The Conference Trip From Hell
Let me start this post by acknowledging that I'm lucky. I'm a person with access, opportunity, and mobility. I'm also lucky to be able to see so much of the world through my professional and personal travels. But, sometimes trips go well and sometimes they don't. I'm stuck in Newark for several hours right now, at 5:00am, so I'll take the opportunity to pen my story of woe. This work trip involved traveling to San Francisco to attend and present some of my research at a conference for academic social workers. I travel a lot for work. Strangely, I've never had a conference take me to San Francisco. The week before the trip was stressful at work and home, with our dog going to the emergency vet twice in 36 hours and needing unplanned minor surgery. The federal government is shut down and I have some concerns about traveling during this time. My theory is that air traffic control workers might not be at their best when they're trying to figure out how to