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• Jessica Stanton had round-trip tickets from Myrtle Beach to Boston for her undergraduate graduation.
• She stayed up all night trying to find another direct flight after her Spirit flight was canceled.
• She found a one-way flight with American Airlines for $399 a ticket.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jessica Stanton. It has been edited for length and clarity.

On Saturday morning at 2:28 a.m., I had an email from Spirit Airlines informing me that my flight back to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had been canceled.

I had booked round trip tickets for my mom and I with Spirit Airlines in February, from Myrtle Beach to Boston, for my college graduation.

I had booked with Spirit because they were the only airline offering the direct flight we needed that day. At Myrtle Beach’s airport, Spirit Airlines was the largest carrier with the most direct flights to Boston.

Each ticket cost me $215

My mom and I got to Boston without any problems. I had my graduation on Friday, May 1, and afterward, had a great celebration with friends.

That evening, back at the hotel, my mom had a text from my stepdad asking if we were stranded.

“What are you talking about?” she asked him. We hadn’t heard anything about a change to our flight, which was booked for around noon on Saturday. I checked my email and texts — nothing. The Spirit Airlines app showed that my plane was on time.

While my mom was sleeping, I decided to stay up a while to see if anything came of the worries my stepdad had. Just in case, I started looking at options for other flights we could get back to Myrtle Beach.

At 2:28 a.m., I received an email informing me that all Spirit Airlines flights had been canceled and that we would be refunded automatically.

I started looking for other flights out

As my mom is older and has mobility issues, getting a direct flight was a priority.

Frontier was advertising reduced-price tickets for those stranded due to Spirit cancellations, but they only had flights to Orlando. Southwest had a flight, but it wasn’t direct. Delta didn’t have any good options.

I called American Airlines after seeing online that they had a direct flight from Boston to Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon for $399, and asked whether they would offer a reduced fare for Spirit customers. They told me they couldn’t.

Without another option, I had to bite the bullet and buy the tickets. I couldn’t believe I had already paid for tickets and was having to spend an extra $800 to get home.

Although I thought about looking for other tickets, I knew that once everyone started waking up (it was still early hours of the morning on Saturday), it would be even harder and more expensive to get tickets.

I worked out that it would probably be cheaper to just get the tickets, instead of paying for another night in a hotel plus extra food if I couldn’t secure tickets for Saturday.

We arrived at an empty airport

When my mom woke up, I told her about what had happened, but assured her I had dealt with it and found a solution.

We arrived back in Myrtle Beach to an empty airport because most of the gates there are Spirit Airlines gates. As we walked through the airport, I thought of all the jobs that have been lost. It feels like every six months, thousands of workers at these big companies are losing their jobs. It’s really sad.

After getting home and finally getting some sleep, I’ve noticed that flight prices have gone up and there are fewer flights available. I’m hoping I do get the refund I was promised, but I haven’t heard anything yet.

I’m so glad I booked when I did, and feel really grateful I got myself and my mom home.

[Editor’s note: American Airlines’ website says they are “doing everything we can to support Spirit Airlines customers” and that they have put in place rescue fares on non-stop routes that overlapped with Spirit Airlines.]

• I’ve worked in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years.
• Empathy is at the center of what I do, so I’m not worried about AI taking my job away.
• Technology and people can work well together, but one cannot always replace the other.

Right after college, I was like most graduates — broke and desperate for money.

In the early aughts, there was no social media, no algorithms, and certainly no online job postings like there are today. The only way to get leads was through newspaper ads or those physical job boards at career fairs and public places. To get noticed, I printed out a stack of resumes, made a list of the companies I wanted to work for, put on my best professional outfit, and dropped a copy off — in person.

It’s almost hard to believe today. Over the last 24 years, I’ve worked a variety of jobs in the hospitality industry, and while a lot has changed in the world, the personal connection to people, which I believe is needed to excel in this industry, has not.

That’s why, while others seem panicked about AI replacing them at work, I’m not nearly as concerned.

Getting my first job took perseverance

To land my first hotel job as a concierge, I kept showing up in person every Monday after lunch for six weeks straight, because that’s when the security guard told me the new job postings went up. I figured I’d keep trying until a job opened or they told me never to return.

During my first interview, the human resources manager enthusiastically said, “Your persistence made you stand out. It says a lot about your character and drive.” I got the job and learned a valuable lesson that has stuck with me

Training season is never over

My hotel training lasted a month and was split into two parts. During the first two weeks, I dove into the rabbit hole of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, which is a software that helps a business keep track of its customers and interactions with them all in one place. Think of it like a smart digital address book, notebook, reminder system all in one. The second half was all about etiquette, understanding the underlying reasons behind any complaints. That whole experience taught me that technology and the human touch must work together in the hospitality industry.

My training and years of work since then have taught me that it’s not enough to just acknowledge a guest — it’s about making them feel genuinely seen, heard, and understood. That’s something that only a real person can do, and I’m confident that it will be much better than an auto-generated, generic email or voicemail that pretends to mimic human concern.

It always turns physical

My career in the hospitality industry has always been a bit like riding an exhilarating, white-knuckling rollercoaster. From the dizzying heights of working as a concierge to the exhausting lows of being an events planner, each day brought new challenges that I worked hard to overcome.

Over the years, I’ve dealt with the high-pressure demands of catering to ultra-high-net-worth clients and ensured celebrities felt truly cared for as a VIP attendant. I’ve planned unforgettable events for corporate clients and everyday folks.

There are always the unexpected issues that required me to think and act fast: diving into dumpsters to retrieve lost jewelry, shipping urgent packages, tracking down deliveries that were lost, printing last-minute presentations, sewing clothes in a pinch, and many more. These aren’t tasks AI can handle; they require a person’s presence, resourcefulness, and above all, empathy.

I have received letters from guests and companies, thanking me for saving their day — or sometimes, their job. These moments are proof that, with technology as a tool and a person at the heart, we make a powerful team, but the human is always the lead operator.

Tech can’t replicate everything

For a time I was hosting curated dinner parties. I wone awards, which was personally reward, especially since some of the recipes I used were from my late grandmother.

Her recipe book is not something AI has access to. Sure, AI can generate multiple fantastic recipes, but could it duplicate the seasoning she taught me to make with my hands from scratch for empanadas? No, I don’t think so.

An opportunity to impact, not take over

Managing expectations in hospitality isn’t just about following a checklist; it’s about listening closely, thinking through challenges, and making choices that are guided by empathy for how guests will feel because of your actions.

Empathy is the key, and so far, technology can’t replicate that. Sure, tech can streamline processes and provide valuable information, but it can’t replicate the genuine human connection that comes from understanding and responding to someone’s needs in person.

The real magic happens when people and technology work together, forming a partnership that elevates the guest experience to something truly special.

• Kat Moore is a 38-year-old teacher living in San Clemente, California.
• Moore and her husband visited Sicily and decided to buy and renovate an apartment.
• Kat says the “adventure” has connected her to her mother, who moved from Cuba to start a new life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kat Moore. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2022, my husband and I visited Sicily for the first time. I fell in love with the island and told my husband I wanted to buy a house there to live in one day. He thought I was insane, but I was adamant.

People in Sicily tend to lead a slower pace of life. In the US, there’s a huge emphasis on work as your identity. It’s stressful and overwhelming, and I craved a different way of life. A different pace.

Three years later, in March 2025, we were in Sicily for spring break, and I viewed 50 houses to get an idea of what was on offer and how much we’d be spending.

When we saw one of the last places we viewed, an apartment in Ortigia, the historic heart of Sicily, with a balcony overlooking the sea, I just knew — this was the house we’d buy.

I was ready to sell the house I grew up in

I wanted to put in an offer right away, but my husband questioned whether it was a financially sound move. I told him I was ready to sell my mom’s house in Miami — the family home I’d grown up in.

I was connected to my mom’s house, having held onto it even though my mom had died 14 years prior. She was Cuban and moved to the US during political unrest in Cuba in the 1950s and 1960s. She risked everything to find a better life in the United States, uprooting herself and starting fresh in a place and culture she didn’t know.

If there was any reason to sell her house in Miami, buying the apartment in Sicily would be a reason my mom would have approved of. I knew it was the right thing to do.

We put the house in Miami on the market, and it sold within a month. We used the money from the sale of the house to buy the apartment in Sicily at just under $600,000, in June 2025.

It needed a lot of work

The apartment needed a lot of work — a kitchen, new plumbing, electrics, and floors, and decorating throughout. The work alone (without any supplies) would cost about $96,000.

As I spoke Italian, I was able to find local contractors to carry out the work while we returned to California for our jobs. All the work was finished in about six months, with me going back and forth to Sicily at any chance I could to oversee the work done.

As my husband is in the military, he can retire in four years, and our plan would be to move into the apartment full-time then.

Even after he retires, I’d want to keep working. Perhaps I could teach English to locals, Italian to English-speakers, or work alongside local contractors as an interior decorator.

Until we relocate, we are going to rent the apartment out and visit as often as we can.

We also bought an orchard

In December 2025, on one of our trips to Sicily, my husband and I viewed an olive tree orchard. It had always been a dream to own land, and the 16 acres, full of olive, citrus, and nut trees, a small farmhouse, and within view of the apartment, would be the fulfillment of this dream. It came at a relatively low price — only $288,000. We bought it.

Both the apartment and the orchard are investments in our future. We’ll live in Sicily soon, and use the land and the apartment to supplement our income.

I get quite emotional when imagining what my mom would think of all this. I haven’t lost everything as she did, but I am leaving everything I know to live in a new place, as my mom and the rest of my family did.

I’m chasing my dream, seeing the potential of risk. I know that if my mom were still here, she’d be moving with me — she’d love the adventure. I feel connected to her more than ever as I dream, plan, and commence this adventure. If she could build a life from the foundation up, so can I.

• I’ve struggled to maintain long-term friendships as people drift away.
• My grandmother has kept the same close friends for over 60 years.
• Her approach taught me to prioritize time, loyalty, and showing up.

Today, loyalty seems hard to find. From people moving away to straight-up ghosting me, I don’t have as many long-term friends as I’d hoped to have.

I’ve read books on friendship, apologized when I’m at fault, and done my best to work things out, but I’m still always left craving community.

My grandmother, on the other hand, is an expert in long-standing friendships. At 91, she has had the same best friends for more than 60 years. All teachers at the same school, they started their careers together and stayed close, even long after they retired.

Loyalty has always been important to me, but as people have faded out of my life or abruptly left without a word, the longevity of her friendships has become increasingly impressive. How many people can say they’ve been friends with someone for six decades? It’s an accomplishment worthy of celebration. We celebrate marriage anniversaries — why not friendship ones?

A while back, I asked my grandmother what the secret to maintaining these relationships is. And while her generation didn’t prioritize self-preservation over community as we do now, some solid lessons still stand true.

Make time for each other

Throughout my life, I’ve seen my grandma invest in her friendships.

She’d host the group at her home for special birthday celebrations or a monthly lunch, or they’d spend hours talking on the phone. They had set appointments with each other, rather than our current tendency to make vague promises to “get together sometime” that we rarely follow through on.

For my grandma’s group of friends, these appointments weren’t seen as a burden or something to check off a list; instead, they were cherished moments they looked forward to spending together.

Don’t put yourself first always

Today, we’re so focused on ourselves that we rarely slow down to even assess what someone close to us might need.

My grandma’s friends showed that relationships flourish when people are willing to meet each other’s needs. Today’s culture is very set on putting ourselves first. But only doing what “serves” you often ends up serving no one. This was my grandma’s first and foremost advice when I asked why she thinks her friendships have lasted so long. “We put each other first,” she said.

When it comes to lasting friendships, sometimes what the other person needs matters more than what we want.

Value each other

My grandma’s friendships are strong in part because they truly appreciate each other. When I asked why her friend Clarice stood out to her, she said she simply acted with qualities she finds especially important: honesty and integrity. “It’s an honor just to know her,” she said.

My friendship goal is to surround myself with people I feel this way about, and to value them so they can say the same of me.

There’s a lot we could learn from older generations about friendship. People didn’t cut each other off over nothing, and the term “ghosting” was still a blessedly nonexistent concept. But more than anything, people just made time for what matters. No matter what phase of life you’re in, friendships require time, effort, and sometimes sacrifice.

I don’t know anyone else who has had the same friends for six decades, but I can do my best to strive toward lasting loyalty in my friendships — and maybe one day, I’ll be able to look back and see the same people with me now standing by my side in 60 years.

• Tehran has sent Donald Trump a 14-point proposal to end the US-Iran war.
• The president said he would review it, but doubted it would be acceptable.
• Oil prices have soared since the start of the war in February.

Iran has submitted a response to a US plan to end the war between the two countries, and President Donald Trump says he is reviewing it.

Guarantees of non-aggression, the withdrawal of US military forces from the areas surrounding Iran, and the lifting of the naval blockade of Iran’s ports are among the 14-point proposal submitted via mediators in Pakistan, according to Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran is also asking for the release of its frozen assets, payment of compensation, removal of sanctions, and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new mechanism for the management of the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim reported.

Tehran stressed that the issues must be resolved within 30 days and that the focus should shift from extending the ceasefire to “ending the war.”

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

Oil prices have surged since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. A two-week ceasefire, starting April 8, has since been extended indefinitely, but has done little to bring down oil prices. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, remains tightly controlled by Tehran.

HFI Research, an investment research firm specializing in energy markets, outlined a grim series of events that could unfold in oil markets as the Iran war wraps up its second month with no peace deal in sight.

Meanwhile, Mark Malek, the chief investment officer at Siebert Financial, told Business Insider he expects a second wave of inflation caused by the Iran war.

“The gas pump is only the opening act. The real household inflation hit comes later, hidden inside everyday products,” he said.

• I was in the room when Warren Buffett unexpectedly sat for an interview on Saturday.
• He warned of a “gambling mood” in markets during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting.
• The legendary investor also underscored the threat posed by nuclear weapons and deepfakes.

I was in the room when Warren Buffett sounded the alarm on “gambling” in markets, nuclear weapons, and deepfakes on Saturday.

During Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, the company’s chairman and former CEO joined CNBC’s Becky Quick backstage for a surprise interview.

The pair’s conversation was broadcast live to the crowd of thousands seated in the CHI Health Center in Buffett’s hometown of Omaha.

I had a bird’s-eye view of the event from the press box overlooking the stage, and could see the crowd’s excitement at the prospect of hearing the business icon speak.

Buffett, a renowned bargain hunter, has struggled to find deals on stocks and businesses in recent years. He told Quick that today’s market is “not an ideal environment” for deploying cash.

The benchmark US stock index, the S&P 500, has surged by 27% over the past five years to record highs of above 7,200 points. Berkshire shares have slumped by 8% over the same period.

Berkshire sold a net $8 billion worth of stocks last quarter, fueling an increase in its cash pile to a record $380 billion at the end of March.

Addressing the challenging market and Berkshire’s ballooning cash reserves, Buffett said the company has the right people and is set up to “pick our spots.”

The business icon put his legendary patience into sharp relief when he said that out of the past 60 years, only “five of them have really been juicy.”

Buffett, 95, is known to invest only within his “circle of competence.” He told Quick that he has not learned about any new industries in the past decade, and doesn’t plan to change that.

‘Gambling mood’

Buffett described the market as a “church with a casino attached,” referring to the divide between speculators and long-term investors focused on company fundamentals.

“The casino’s gotten very attractive to people,” he said, nodding to the boom in short-term trading and more aggressive use of leverage in recent years.

“If you’re buying one-day options, or selling them, that’s not investing, that’s not speculating, it’s gambling,” Buffett said.

“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now.”

Buffett couldn’t resist taking a shot at the “wonderful trading departments” that practically shut down during crises.

“Just try them out when the market is collapsing,” he said, adding that if they do pick up the phone, they’ll use any information you give them to “go out and kill you some other way.”

“It’s really like going to a slaughterhouse,” Buffett said. “You don’t feel like eating hot dogs for a while.”

From worry to hope

The mood in the arena turned dour as Buffett described the threat posed by countries with nuclear bombs and the risk that something could “fall out of the sky” at any moment.

The investor said it was important to be aware of that danger, but added that it does “no good to worry about it.”

Buffett restored the room’s good vibes when he joked about his lack of travel in recent years. When Quick asked if he had met the new managers of some of Berkshire’s key holdings, he sent ripples of laughter through the audience by quipping: “I haven’t met the old managers.”

The former Berkshire CEO, who made way for Greg Abel at the start of this year, also sparked chuckles in the crowd when he discussed the perils of marriage.

“But you can make mistakes with people, just look at the divorce rate,” he joked.

Along with his late business partner, Charlie Munger, Buffett is known for saying that a person’s choice of spouse is one of the most important decisions they’ll make in their life.

Buffett briefly commented on the rise of deepfakes and other forms of imitation, calling it a “scary” trend, especially at a time when several countries possess nuclear weapons.

He lifted the crowd’s spirits with his final comments. He heralded America’s remarkable longevity and lasting appeal as a place to live.

Then he reiterated his faith in the “golden rule,” which Quick clarified was the biblical advice to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“I’ve never seen anybody unhappy that behaves that way,” Buffett said.

Quick ended the conversation to whoops and applause with the words: “Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.”