CANNOT BOARD THIS FLIGHT. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING TODAY."

Suddenly my missed Wordle puzzle was not looking like the dumbest thing I had done all day. I felt the currywurst bubbling in my stomach wanting to exit through my mouth (side note for you Wordle fans, "MOUTH" happens to be a great Wordle "starting" word. Two vowels, two popular letters, "TH" a common combo....we can talk strategy later).

My wife and I must have looked dumbfounded because Falco the Gate Agent continued: "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. YOU ARE NOT FLYING TODAY. PLEASE GATHER YOUR BELONGINGS AND LEAVE THE GATE AREA."

Shocked, both of us started fumbling for words trying to figure out what we are supposed to do next.

"YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO GET A RAPID TEST BEFORE BOARDING. WE CANNOT HELP YOU RESCHEDULE YOUR FLIGHT HERE, YOU WILL NEED TO CALL THE AIRLINE."

WTFoyer.

And with that, we grabbed our two sons that were traveling with us and left the secure gate area. I could not believe we were not being allowed to board the flight.

That set off a flurry of questions and emotions from everyone in the family. Were we stuck in Germany forever? When will I sleep in my own bed? Where will we sleep tonight? How could you not know we needed to get tested? Will I still have a window seat on the next flight?

What followed was essentially a combination of a reboot of "Vacation" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." German style.

After waiting on hold with the airline for over 45 minutes (because there was no agents from the airline at the airport), I came to learn that the airline only flew our route every OTHER day from Munich -- so the earliest we could return would be 2 days later without changing airports. Because we had checked in but did not board, we were considered "no shows" and our tickets were "suspended" -- I had to buy us all new tickets.

At this point, I was definitely questioning the choice of currywurst for lunch....and with three other travelers with their own questions, anxieties and fears, this could have gotten bad.

But we pushed through as a team. It was a setback, but we would get through it. My wife handled the questions from the boys, armed with my phone and wifi connected laptop, I dealt the travel details.

I was able to find us a flight home from Frankfurt on another airline very early the next day -- but that meant we would have to take a subway to the main train station in Munich and then a high speed rail for the 3.5 hour ride to the Frankfurt airport stop. Luckily there was a Marriott right at the airport itself with a room available. If everything went right, we could pull this off.

But we still had the issue of a rapid COVID test...and everyone passing. We found the place to get them at the Munich airport, got our throats swabbed and crossed our fingers.

45 minutes later we were cleared with negative tests and put the plan in motion. We boarded the S-bahn for Munich hbf and continued our journey home via a new city on our itinerary, Frankfurt and a big, unexpected, expensive detour in between.

The day was a setback. They happen. It sucked. We didn't sugar coat it. We didn't dwell on it. We didn't waste time or energy thinking about what we "coulda" or "shoulda" done. But we worked the problem and pushed through it together. In the end we look back on it and can laugh at our ordeal -- which is a blessing.

And on a layover on the way back, connected to the airport wifi in Lisbon, I was able to start a new Wordle streak...."CARGO".....I was back!

Spring is finally looking like it has sprung (at least where I live) -- have a great weekend and enjoy the links below.

XOXO

Dave

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Think on This...

Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid

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It’s not just a phase. This is a really long read, a little dystopian, but a good one to make you think.

For Your Day Job...

The Best Sales Call I Ever Had Took Less than 2 Minutes

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Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...

How Automaker Logos Have Evolved Over the Past Century — www.visualcapitalist.com Automakers are some of the most recognizable brands in the world. See how car logos for these select brands have evolved over time.

What’s With the Word Order in ‘Believe You Me’?

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And The Last Word....

How Having Fun Makes You Healthier and Smarter — www.outsideonline.com

Five scientifically proven ways to up the fun in your life. Thanks to longtime FoD Jimmy Suppelsa for this one.

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