“Now boarding, Group D,” the PA announces, and you stand up to join the line for the 7am flight. You’re headed to Atlanta for your day job — you’ll be defending some anemic numbers to the executive team. As you stand in line, your phone buzzes. It’s Ricardo — “Hey boss, the Isuzu won’t start, not sure what to do. We tried jumping it off the F-150, but no luck. Probably a bad starter.” You step out of the boarding line. “Okay, does anyone on the team know how to replace a starter?” “Sure, James probably can, but what do you want us to do today? We don’t have the parts to repair it right now.” “Hang on, I’ll call you back.” You open up your CRM on your phone — the one that took months to implement and just about killed your team — to look at the schedule. Ugh, today’s one of those multiple small job routes…5 little stops. “Now boarding, Group E.” You call the local truck rental shop, they confirm they have a landscaping truck available for $375 for the day, but not until 8am. You confirm the rental, and text Ricardo the details. You tell him to just have the crew clean equipment to kill 30 minutes. You message your scheduler Maria, asking her to reschedule the first client of the day, but that you’re expecting the crew will still get to the rest of the jobs. Maria calls instead of texts. “Boss, I can’t reschedule the first client, that’s Mary Stevens. She already got rescheduled from last week, and she’s pissed.” You sigh audibly. “Okay, how about you reschedule the last client of the day, and move Mary to that slot?” “I think she has to be in the mornings, she’s told us that in the past.” “Okay, let’s just reschedule the second client then and move Mary back by an hour.” Ricardo is calling you too now. “Gotta go, Ricardo is calling.” “Now boarding, Group F.” “Hey boss — James is saying he wants more money if you’re gonna have him do repair work too.” You knead the bridge of your nose. “Can you tell him I’ll discuss that with him when I’m back in town on Friday?” “I’m not sure boss, he seems kind of pissed off. You know how he gets.” “Ricardo, I’m sorry but I have to get on this plane. Tell James I’ll call him later today when I land.” “Final call for boarding flight 1247, service to Atlanta.” You hustle back to the boarding line, which is now empty. The attendant scans your boarding pass, and smiles warmly. “Thank you for being a OneWorld Ruby flyer, we appreciate your loyalty.” You do your best to smile back and then walk up the jetbridge. There’s no line anymore, so you go straight to your seat. You call your local Isuzu dealer, but they’re not open yet. You leave a voicemail asking about they have the starter in stock, and if not, if they can order one. The plane begins taxiing to the runway as the flight attendants do their safety briefings. Maria texts — “Mary’s pissed, she said she wanted the first appointment of the day because she has a doctor’s appointment around 9:30am.” You text back, “Apologize and tell her we’ll knock $100 off her work today.” Ricardo calls again. “Boss, James is saying he’s not gonna work today unless you give him a $2 raise.” “How are your numbers today? Can you make it worth without him?” “I’m not sure boss…it’ll be a tough day.” You know Ricardo generally understates difficulty, so if he says it’ll be a tough day, it’s probably damn near impossible. “Please turn off all devices or set to airplane mode at this time.” “Okay Ricardo — tell him I’ll give him the $3 for this week, but we’ll discuss it in person when I’m back. We’re taking off now, so I’ll be off my phone until I can get on the WiFi.” A text rolls in from your wife. “Hey — the school emailed, apparently Emmy has been getting disruptive in classes and the school wants us to come in to discuss. I’m going to schedule that for Friday, when you’re back. I know work has been brutal on both sides, but I need you to show up for this.” You put your phone on airplane mode and close your eyes.