voucher

sunset and sunrise from an airport window. while beautiful, not exactly how i envisioned my first vacation with haley.

i have to say though that i tremendously respect the work-life balance airtran enforces with their crew. the minute that crew hits their scheduled hours for the day, that's it. they are out of here. off to bed with you, airtran says. never mind all those people who are being incredibly inconvenienced by this, it's much more important that you get your rest.

and though i say that tongue in cheek, as i drink my voucher-coffee and eat my voucher-oatmeal, i actually think this policy should be adopted by more employers. it goes without saying that hospitals and transportation companies, such as freight truckers, should send home their folks when they've worked a full day. they hold our lives in their hands.

but i contend that all employers should shut off the office lights, turn off the network and send all calls to voicemail after an eight hour day. think of the morale improvement if you knew your day ended at five, so to speak. think of the productivity improvement if you knew you wouldn't, couldn't, take your work home.

and then, we could all keep a stack of vouchers close at hand, to really make this policy ideal. an IOU for what you might've been able to do for yourself, had you not been inconvenienced by our lack of planning. oops, i didn't get that commercial done! here's a voucher for your lost sales.

so, here i sit after a whopping three hours of sleep in a voucher-hotel in a part of town i generally avoid, despite my affinity for the urban ghetto. here i sit in the same clothes and sweat and mostly absorbed make-up from yesterday. here i sit, ready to go. again.

no voucher can replace what i missed last night, though. so, while i respect the crew policy and definitely don't want a pilot on his 18th hour of work, if this flight doesn't leave 'on time' in an hour i'll be handing in a voucher for my patience.

d: on time departure and arrival
b: my hair held up overnight. well, sort of.
g: our crew will be well rested, even if i'm not.