After her family’s Christmas “dream” vacation at Walt Disney World, Emilian Emeagwali faced a camp-out at the Orlando airport, possibly for days, while the Northeast dug out from a blizzard.
But, she says, she had a physical therapy practice to get back to in Elmont, New York, and she couldn’t wait.
So, she switched her family’s flights to arrive in Buffalo rather than a New York City airport, and figured when they got there, they would take a bus home.
Of course, when they arrived the buses weren’t running, and there was no word when they might start up again. So, Emeagwali opted for a more creative solution. A cab driver said he would take her family home for $1,100. She bargained him down to $900 and then she and her five kids piled into the minivan for the cab ride.
It took 13 hours to make the 400-mile journey during the blizzard. Emeagwali has been hailed by ABC News for her “creativity.”
Ummm, yeah. Fortunately, nothing happened to this family and the cab driver on this crazy trek.
I get it – she needed to get home. But, really? Would you risk your children’s lives in conditions like that, driving across the state in a blizzard?
I can’t imagine that once she got there she could work for several days anyway. Part of the risk of travel is getting stuck somewhere, because of weather, mechanical problems or other unexpected troubles. Maybe, just maybe, the best solution is to accept your situation and deal.
[Image credit: Flickr user Johan Lange]