Isn’t Progress Great?

Published by Angela | Filed under Uncategorized

Progress is great isn’t it?  Yesterday I spent three hours to book my flight, hotel and fill out registration for the Advanced Personality Training seminar in St. Louis in September.  I thought it would take no time at all – think again.  Of course, it’s not the internet’s fault.  Being a Sanguine I like to keep my options open. Yet, wanting to be responsible with money, a Melancholy trait uncommon to me, I went on a site that compared the prices of different internet sites like Travelocity, Expedia, Cheap Flights, Priceline.com, Hotwire.com and Orbitz.  I also went straight to a couple of airlines to check their prices for myself – no cheaper but I had a sense of control – a Choleric trait.  Once I found the cheapest site without having to leave at 3:00 am and return home at midnight, I had to make up my mind which flights were the best times and if it was worth paying more for nonstop flights.  The nonstop flights would take less than two hours, faster is better for Sanguines and Cholerics, but the flights with stops in Atlanta would have me leaving at 3:17pm and arriving at Philadelphia at 10:50 pm with another ninety minute drive home. Knowing from experience how exhausting these seminars can be I decided to pay more for the nonstop flights and arrive in Philadelphia by 5:55 pm.  There was a time before internet I would have called the airlines and had them book my flight within fifteen minutes, leaving no time for options.  But progress and options took me two hours.  To be honest with you I think my time is worth at least $50 an hour, actually more and so is yours, so did I really save money?  I have to wonder is progress really progress when it takes so much longer even without keeping your options open? Maybe progress is just being able to take control instead of giving so much away. At least I had a Choleric sense of accomplishment when it was all said and done.  A Phlegmatic probably wouldn’t be going to this seminar or would have someone else do the booking.  But as a Choleric the whole process was challenging and I did learn a few things. I know you Melancholies have it all figured out and know exactly what I did wrong.

Once I settled on a deal with Orbitz it took forever to figure out how to get a new password for my account –a Sanguine forgetful and disorganized problem.  Then I had a different credit card so I had to enter that information. It would have been so much easier over the phone.  Just call and wait for them to pick it up, “push one for English.”   Then you’re listening to all the options so you can push another number, only to wait on line for a real person whom you can’t understand.  “What did you say?” Hmm, maybe it’s’ a toss up.  Progress – we’re frustrated with it but can’t seem to do without it -another Choleric trait.  Confused about Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy and Phlegmatics?  Come to the Family Enrichment Week (July 30 – August 3) to learn about the personalities and find out who you are in Christ.  Learning is progress and in this case it’s real progress.