Strangers Rideshare From Atlanta To Austin After Global Outage

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – After a global Microsoft outage caused delays and cancellations across the country last week, Renee Kingsland and her son found themselves stranded at Blue Grass Airport.

WKYT interviewed the couple as they tried to find their way to Texas; Renee was heading to Austin and Zach was heading to Dallas.

Renee contacted WKYT, saying she ended up in Atlanta before eventually returning home to Austin.

But to get there, she made new friends along their journey. They started as strangers and made memories along the way.

“As soon as I get there, the sign goes from ‘on time’ to ‘canceled,’” said Michelle Labar, who was traveling from St. Louis to Austin and ended up in Atlanta. “I was standing next to Renee and I asked her, ‘What did they just do?’ She said, ‘Yeah, they did it again,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean again?’”

In Atlanta, Michelle found Renee Kingsland, who found Issam, Jordan and Mounir Srour. From there, the group grew to seven.

“There was a point where Renee, Alexa, Raissa and Michelle, we were like, ‘What do you think? If the next flight is canceled, should we cancel it and try to rent a car?’” said Issam Srour, who was traveling to Austin from Lebanon.

However, the process of getting a rental car in Atlanta was not easy. There was a waiting list of nearly 19,000 people.

“We told them our story, we said, ‘Please, we’re seven strangers and we just need to get out of here, can you do something? Do you have a big van that no one else wants?’” said Alexa Abouassaly, who was returning to Austin from Ireland. “She gave us a van when she probably shouldn’t have.”

For Alexa, when you don’t really know who you’re going to be in the car with for so long, any connection can bring comfort.

“I’m 100 percent Lebanese, and when I heard they were coming from Lebanon and going to Austin, I started crying. I don’t know if it was just a wave of emotion that hit me, and I was like, ‘OK, these are my people, I feel safe with them,’” Abouassaly said.

Renee signed the lease and drove to Austin, but her company lifted her spirits.

“I don’t think any of us would have done this alone, and I would have turned back many times, but the fact that we found this little community gave us the courage to do it together,” Renee said.

In a world where it’s easy to get stuck in your phone, unplugging can bring unexpected connections.

“I think not having my headphones in the airport and just being on my phone made a huge difference,” said Raissa Carey, who was traveling to Austin from Brazil.

Michelle echoed Raissa’s sentiment.

“You never know who you’re going to meet or what doors might open because of it,” Michelle said.

Connections that are hard to forget, because who would want to forget them anyway?

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