We arrived at the El Paso Airport early, optimistic, coffee in hand, and just enough time to feel in control. But airports, like the desert skies outside, are fickle. The first delay felt routine. The second drew a glance. By the third, we stopped pretending we’d make the connection. Then came the announcement that sealed it: “You will no longer be able to make your connecting flight.”
Stuck. But not stranded.
My brother and I didn’t need to speak. We just looked at each other and said the phrase that has quietly become the unofficial motto of our travels, and maybe our lives: Work the problem.
It's a phrase we borrowed—stole, really—from NASA. It was first uttered in earnest during one of the worst crises in spaceflight history. During the Apollo 13 mission, after an oxygen tank exploded mid-flight, ground control scrambled to bring the crew home alive. Gene Kranz, the unflappable flight director, didn’t allow panic or speculation. He simply told his team, “Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.” It wasn’t a slogan—it was survival.
That phrase stuck with us. Over the years, through missed flights, dead alternators, cracked plans, and broken hearts, work the problem became more than just advice. It became a way of being. A shared agreement between us that no matter what happened, we’d stay calm, take the next step, and keep moving.
So that’s what we did.
We made the call—we’d drive home instead. It was 4:30 p.m., and there was still some daylight left. We weren’t losing time; we were gaining possibility. I called my boss to let her know Monday wouldn’t include me after all. We had an extra day now. A free day. The kind of gift only chaos can give.
As we pulled out of El Paso and headed north into New Mexico, a storm built behind us, sweeping in from the west like a final punctuation mark on the day. But we drove away from it, into clear skies, into unplanned territory, into the open road.
Sometimes life hands you the problem. Sometimes it is the plan.
And sometimes, if you're lucky, you remember the right words at the right time: Work the problem. And you do.