During our trip earlier this summer to Dallas, we had a very fun stopover in Vegas, my first solo trip after surgery to meet up with Hal, Chuck and Jenny. My muscle memory started off slowly as I totally forgot the seemingly routine concept of showing your identification at check in, and I had to fumble to find my picture ID to give to the gate agent.
When I arrived at McCarron Airport, I was greeted by an elderly airport staff member cordially asking arriving passengers if they needed help with directions in the terminal. I normally would not but actually did this time, as I needed to get to another terminal in the facility to find Hal and the kids.
The airport employee enthusiastically went through an explanation of a series of several airport areas I had to reach, the shuttle to look for along the way, and how to then get from the drop-off point to the terminal baggage claim. He was very cordial and I thought to myself, this is all nice but the directions are complicated, and I’ll never remember a word he said.
He then looked at me seriously and said that I needed to sing a song with him. Oh great. He proceeded to sing a jingle with only three words: “55, White Bus, Level 1.” They were the key words that would help me remember the landmarks of the gate exit number, shuttle route and terminal floor where I needed to go. He made me sing the words aloud with him. After a couple of practice times, sure enough I knew it by heart. Getting to the terminal destination was a breeze.
As I headed off to follow those catchy directions, he smiled knowing I would remember and his parting friendly words were, “Welcome to Las Vegas.”
Now that was a helpful welcome. Most of us not to mention other tourist bureaus could learn a lot from the cordial spirit of that man and the useful guidance that people really need at the time.
Beyond Six Five 