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| Leavin’ on a Jet Plane, or Not |
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Speaking of Monday . . . Hah! When we finally woke up (due to a forgotten wake-up call by someone of the male persuasion), Sandy and I had about ten minutes to get ready. Needless to say, we were not able to leave at the time that we had wanted to leave. No matter. I wasn't worried! As long as I got to the airport before the plane boarded, I was fine. When we got into the car, she remembered that she needed to put oil in it.
I looked at her, and she looked at me. She then said, "Oh well, it'll make it."
I chuckled and replied, "It's not going to blow up or anything, is it?"
"It shouldn't," was her sweet retort.
It made it! We arrived at the airport about forty to forty-five minutes before liftoff. No problem! There was no line at all at the check-in counter, so I checked in quickly and walked up to the security checkpoint to get all scanned and stuff. Once again, just like on the way *to* Tennessee, I went through security with not even one little blip. Yay! After the whole security ordeal on the way to Hawaii, I was grateful for no security blips. Of course, I had planned ahead this time and wore nothing with metal on it at all! I don't think I even wore my jewelry. Maybe I did, I don't remember.
With the heightened security, the airport employees who check the boarding passes as you board the plane randomly select people to search all over again. They call you over to the side and have you empty your pockets, look through your carry-on bags, purses, and wave the wand over your spread-out (yet upright) body. When I had checked in, I scooted up to the counter and said, "I'm late! I'm late!" The kind lady at the counter said, "Yes you are!" in a goodhearted manner. Well, she was the one doing the extra searches up at the gate. Guess who she picked out of the line. Yep, that would be me!
She pulled me over, and I said to her (with a smile), "This is my punishment for being late, isn't it?" Heh! She said that it was her punishment because she didn't care for doing that particular little job. It wasn't bad. She just did her job, and I did mine (letting her do hers!). That was just the beginning of my less than perfect day.
When we landed in Chicago, I immediately went to the little arrival and departure screens. I scanned the departures and found Madison, WI. With a slight sigh, I nodded my head and said to myself, It's okay. A little delay isn't horrible. I went to the gate and looked at the screen behind the desk just to make sure I was in the right spot. The flight number was different. I went up and asked the gentleman if it was indeed the flight I needed (the right flight number), and he assured me that it was. After another person asked about it, he wrote the actual flight number on a piece of paper and taped it over the displayed information.
I sat down and took out my cd walkman and word search book, getting comfortable as I patiently waited for departure. Not more than five minutes passed when I heard an announcement stating another delay. I flipped open my cell phone and called Sandy. Heh! I talked to her for a bit, discussing the dreaded delays. I asked if her car made it to the gas station (for oil - see previous entry), and she said that it had. Whew! It didn't blow up, which is a very good thing! I told her that I'd keep her updated and then said goodbye.
After a little bit of feeling some restlessness, I got up and went to the bathroom. Upon exiting the room, I noticed that there were a couple of empty gates across from my own, so I went over and made myself comfortable. I like to be separated from the crowd. I pulled out my walkman and word search book again and finished the puzzle. Once again, there was an announcement about our flight. Now we were being relocated to another gate (down a couple, so I didn't have to move). I worked on the puzzles for a little while longer and then went over to the appropriate gate when it got closer to the alleged boarding time.
Much to my dismay, yet another announcement was made that our flight would be delayed. The maintenance crew had been called and would be updating us after about twenty minutes or so. Not good. I was not excited. This layover was getting longer and longer and longer. After about fifteen minutes, the final announcement was made.
"Attention, passengers for Flight 4030. We've just heard from the maintenance crew, and Flight 4030 has now been canceled. Please make your way to the gate counter so we can help accommodate you."
Oh yeah. That was just wonderful! I have never, in my life, had a flight canceled. I made my way to the long line forming at the gate counter. The people around me were all frustrated. Apparently some of the delays had been due to some late planes the day before, so a number of the people had been at the airport for nearly twenty-four hours! Some had chosen to find a hotel, but some had just stayed. Therefore, all these new delays were not impressing them in the least. I was bummed, but I fortunately didn't have anything urgent waiting for me at home.
I had been talking to my mom (who would be picking me up at the Madison airport) because of the last delay when the announcement for the cancellation had been announced, so I was covered on that front. I had no one waiting needlessly anywhere. I love cell phones! If I hadn't had one, I probably would have been much more frustrated.
I wasn't sure how I'd be getting home. I heard the discussions between other passengers and the airline agents and had learned that the next two flights were not only filled but overbooked. The next flight available after those was at 4:30 P.M. It was, at the time of cancellation, about 9:10 A.M. Not cool. There were no cars available with the company with whom the airline has a contract. The other options were Greyhound bus (yuck!) or getting lucky with another airline. It took awhile to get in contact with the other airline to see if they had any seats available. The agent finally had to walk over to their gate, as they were not answering their phones. No luck. No seats.
I remained patient and considerate of the people stuck with the job of finding about 75 people new flights or accomodations. That can't be said for a few people who nearly exploded with their cuss words and frustrations. I just sat back and waited. Fortunately, I was rewarded. There was a young gentleman who had gotten one of the first seats on the very next flight (after ours) who returned to ask if he could catch a later flight because he didn't *really* want to go back to work! The ticket agent looked at me and then told the other agent to give me the young man's seat! Yay! I was put on the next flight and finally got to go home.
Yeah, things could have gone a bit more smoothly, but then it wouldn't have been such an interesting day. Right? ;-) My trip to Tennessee to see my dear friend was worth all that flurvedy-doo!
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