As she travels badly

Happiness, they say is a decision. You can choose to be happy, or choose to let everything bother you. People in airports, apparently, have not been notified of this. And they are turning into bitter old crones while their flights get canceled and delayed, leaving them stranded without a steady source of Diet Coke and magazines.

Oh wait, that was me.

I took my monthly business trip this week, in the midst of thunderstorm season, which any seasoned traveler will tell you just sets you up for failure. Summer travel sets up 2 unruly groups of people to hang out together - the grumpy business traveler and tourists. Happiness is never a choice with these two - the business traveler gets pissed because tourists don't understand that a full-sized sombrero is not a carry-on item, and the tourist just can't understand why people that fly constantly know how to work the system, perhaps getting the entire can of soda instead of the shot glass.

Now I think we've established that I'm a bit of a loner, and a terrible party guest, being that I can't make conversation with even the most interesting person. So imagine my surprise when a guy on my flight just starts talking to me. And won't stop. The entire time we're delayed. And what does this guy want to talk about? Like a geek magnet, I wind up chatting with the guy who invented some Internet messaging language that basically makes the Internet possible at all. Was I dressed that badly?

The entire time I talked to him, it was apparent - some people are just happiest being miserable. This guy complained about the airline, the constant travel of his job, his clients, his teenage children... I think the only thing he didn't complain about was, well.... nothing. And he was the sunniest computer nerd I've ever met, but all the guy did was complain. How do those two things mix? He was a bit like Oscar the grouch on too much caffiene - cranky as all get out, but happily so - complaints with a smile.

Back at home this week, try to choose the happy accident instead of the catastrophe.