The clients are restless as the holidays approach. They suddenly realize they ought to make reservations to get home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Alas, the cheap seats sold out in September. Now they're lucky to get anything at all, especially to the smaller cities. The shock in their voices when I tell them the fare elicits my sympathy. It's unfortunate, and it's a ridiculous amount of money, but at this late date they have little choice. Even waiting an hour to check with their spouses can mean the fare goes from ridiculous to outrageous.
What I really hate is when I'm hurrying to get all the information into our record in order to end it, thus storing the fare, and the fare sells out before I can secure it. The clients never believes it, thinking I must have screwed up, but it definitely happens. Think of the thousands of travel agents and airline reservationists all competing for the same flights, and the scenario seems less unlikely. Still, it always gives me a wretched feeling to see a class of service zero out.
I don't travel at Thanksgiving and Christmas myself. I absolutely hate travel delays and overcrowded airports, so that's a no-brainer. I see my family regularly throughout the year; there's no real need to cleave to scheduled holidays. Sometimes we invite another couple over for Thanksgiving, though not often. Mostly we putter around the house and enjoy having a four day weekend. I always fix a small turkey, dressing, mashed potatos, gravy, steamed vegetables, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. We are firm traditionalists about our Thanksgiving food. At Christmas, though, our typical fare is Thai curry or Chinese stirfry. Neither of us associate any particular food with Christmas so somehow we started doing up elaborate Asian meals on Christmas Day. I like making our own family traditions.
Like staying home. If only more of my clients would do that, they'd feel far less stress about the holidays. I know I would.
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