I just spent an extra 5 hours in Cleveland

Yes I did! On Saturday I flew home from Florida on Continental Airlines. I was with my 17-year old daughter and her best friend. We flew on time from Fort Myers to Cleveland and that is where the fun started.

We were scheduled to fly to Manchester at 1:40PM. The weather in Cleveland was blue sky and clear for 20 miles. The weather in Manchester was overcast with a little precipitation but the airport was fully open and almost 100% of the flights inbound and outbound were on time (which in airline lingo means within 15 minutes of on-schedule).

Oh, and did I tell you the plane was at the gate and ready for boarding at 1:15PM? Yes it was. So why did we not take off until after 6PM? Because they were missing a flight attendant. The one we were supposed to have was on another flight to Houston. So they (the airline) had to call “Operations” to find another one who was supposedly on “Airport Standby” for just such a situation. Well lo and behold they really don’t have “Airport Standby” anymore so we had to wait until a flight from Nassau arrived at 5:45PM and steal one of their flight attendants.

The problem with airlines today is far more than the price of oil, although I admit that is a factor. But to make over 60 people wait for a plane just because it was missing a flight attendant…don’t get me started. It’s not like we were going to be fed a big meal on a 70-minute flight!

One of the gate agents told me the reason there were no extra crews around was because airlines have cut everything to the bone and they don’t want under-utilized staff hanging around. Never mind good customer relations! I sure hope they haven’t cut any mechanics for “standing around” –don’t you?

As I watched the sorry Congressional hearings featuring Roger Clemens I couldn’t help but wonder what is going on in our nation’s capital. Does anybody understand how many important issues our country is currently facing? Apparently not! Congressman Henry Waxman and his committee did nothing to make people feel good about our leaders in this country.

Lest you think it’s just the House of Representatives lets move on over to the United States Senate. Here, Senator Arlen Specter demanded to see Roger Goodell of the NFL to talk about what the NFL did with the infamous Patriots’ tape of the Jets game. It appears the Senator, (he of the single bullet theory in the Warren Commission report and a former Presidential Candidate–gee how did that work out?) apparently has no good staff to help explain to him that the country has many important issues facing it and that the disposal of the tapes from Spygate are not high on the public’s priority list.

Now this morning (February 16) I hear on the news that the horse racing industry has been called to Washington to appear before some new committee to talk about steroid use. And the kicker? It’s not even about the Jockeys but the horses!

Please save my sanity and our country by going to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov. Find your Senator or member of the House of Representatives and ask them to remember the following: It’s about the Economy! It’s about the War in Iraq! It’s about Health Care Reform! And be sure to add your own favorite issue currently not being addressed by our legislative leadership in Congress. Both parties should be ashamed and we as Americans should also be ashamed for allowing it to happen. We deserve better.

The annual bGG Advertising Holiday Party was last Thursday. As usual it was the social event of the winter season in cold Southern New Hampshire. (What? Have you never heard an ad guy exaggerate?) Well the fun part of the party for me is that it’s like an Ad Club reunion because I invite a lot of our competition for many reasons: first of all, it’s my party and I can. But also because we work in a great area that fosters friendship along with competition.

If I heard it once, I heard it 10 times last Thursday from both our clients and the partners we deal with. They were amazed that so many competitors were in attendance. It’s always been our tradition and we will always do it.

It was nice to see Pat, Anders, (yes he’s baaaaccck) and Elaine from www.griffinyorkkrause.com and Fran from www.eastlantic.com as well as Warren and Judy from www.mannad.com, and of course my long-time golf buddy, Gary O’Neil (who brought Grace and George with him) from www.traceyedwards.com.

Why can this sort of gathering, which also included other agency folks (Lisa Arnold), happen here and not other places? I have a small theory…we are all getting a little older (and wiser) and realize that after all these years in the same market together we have survived. And we haven’t had to knock each other to do so. That’s one of the beauties of where we get to work every day, (although I might add I’m writing this from the bGG South office in Fort Myers).

Thanks to everyone who came to the party and thanks to my great staff who help make this such a fun gig.