“Auckland” and “Oakland.” “A plate” and “up late.” When similarsounding words cause a misunderstanding, probably the best thing to do is just laugh and learn from the mistake. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to laugh. The man who traveled to Auckland instead of Oakland didn’t feel like laughing. But even that misunderstanding turned out all right in the end. The airline paid for the man’s hotel room and meals in New Zealand and for his flight back to California. “Oh well,” the man later said, “I always wanted to see New Zealand.”