Today I left at six a.m. to catch my flight to Chicago. Everything started out perfectly! For one thing, I actually woke up when the alarm went off. Steve, in his usual way, asked urgently if everything was alright and promptly went back to sleep. Yes, everything was alright because I always am prepared - I was a Girl Scout! I arrived in plenty of time - at 6:35 am for a 7:50 am flight. I noticed a really long line in both the security check, as well as the indoor check in, but since I needed to check a bag, got in line. That's when I discovered the problem: My flight was cancelled, along with a number of others. All of the 'air refugees' were then herded into long, confusing lines where no one ever came to give information about what was going on. Turns out my flight to Chicago had something to do with the bad weather in Texas. In any case, after waiting for 30 minutes in a line that did not move (hint: foreshadowing of what was to come), I called my backup: Steve. He could not see anything amiss by going on line. So I called American Airlines, and after waiting for 20 minutes on hold, they dropped the call. I tried one more time: same thing. No one seemed to know what was going on, but we all knew that if we were going somewhere, we would have to get in this line and speak to American.
Meanwhile, I witnessed the best and worst of human behavior. A bunch of men in front of me were actually taking total delight in telling people where they had to get in line- at the back of a really loooonnnnggg line: I guess we can call them the gatekeepers. They were thrilled when newcomers to the situation (let's say, those in line less than 2 hours) walked up to the front of the line and asked whether this 'was the line for international' . . . but conversely, when someone who had a flight that was not cancelled and came up to ask for regular self check-in, everyone (including gatekeepers) would point them in the right direction and move aside for them to pass. And then there were the 'entitled few': they weren't first class, but they snuck in to the front of the line because they 'really needed to be somewhere'. The first class/frequent flyer platinum people fared better. Their lines only lasted for an hour.
Well, we tried everything we could think of but I wasn't paying $600+ for a ticket on another airline (this was an optional trip for me) so hopefully I'm going tomorrow!!! And, plus, I really had to pee!!! But wait . . .it gets better! I left the line after about 4 hours . . . and decided: I should take public transportation home to save money!!!
Easy enough, grab Marta from the airport. Unfortunately, two stops in a 'medical emergency' caused my train to stop. We were informed that buses would take us to the next stop around the incident. In any case, the Atlanta commuters were much nicer than the American airline commuters. Lots of joking and smiling and praying . . . I commend all the bus drivers who really tried to make things work today.
Seems like my trip to Chicago turned out to be a 9 hour return trip to my house! Which is good, because here is love, food, water, wine, a jacuzzi, and you can be sure I will take everything out of that damn suitcase!!! You will see me in the same outfit all weekend, but wtf!!!!
Oh yes: the travelling skirt. My girlfriends and I are sharing a really cool skirt: it can be a dress, a short skirt, a long skirt, and even reversible for a different look!!! Sharon took it to nyc, and I wore it today. But that sucker is being left behind, it had enough of a ride waiting at the airport and riding marta buses/trains today. Who will be next?? Send me your travel plans . . .
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