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FedEx is coming to a land near you
FedEx quotes: More Markets, Less Hassle” and “We’d love to handle your package.”
What is your destination in life? What are your unexpected twists and turns? What is your resilient way of making peace with your journey? Where do you look when you seek help? What is your source of comfort?
TEN HOURS TO LEARN SOME VALUABLE LIFE LESSONS
HOUR ONE – THE MEETUP 11:30 am
Recently (yesterday actually), my wife and I had the opportunity to sell our US house and do so while living 7,000 miles away in Dubai. We both work in education in Dubai and it is a great fit for us. Our home in a Midwest US state went on the market in September and found a great family within no time.
But to sell a house means oodles of signatures and the last one being at the Title company. Of course, since we are thousands of miles away, that ‘last signature’ needed to be done through us giving a Power of Attorney (PoA) to a friend who could sign on our behalf. So we had to get the PoA document signed, notarized, and sent to America – all before the house could close. Here is how it happened.
My wife and I met up at a hotel parking lot in Dubai equidistant to our jobs and where we have a health club membership. It was the perfect starting point. Then we drove in one car to a mall in the downtown area about 15 minutes’ walk from the US Embassy, where we would sign the PoA.
All went well. We even split a falafel wrap at the mall (scoring food points) and set out for the embassy that was about 2 kilometers away. I brought my laptop just in case the embassy’s notary official might need an extra document I had in storage.
HOUR TWO – A TAXI AND THE EMBASSY 12:30 pm
The sun shone brightly and my wife wisely said we shouldn’t walk. Besides, the embassy officials had said there was no parking near them. So, viola, we were off in a taxi whose driver ironically drove 2 kilometers in the opposite direction (thanks to one-way streets) before he motored onward to the embassy. I held my phone with google maps open and he assured us he knew how to get there. Barely a common word of English was used between us.
We thanked the taxi driver and got out to see the glorious US embassy. Home! So, we enthusiastically went to enter and were ushered to walk around to a different entrance. There, we showed our passports and I was asked if I had a laptop in my briefcase.
I paused and thought, uh oh. They confirmed my thoughts and said no laptops were allowed. What to do? We went across the street and found a nice couple of men opening a new restaurant and they said they’d safeguard the laptop during our errand at the embassy. An interesting Hawaiian grill, Kona Grill, located on the waterfront, but they were still finishing the finer touches and hiring their staff.
Thankfully, we returned to the embassy and quickly made it in - just in time. Then the wait.
Ding. Ding. Ding. We watched and listened as American citizens were processing their own issues. Some had new children needing passports and proof of birth, others were studying abroad and using visas, and others might have needed to visit family different, nearby countries. It was humbling to hear many of our fellow countrymen speaking English as a second language. We certainly are a big country and a strong collective group of people.
HOUR THREE – THE NOTARY SERVICES 1:30 pm
Ding. Our number came up and we shared the documents. Next, we paid for the services and waited for “the meeting” with the notary.
As we waited, a video was playing of Hillary doing some charitable, social-oriented work with college-age students. At other times the video changed to showing majestic views of different states. Animals including deer flashed across the screen. Something seemed to be missing, I thought.
Ding. Our number for the notary services came up and we had a relatively quick time of talking about the PoA and related documents. Then we signed. Then she signed. Then the big embosser did it’s embossing. She even rivetted the PoA pages together and called it adding a “grommet.” We hadn’t heard that word before, except in a manufacturing context!
Viola, we were done, our documents were notarized, and ALL WE HAD TO DO was find a FedEx office and get the notarized documents whisking along to the US.
On the way out of the embassy, I boldly asked if there was a picture of our president in the facility because I had not seen one. The alluring sound of silence came as the response and I guess I thought that such a picture might have been in a different office or hall than where we did the notary services.
HOUR FOUR – THE WALK BACK 2:30 pm
After walking across the street and collecting my laptop, we profusely thanked the restaurateurs. We’ll make an effort to go back there when they are open for sure! They gave us a quick nod as they were deep in training a group of new staff.
Looking for taxis proved fruitless, so we walked back to the mall where the car was. It turned out to be a fairly short walk and we passed rows of empty parking spaces!
HOUR FIVE – THE WALK TO A FEDEX DIDN’T EXIST (THANKS GOOGLE) 3:30 pm
From the mall, we were starting to fade. There was a need for food and drink combined with the ravages of the sun. I wandered around the mall and surfed on my phone.
“Wow honey,” I exclaimed, Google maps said there was a FedEx office only 350 meters from the mall. So outside we went and we walked to where the phone told only to get to a rather plane looking building with no FedEx sign on it. My wife found a small German department store, Tchibo, and browsed while I searched for the elusive FedEx sign. A worker told us that the building name (claimed by FedEx) was a block away, and so we huffed and puffed and went there.
In the new building as my wife shopped for Japanese/Korean trinkets in a different store, Yoyoso, I found a security guard and asked about FedEx. He said that FedEx used to be there, but had moved to the original area we had walked to a few minutes before.
Famished, we gave up and returned to the mall with a bag of Japanese/Korean goods and a new mouse.
HOUR SIX – THE PARKING COUPON AND FAUX FEDEX 2 (THANKS AGAIN GOOGLE) 4:30 pm
Wandering around the mall, we needed to validate our parking through a purchase and only had a few minutes left before the next hour of charge. So, my wife bought something that she’ll likely return and off we went to FedEx #2.
It was the beginning of rush hour and made no sense to drive toward downtown Dubai. Google promised us another FedEx branch and we were game so off we went. So, we drove in the opposite direction of downtown and conveniently towards Dubai Mall (located on the city outskirts and with a gigantic aquarium inside).
Well, we got to the area near the Google location and there was an empty lot with sand, a lot of highways we could not traverse, and… we tried Google’s directions twice and went in a circle both times that was the size of a few city blocks.
Getting famished again, my wife spotted a cool burger place. But we were still on our second lap and not sure where it would lead.
HOUR SEVEN – THE FEDEX MAN AND A BURGER 5:30 pm
Nearing another traffic light, my wife screamed! Right ahead of us was the FedEx ban emblazoned with the log we had been searching for! So, we bounded out in traffic and got on his tail. We followed him for a couple of blocks trying to think of a strategy. Traffic kept moving so we could not get out and talk to him. A little bit of ‘Mission Impossible’ music during the chase would have fit really well.
Finally, the FedEx man pulled into a parking space and I courageously went up to him. While his face look absolutely startled, he smiled as I told of our travels and need to send a package.
PIC OF THE FEDEX TRUCK
He assured us of another FedEx office located ‘just over there.’ For grins, I tried pleading with him to just find an envelope in his truck, but it was to no avail. When we mentioned that there was a 24-hour FedEx facility at the airport he also beamed that this was the ‘best’ location of all. We thanked him profusely and needed to recharge.
Now how often do you see a FedEx truck in Dubai... about once per week. How often do you see the man driving it? Less often. And how often do you find him when you are looking for him and get a picture. About once per decade ;-)
PIC OF THE FEDEX MAN
My wife was right about the burger place by the way. The Classic Burger Joint in the Financial District of Dubai has a great American burger. Wow, yes, and we each had an awesome veggie burger of pumpkin and beets! Yummy!
Classic Burger Joint, Trade Centre Area, Dubai - Zomato
HOUR EIGHT – FAUX FEDEX 3 6:30 pm
After quick burgers, a chocolate shake for me and a diet coke for my wife, we were office to the FedEx that was ‘just over there.’ Of course, it closed at 6:30 pm and Google maps said we would get there at 6:28 pm.
6:27, 6:28, 6:29, … we both agreed that when we got there (or if we got there) they would either help us or they wouldn’t. It was a Catch-22 that we were at peace with.
It also was another FedEx place, FedEx #3, that we simply could not get to. There was no parking available unless we had taken the metro. Then, viola, we were absorbed into city traffic and heading to our original departure location where we had the health club membership.
HOUR NINE – RUSH HOUR AND FINDING OUR CARS AGAIN 7:30 pm
Arriving back at our starting point, the sun was setting. We parked one of our two cars in city parking which would be good for the night. Then we went in to the hotel and had a nice cappuccino/tea and a scoop of ice cream for our tired frames and parched throats.
We had some time to read a newspaper. I also finished a work task from earlier in the day.
Next came our final journey to the Shangri-La of FedEx offices – the 24 hour facility that the FedEx man had beamed about when we had mentioned it.
HOUR TEN – THE AIRPORT FEDEX OPEN 24 HOURS PER DAY, HEAVEN
We headed to the airport, parked at Terminal 2 Departures and went inside. Funny to be at an airport without a flight. We do it sometimes because of an awesome restaurant that is at a different terminal. But now, we were looking for FedEx.
I showed my phone and the picture of the FedEx logo to an airport worker and he said it was located after the Arrivals area. He added that it was a hike we would need to drive to get to.
So, we were off again when my wife let out another softer yell for joy. It was the FedEx logo shining in the distance. We drove toward it somehow now finally finding our magnetically true north.
We eased into the FedEx parking space with relief. We were here. I was thankful to God that we were finally making it to our destination for the day. Indeed, deeply thankful.
Inside, it was like being back in America. The FedEx boxes, the computer screens, the pictures on the wall. It could have been Toledo! We mailed our things and were guaranteed arrival by Monday at 10am.
Wow, what a day.
Back in the car, we began to reassess the day as we made our way home. What a journey. What a provision. What a number of funny twists and turns.
As you are I am sure, we are thankful for each other. We are thankful for our faith. We are thankful for amazing people across this amazing word that we have the privilege to work alongside.
I wonder again in closing. What is your destination in life? What are your unexpected twists and turns? What is your resilient way of making peace with your journey? Where do you look when you seek help? What is your source of comfort?
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Dr. Jonathan Doll is a Harvard University Alumni Fellow of the Strategic Data Project (SDP). His Mom was featured in a 2017 Chicken Soup for the Soul Series book, Best Mom’s Ever. He is honored to live in Dubai with his wife.