There's almost always something each passenger is missing when a flight misconnects - a meeting, a court appearance, the birth of a child, a last chance to see a dying loved one, the winning lottery ticket you were going to buy just before the drawing that would have undoubtedly won....

Delta will usually reimburse the legitimate expenses attributable to the delay - the extra night in a hotel and meals etc. They will not reimburse you for the missed opportunity costs. However, they will often award skymiles as additional compensation.

These things happen.