Friday once again. And once more I reflect upon my good fortune. I’m not leaving my hotel room and heading to the airport this morning…sweet! I know it’s been a couple of years since the last time I had to do that, but I still think about it occasionally.
Waking up early. Packing the suitcase. Will it all fit back in there? The drive to the airport. I didn’t realize there was this much traffic at this hour? Give back the rental car. Make sure you have a receipt! Join the crowd on the shuttle bus. Join a line to the ticket counter. Am I early enough for an “A” boarding pass? Not in this line! Is my suitcase too heavy now that I have packed that book I bought? Is the book on top, where I can take it out easily? Suitcase is overweight by 2 pounds! $25 dollars please! Will that be cash or on your Visa account? Oh, yes! A “B” boarding pass…not the best, but one I can live with. Now wait. And wait some more…”Sorry folks. We have an equipment malfunction and the ground crew is on their way to remedy it. There is a diaper stuck in the flush valve and we can’t board the plane until that is taken care of. Please take a seat…it shouldn’t be long.” Take a seat? Where? In some other terminal? There are no seats here! (Once a flight was delayed for 2 hours because the trash compactor didn’t work.) The flight? Full! But I have a window seat and have created my own little sanctuary, safe from the crowd, except for the guy in front of me that decides to stretch out and reclines into my lap; and the kid behind me that kicks the seat back in some odd rhythm that only he understands. The flight lands safely and now it’s time for a game of Airline Roulette. Will my bag show up on the carousel? When it does (Hurray!) I’m off to the shuttle desk and a 2 hour ride home in the back of blue van. True, I only lived 30 minutes from the airport, but since we will drive in erratic circles all about the city, dropping the lucky ones off, it‘s going to take 2 hours for me, since I’m the last one. What a fun day!
No comments:
Post a Comment