67. No Ask, No Get
I’ m on an airplane as I write this chapter. I love being at 35,000 feet. No distractions. No interruptions. Pure think time. Only one problem- forgot my water. I’ ll explain.
One of my best practices around flying is drinking a ton of water while in the sky. I’ ll drink a liter easily. It prevents dehyderation, keeps me energized and maintains sharpness of mind. I get many of my biggest ideas on airplanes. And when I get off the plane, rather than being tired, I go straight home to do fun stuff with my kids. But before this flight – because I was rushing to make my connection – I missed my ritual. I didn’ t buy my agua. So guess what I did? I asked for some.
It never hurts to ask.
I walked over to the flight attendant and explained that I drink a lot of water and wondered whether he could help out, if there was an extra big bottle of the good stuff on board. I know they usually only provide a glass or two, but I fiercely believe that it never hurts to ask. To me, that’ s an organizing principle I try to live my life by – and it’ s served me so well. I was polite. I wasn’ t pushy. I just asked for what I wanted.
“ With pleasure,” came the reply. And with that he walked over to a metal trolley, opened it up and pulled out the prize: a 1.5 liter bottle of Vittel water. Perfect. So here I sit, nice and hydrated. Listening to Boozoo Bajou’ s awesome CD Dust My Broom on my iPod and reading The Spirit to Serve, J. W. Marriott’ s book on how the hotel chain got where it is. No jet lag for me from this flight. No chance. Because I asked.