As we made our final descent into Vancouver, British Columbia, the mood on the plane was tense. At least two dozen passengers on this flight—myself included—had an all-but-impossible connection to make. Upon taxiing to the gate, a flight attendant made an announcement, asking everyone who wasn’t on the connecting flight to please remain seated.
Of course, nobody did. Once I waded my way to the front of the plane, I broke into a full-out run, moving faster on foot than any time I could remember in the previous couple of decades. I arrived at the gate ahead of anyone else but, alas, there was no prize. Huffing and puffing, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. Outside the plate glass window, that huge Air New Zealand wide-bodied jet was pushing back from the gate, bound for a long transpacific flight. Gone. Next stop, Auckland.