The night before the blizzard hit Boston, son Kevin was scheduled to depart BOS for California at 8 p.m. The airline kept telling him that the flight was still on. He took a cab to BOS, arriving at 7 p.m. The flight didn’t leave at 8 p.m. To make a long story short, he got on and off of two airplanes, then finally—after 1 a.m. the following morning—he left the airport, but not in an airplane going to California. He rode a cab right back to his home in the Boston area.
Lawd, Lawd that reminded me of so many trips. During my career as a professional public speaker I traveled in 50 states and a few foreign countries. Among other things, I…
Got iced in overnight in Texas, of all places.
Drove a rental car in each and every state.
Spent several nights on the floor at ATL.
Once drove three different rental cars in three different states in one day.
Fell into a snowdrift in Minneapolis about midnight.
Spoke on Marco Island (south Florida) one night, and In Aspen, (or was it Vail) early the next afternoon.
Spent a grand total of 56 minutes in bed in Atlanta the night before I was on the Oprah show in Chicago early the next morning.
I could go on, but it wears me out just thinking about it.
In all of that, I am proud to say that I never—ever—missed a speech because of weather. All in all, my tenacity, the airline system and the airports did a pretty good job together.
About the Author
Ralph Hood
Certified Speaking Professional
Ralph Hood is a Certified Speaking Professional who has addressed aviation groups throughout North America. A pilot since 1969, he's insured and sold airplanes at retail and distributor levels and taught aviation management for Southern Illinois University.
Ralph Hood is also an award-winning columnist (he writes for several publications), a salesman and sales manager (he sold airplanes, for crying out loud!), a teacher (he taught college-level aviation management) and a professional public speaker who has entertained and enlightened audiences from Hawaii to Spain, and from Fairbanks to Puerto Rico.
- Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), National Speakers Association
- Past member, National Ethics Committee, National Speakers Association
- Past president of Alabama Speakers Association
- Member, Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame
- Past National Marketing Mentor, AOPA Project Pilot