The alarm went off at 5am this morning. At 6.50 I had a flight to Sweden. At 6.05 I was on a tube heading from Heathrow Terminal 1,2,3 towards central London. This is the story of my morning and what a calm head, positive thinking and a great deal of luck can mean.
My flight to Copenhagen was departing from Terminal 5 (T5) at 6.50am. We live on the Picadilly line with two trains running to the airport. However, only one of them stops at T5. Normally I would check what time the tube for T5 leaves before heading off, but for some reason I didn’t yesterday.
As I got closer to the tube station I saw a group of people organising taxis and it was pretty clear they were going to Heathrow. The thought crossed my mind that maybe, considering I might just have missed a T5 train (they run a bit more seldom in the morning), I should jump in a cab. I decided not to and walked down to the platform. I checked the status of trains on the TFL app and could see that there was a train to T4 and T1,2,3 coming in the next 2 minutes. By this point it was just before 5.30am. The next train after that was 12 minutes away but no detail which terminal it was going to. The next one after that was another 17 minutes away. Again without details of the destination. If the latter one was the first T5 train it would mean that I would arrive a bit late at the airport. More precisely around 6.10am and with just 40 minutes to spare until departure. Not too bad per se, but there was a certain USB ethernet adaptor that I needed to pick up from Dixons travel to make sure I could connect my Macbook Air to dad’s internet. With a very busy work day ahead and a deadline to meet, that cable was quite important.
With that in mind, arriving 6.10 could be cutting it a bit short, should there be a queue at security. So I decided to jump on the T4 train and get off at Hatton cross. My plan was to during the tube ride figure out if I would get out and take a cab from Hatton Cross or simply wait and see if the next train along was a train to T5.
I got on the tube and shortly thereafter found out that the next train was indeed to T5 so 10 minutes later when we reached Hatton Cross I got off, sat down on the benches, took out my phone and finished off yesterday’s post whilst waiting for the right tube. 10 minutes later the tube for T5 arrived and I got my bag and jumped on. Just as the beep starts and the doors close a guy walks up to me. “Excuse me, is that your bag over there?”, he says pointing at the bench where I’d been sitting and at my handbag that is still on the seat next to where I sat. The doors are now fully closed. Crap. That is my bag. And in that bag is my computer.
At this point there are a number of thoughts going through my mind:
At this point it’s just gone 6am. My flight leaves in 50 minutes and I’m on my way to T1,2,3 (first stop) and my really important bag is left on the platform. It’s not good. I’ve never left a bag like that before, unattended as it so where. I take a deep breath. Stand there whilst the tube moves me further away from my bag. But I’m strangely calm. There is no point panicking about the worse that could happen. The only thing that matters right now is going back and trying to find my bag. If it’s not there I’ll deal with that then. Not now.
I reach T1,2,3 a few minutes past 6am and while I wait for the tube back to Hatton Cross I press the information button to try to get in contact with the tube station personell so they can call Hatton Cross and try to save my bag. There is no answer. I try three times. Still no answer. The tube towards Hatton Cross comes and I jump on it. It’s now 6.05 and I’m heading in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to go. It’s also 45 minutes until my plane leaves.
We reach Hatton Cross and I get off. Walk over to the bench. The bag isn’t there. A girl is sat where I was sitting and I ask her if she saw what happened to it and she says that some tube station personell took care of it. I run up to the control room and get hold of a very lovely but slow walking and speaking TFL gentleman. He informs me that his colleague has my bag and as I turn around I can see said colleague walking towards me with my bag in hand. I run up to him and say “thank you, thank you, thank you”, get my bag and run down to the platform where a train is currently holding. I peak my head inside and ask its destination and to my delight the answer is T5. So I go onboard and the doors close. I’m finally on the right train with both of my bags.
At 6.20 and with 30 minutes until my flight departs the tube reaches T5. I run out on the platform, into the elevator, out and then run some more until I get to security. 5 minutes later I’m through. The information board says “Go to gate” so I figure I have some time to get that cable so I can work from dads. So I run a bit more. This time to Dixon’s travel. A man walks up to me inside and asks how he can help me. I tell him what I’m after and as he goes to get my cable he asks if it was me that left my bag on the platform at Hatton Cross. Small world. He’d been on the tube and wondered how it was all going to turn out. Happily I tell him that it’s looking like I might make it. I pay for my cable, check the information board and it now says “Boarding”. It’s 6.30 and I run towards the gate. Only my gate requires an elevator down to a train and then a train to my gate. Once down by the train it takes forever for it to arrive. Whilst I’m waiting there is an announcement that the gate to Copenhagen is now closing. It’s the final call. Dear train. Please arrive.
When the train does arrive a very thorough man walks through and checks it’s all empty before he lets us on, but we do get on and a couple of minutes later it stops and I get off. Now I run. With my bags. Up the first escalator. Up the second escalator and to the gate and though it says “Closed” I make it. I bloody make it. It’s 6.40 and with 10 minutes until take off ‘I’m finally where I should be. On the plane with both my bags. And that cable I needed.
Lessons from this story
You could look at this story and say that it was unlucky for me to forget my bag on a day when I have a plane to catch and a busy day at work. But you can also look at this story with amazement of how the little pieces just came together perfectly to allow me to not only get my bag back but also make my flight and, the cherry on the cake, get my cable.
How we view and react to things impact the outcome of each event in our lives. Had I been meditating for long I’d be able to say that it’d helped me keep a cool head in this situation. I’m sure it would and that it will in the future. Crisis can put us in situations where we are forced to think, make decisions and react on the spot. Be it work or outside of work related, small or big, trying to focus on the positives, the options and solutions, will definitely help you towards making the right decisions in those situations. It will keep you a bit more calm and help you not to panic and assess what the next critical step is. I’m not entirely sure how I managed it this morning, particularly not after just four hours of sleep, but I’m confident keeping a cool head and trusting it would all work out helped get all of the little events to line up and the outcome be as planned. I made my flight. As far as I’m concerned, I was really lucky this morning.
Tomorrow – Day 126 | Frequent visits as a prerequisite for a stress free experience
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/mpk/18514075
