Paying Attention

I am in two places at once. With one ear, I am on a conference call with my senior colleagues. With the other, I am listening to the Muzak from the airlines reservation system, waiting for a human voice to break in so I can make a new reservation.

The conference call is important. Very important. But, as I mentioned in my last post, it is not my job now. My job now is GETTING HOME. So when the human voice comes on the reservations line, I pull the conference call earbud out and focus on that voice.

My 4:00 p.m. flight's been canceled. Canceled Flight Number Five. The customer service rep is friendly. "I got ya, man," he tells me when I explain I've been trying to get home for two days. He tells me, with some drama, that there is ONE SEAT LEFT in the last flight out of Dallas to Austin tonight. Do I want it?, he teases. Hell, yeah.

That business taken care of, I pick up the earbud and can suddenly pay attention to the Very Important Conference Call.