I had the privilege of presenting at the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis annual meeting in Jacksonville, Florida during the first week of March. All went well until I attempted to fly home. It was Saturday, March 4th – the day after the Friday snow storm. Toronto had good weather on Saturday.
While boarding my first flight, American Airlines (AA) notified me that the connecting flight in Philadelphia was being cancelled. No matter how I attempted to use the AA app or their webpage, the result was the same. No assistance. No flights. No meaningful information.
At the Philadelphia airport more of the same – weather related cancellation was their only comment. No food vouchers. No hotel vouchers. I was not surprised! They expected us to overnight any way we could, anywhere we could. Some of the trapped folks had already been there more than a day roughing it in the airport.
After an hour in line at the airport American Airlines customer service desk the AA staff would not or could not offer anything definite, but a possible Tuesday flight. It did not matter to them that I had patients to see on Monday. Meanwhile they were announcing the gate closing for the next flight to Toronto while we were standing in line. Ironically, they were still blaming the weather, yet planes were flying into Toronto!
Ten hours trapped in the airport, waiting on standby for flights that were not going to seat me, I decided to take a horrendous 20-hour overnight train trip back to Canada. I can now say that I have seen Poughkeepsie! Had the AA personnel offered good information upfront, I would have taken a much earlier train home.
The point of writing about this adventure is not actually about the flights, rather it is about informed decision making. This is a concept that applies to all aspects of life. We deal with it daily in the provision of dental care for our patients. When one is faced with a decision, it is the lack of meaningful information that generates the most anxiety and stress.
Informed decision making requires that you have all of the pertinent facts so that you can make a decision as it relates to your circumstances. In dentistry once a treatment plan is created, it behooves us to supply all of the alternatives with their pros and cons. If we are deficient or you do not understand the plan, then you must ask for more information. There may be uncertainties to a particular treatment, but even knowing that gives you the opportunity to weigh the facts with the best available information.
We strive to offer you the best information so that you can make the best treatment choices. Never hesitate to ask to discuss your options. We prefer it. We recommend it.