Vengeance of the guitar player

I’ve always admired the ability of people who have “a way with words.” The journalists whose short, punchy accounts bring us the core of a dramatic story. The novelists who reach our hearts with their dialogue.The poets who create lyrical verses — especially those that can be put to music.

So I’m blown away by Dave Carroll of the Maxwells group. He had a bad experience with Air Canada/United Airlines. United broke his guitar and refused to acknowledge responsibility. Finally, in frustration, he told them he’d write three songs to tell the world of their negligence. Here’s one version, that’s all over the Internet:

Dave writes of this episode in his blog, which is here.

I once had a run-in with United in South America, but I was able to convince them to give me a free ticket as compensation. Then there was the time my daughter Sharon and I were trying to fly back from Tokyo. The day before our scheduled flight, I learned American Airlines had my booking, but had lost hers. I phoned the PR Vice President’s secretary. The next day, we were on our way — first class!