The Aloha Spirit lives even almost 5,000 miles away. For any of you who are familiar with the State of Hawaii, the residents pride themselves on exhibiting the Aloha Spirit. According to Serge Kahili King, author of The Aloha Spirit, a.k.a. “The Little Pink Booklet of Aloha”, the “The Aloha Spirit is a well-known reference to the attitude of friendly acceptance for which the Hawaiian Islands are so famous. However, it also refers to a powerful way to resolve any problem, accomplish any goal, and to achieve any state of mind or body that you desire.”
Recently, I felt the power of the Aloha Spirit 4,815 miles away. I visited Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to conduct business development activities. This visit was coordinated by a former employee of netlogx who coordinated this meeting because she believes that netlogx can provide value to Medicaid Modernization activities in progress in the State of Pennsylvania. I was graciously provided a ride from the Harrisburg airport to my meeting location in the city by this same former employee and although she had client commitments in the afternoon, she graciously provided me with a ride back to the airport after my meetings.
While sitting at the airport, I received a notification that my flight on United Airlines from Harrisburg was delayed, meaning I would miss my connecting flight back to Indianapolis. I reluctantly called the United Airlines helpdesk to see if there was any possibility they could reroute me back to Indianapolis while thoughts of having to spend the night in Harrisburg or some other city ran through my mind. My call was answered quickly and the customer service representative explained that my flight to Chicago was delayed due to weather. He then looked for alternative routes that would avert the bad weather and with little pain (on my part), was able to book me on an alternative airline, American Airlines, getting me home only 30 minutes after my originally planned arrival.
I was so impressed by his superb customer service and asked for his name. I then found out that he was helping me from Honolulu, Hawaii. Wow – the Aloha Spirit was alive and well in Pennsylvania and still lives strong in Hawaii.
This experience served to remind me of my roots and my need to always look for ways to keep the Aloha Spirit alive, regardless of where I am.