A childhood demon has been banished after 45 years.*
After my freshman year of high school, I spent part of the
summer at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois. As I was waiting
at the gate before my flight, airline personnel announced that the flight was
overbooked, and they were seeking volunteers to be get bumped and wait for
another flight a couple hours later. They were offering $100 (I think). According
to Google, that’s the equivalent of $359 today – not life changing money, but
nice. My parents, who were at the gate with me (yes, you could do that then)
talked it over, but decided against having me volunteer -- this was my first
time flying alone without anyone to meet me at the destination, and I was nervous
enough without a change in plan.
I remember thinking that it would have been great to get
that extra money for doing nothing other than waiting. I understood my parents’
logic, but part of me felt bad about missing out on the cash.** And I thought
that, if I ever had another opportunity, I would volunteer my spot in exchange
for cash. And in the decades since, I have never been in that situation again.
I have had delayed flights. And I have had canceled flights. But I have never
been bumped from a flight. And I have never been on a flight where they were
seeking volunteers to get bumped in exchange for cash. Not that I’ve lost sleep
over it, but I’ve thought about it every so often.
But a week ago, Blair had the experience. She had been in
Vermont for a relative’s graduation. On Monday morning, her flight was
oversold. And she volunteered to stay behind – in exchange for $1900, meal
vouchers and a hotel voucher for the night. Technically, the money went to
Blair and not to me. But it’s all the same, so I think of it as a victory for
both of us. And now the monkey’s off my back.
**It’s worth noting that my parents would have likely kept the cash, since they
were paying for my airfare. But that’s beside the point.
