This wasn’t the first time our safety team had traveled to attend a safety conference. In fact, it was a nice perk that went along with being part of a work group whose sole mission was to help coworkers stay safe. The conference organizers chose a different U.S. city each year in which to host the event, from Nashville to Dallas to San Antonio to Chicago. We would be attending the conference in Orlando that year and, for whatever reason, the conference always happened to fall on the same weekend as the first round of the NCAA national basketball tournament, AKA “March Madness.” Moreover, the flood of travelers arriving in Orlando reminded me that it was Spring Break for a lot of families and also the week of the PGA’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament where the world’s best golfers compete at Orlando’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge every year. All in all, there were a lot of reasons to be out and about in Orlando that week. But we had a job to do, and that was to represent our site at the Best Practices showcase as well as attend safety seminars to gather information that we could take back home to our coworkers. Regardless, it was still nice to see the city of Orlando welcoming a population of visitors who yearned for recreation and entertainment. Incidentally, our work trips included getting lavishly wined and dined on the company dime for a few days.
The Hyatt Regency in Orlando was impressive, though it did not surprise me that the conference would be held at such an upscale venue. With every work trip, I never lost sight of how blessed I felt to attend events like these over the years; events that could not have been cheap to the company. When factoring in airfare, a rental vehicle, accommodations, food, drinks, and the price of admission to the conference, there was no way I could ever participate in something like this on my own. Fortunately for us, the company credit card would cover all expenses in the name of safety. From alcohol to room service, as long as we didn’t go overboard (and even the few times we did), the company would not question expenses. We each had our own room, the type that deserved bearing the Hyatt name, along with a few extra details that set them apart from other fancy hotels.
One example was the fogless mirror that had its own circular vanity light with a TV installed into a semi-transparent insert. Another was the motion activated LED that guided a sleepy walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There was a 24-hour diner onsite, a few restaurants and bars, a pool and a gym with all associated amenities, located a block away from an entertainment district with more selections of shops and nightclubs. Somehow, I was given access to all of these luxuries without spending a dime. This alone would have made the trip was of the luckiest I had ever been a part of, but I was about to discover that my world-class lodging was just the tip of the iceberg.
Protected: My Luckiest Day, Part 2: Liberty Call
Fatherhood and Marriage 