When The “Y” Matters. The Happy Story Of Montana’s Accidental Tourist

I saw a post on Facebook from Billings Customer Service Watchdog.  It seemed so utterly ridiculous, that I thought it might be true.

Here's the story:

Reuters says A 21 year old German booked a trip to see his girlfriend in Australia.  He said initially he thought it was strange to go through America to go to Australia, but he just went with it.

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Imagine his surprise when he wound up in Billings, in January.  I giggle when I say this not out of anything mean, but it's just so crazy.  He was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and he'd only brought a light jacket.  Come on, the guy was getting ready for a cruise that left from Australia.  He didn't really realize he was in trouble, until he was about to hop on the puddle jumper from Billings to Sidney.

It's reported that he stayed at the Billings airport for 3 days, then bought a ticket with funds from friends and family.

They left out Carol

The story on Reuters left out the most Montana part of that story.  In my opinion, the heart of this story.

A  driver reported to Billings Customer Service Watchdog, that he drove the traveler from his hotel back to the airport.

He said the traveler was telling him how he was about to take the trip of a lifetime in Sydney Australia, and ended up nearly taking a commuter plane to Sidney, Montana.

He also told the driver about an agent went out of her way to help him.  Her name is Carol, and she's his angel.  Carol helped him get a hotel room, call his cruise company and explain what happened, plus she helped him schedule a flight.  The driver said the traveler was laughing and taking pictures and went on about how people in Montana are some of the nicest he's ever met.

Carol took something that could have been one of the worst experiences of a lifetime, and turned it into something beautiful.  Not only was she kind.  She sent this man, who was thousands of miles away from home, back  home with a smile on his face and a love for Montana.  He'll tell this story for the rest of his life.

Whenever you get a chance, be a Carol.