TAKEAWAY: Finally got to see George Clooney’s hit movie, Up in the Air. Oh, the plot is ever so familiar to me, but, then, thank God, the similarities between his fictitious road warrior and me come to an abrupt end.
Monday, Jan. 25, 2010: it is 8 am…..
George Clooney may be closer to the necessary miles to get to Oscar for his performance in Up in the Air
It is a snowy Monday at 5 am in Luxembourg, where I start my day, and i am careful how I step out into the street and on to a taxi that would take me to the airport for my 06:45 flight to Berlin, via Frankfurt. The snow and ice have piled up during the night and one mistep will land me on my behind.
I arrive at the airport which is quite deserted at 5:20 am, and go straight to the special check in for road warriors like me——and George Clooney’s character in the movie Up in the Air, Ryan Bingham, a businessman on the verge of reaching five million frequent flyer miles when his company decides to cut back on travel.
I hope it will be a routine check in and I am already getting set for my short stay at the modern, well lit, well stocked lounge for elite flyers, where a fresh fruit and yoghurt breakfast are waiting.
Not so fast. This is not a movie. This is reality, often not as pretty.
“Sir,” the check in lady tells me, “the flight to Frankfurt may be late three hours today due to weather conditions. Heavy snow in Frankfurt.”
“Oh, I see. Makes sense, but I will then miss my connection to Berlin where a lunch meeting is scheduled.” I say.
After she taps on the keyboard a few times, she realizes that there is a non stop to Berlin, apparently not affected by weather, and there is space available.
I smile. But…..
“Sir, you need to have my supervisor approve that I rebook you, and if she says yes, then we rewrite the ticket and get you on the Berlin flight.”
This is when it pays to have the status of the Ryan Binghams of the world. It is this moment that my Lufthansa HON Circle card becomes the pridest possession to keep in my backpack. (In the film, Ryan gives motivational speeches in which he urges his audience to decide what to load on and what to eliminate from your backpack of life. By the way, I want to take my iPhone there, too, Ryan).
I got to Berlin on time, and landed at Tegel airport, where my first sight of the city were banks of snow on both sides of the plane as it rushed down the runway.
Back to Up in the Air
I think that Up in the Air, based on the 2001 novel by Walter Kirn, truly captures the life of those of us who spend considerable amounts of time at airports, on board jetliners and, of course, in hotel rooms.
So many of my friends and family have written to me lately to tell me “you must see this movie, we thought of you,” that I finally decided to go see it this weekend.
It is an entertaining film, if you can recoil from the underlying tragedy of seeing the sadness of people losing their jobs, an all too familiar occurrence in America today. This is definitely one of George Clooney’s best performances. He is convincing as a man whose job is to fire people across the country, while making them believe that this difficult moment is nothing short of a great lifetime opportunity to advance. In the process of doing his job and accumulating miles, reaching for his five-million miler goal with American Airlines, the Clooney character forgets how the rest of life pans out down there under the clouds. It is a tribute to Clooney’s acting that you tend to sympathize with his character, even though deep inside you hate him for what he does and how he does it.
He comes “home” to a sparse apartment that one could imagine only as a possible Guantanamo Base prison cell. No sign of humanity in Ryan’s habitat, and most definitely not a place to come home after the wear and tear of travel.
The Ryan character has no sense of family or anything that spells commitment and loyalty—-other than to American Airlines and Hilton Hotels.
Of course, as a very frequent flyer, I identified with many aspects of Ryan Bingham’s day to day and shared his tips (pack lightly, cultivate your one airline of choice, use time in the airline’s lounge to catch up on work and calls, do make sure you do reconissance of the line forming in front of security screening posts at the airport—-it is who you follow that determines how quickly you will get through).
By the way, Ryan, although you don’t seem to travel internationally, apply the same rule to lines at passport controls.
What Ryan Bingham’s did not tell you…..
I do fly more miles a year than Ryan——he admits 350000, and I clock about one million, as I do mostly international fligthts——and I can add a couple of tips for road warriors that he did not touch upon:
1. Always carry a clean shirt, tie, and underwear with you, since you have no idea about delays, missing luggage, etc.
2. Make your hotel room as personalized as possible when you arrive. Your body moves (mine is in constant motion), but your surroundings should be familiar. Indeed, I have pictures of my grandkids and those important to me. Oh, yes, I do have a family with whom I am in touch daily, who nourish me, make me proud and make coming home a thrill. Forgot that Ryan has no family, and the one he has he sort of forgets. If I spend a weekend away from home, first thing I would do on a Saturday morning is to visit the local markets, get me fresh flowers, fruit and goodies to steer clear of hotel offerings which can spell sameness. Arrive in the hotel room and pretend it is home (because it is for a day or a week), and that you will stay put there. It does wonders for the head.
3. No matter how busy you are, build that one hour in the schedule that is just yours. I do my daily run, but I also take my books with me and will make sure that I read a few pages before the day is through.
4. It may sound like an affectation (or an exaggeration to some), but I do have a glass of champagne everyday, and I don’t need company to do so. One can enjoy a glass of bubblies at the end of a day and it will be the best prescription to do a short meditation. On good days,celebrate as you raise the glass; on mediocre days, the champagne takes the day from a C- to a C+, and on real rough, ugly days, it is the perfect remedy to take the edge off that meeting that went left quickly, or the impossible editor who would not accept new ideas, or the art director who, well, wishes you were Up in the Air, and not in his newsroom.
5. Finally, the smart frequent traveller works especially hard on having a life outside the First Class lounge, the First Class cabin and the Hotel suite with the fresh fruit, the white tulips and the personalized welcome card. The travel experience may be routine, but your life does not have to be a routinized experience.
These are my tips for the day. Hope you are reading the blog, Ryan.
And, oh, yes, you and I have little in common, after all. What a relief.
You see, you make a living firing people.
I make a living firing up people.
TheMarioBlog post # 465