This past Wednesday (I know it was Wednesday because it happened to be my birthday!) I sent a little packet of business cards to my amazingly sweet and brilliant wife Ana, who (despite aforementioned amazing and sweet brilliance) had forgotten to bring them with her on Monday when she left on a trip to Singapore and Malaysia.
This evening (Saturday) I just looked up their progress on the UPS web site. Here’s what I learned:
June 10: The business cards made it from Amherst, Massachusetts to Louisville, Kentucky.
June 11: They left Louisville and ended up in Cologne, Germany.
June 12: They left Cologne, skipped through Dubai, and landed at the Don Muang (not Don Juan, though when you say it out loud it sounds just like it) airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
June 13: From Bangkok my wife’s business cards made their way to the Changi airport on the eastern edge of Singapore, from whence they snaked their way to Singapore proper, and were (as of 10:44 Saturday morning Singapore time, which was actually still the previous Friday evening in Massachusetts) sitting at the front desk of the Pan Pacific Hotel, genially waiting for her to pick them up.
This cost me forty bucks. Forty bucks?! To travel half-way around the world in three days (actually two and a half, in real time), every step of which I can track in complete and accurate detail from my iPhone at home in the sleepy little farm town of Hadley, Massachusetts?!
Welcome to globality.
Hi John — $40 sounds like a lot for some business cards, but they had a fascinating trip!
I hope Ana has a wonderful time in Singapore and Malaysia, and that her use of those business cards turns out to be very productive and fulfilling, and a well-spent $40.
My best, Ann
Thanks, Ann! If I know Ana (and as it happens, I do), I wouldn’t be surprised if that $40 ends up turning into $40,000 — or $400,000. She’s having a blast. The people in Malaysia are hungry for her business. I’ll be going over there with her next time, probably in August.
I’ll tell her you say hi!
Hi John, We were delighted to receive one of the famous business cards from Ana at the Pan Pacific, tonight – June 17th. We had a very entertaining discussion at a soiree set up by Pan Pacific…
John and Liz Pinniger, England.
Greetings, John! Excellent to meet you; Ana just told me about meeting you both and having a delightful time. She related this to me not 15 minutes ago, and here you are on my web site! (What can I say but, globality.)
I hope our paths cross in our travels at some point. Cheers!