Saturday, October 2, 2010

an airport experience.

warning: this is a long post, but i believe it is a story worth telling. 

so...thursday i get the crazy idea of flying home for the weekend. ha ha ha i just imagined myself literally flying the 500+ miles back to my parentals’ house, arms flapping and everything. there were about a dozen reasons why this was the perfect weekend to go back for a visit. still, it was a huge decision for me, whether or not i should go. which is why i am so grateful to my family and friends who helped me to choose. i decided to go and late thursday night i bought a plane ticket for last night. 
i left with plenty of time to get to the airport for my 5:15p.m. flight or so i thought. normally, i would have arrived at the airport around 4 o clock, but not yesterday. no...of course not. i was raised to be on time or early to everything, especially flights. i started to freak out at 4:15 when i was still in bumper to bumper-going 3mph-traffic, and the airport exit was no where in sight. there is never a moment when i feel more trapped, angry, worried, frustrated, sad, and about to burst into hysteria, then when i am late for an unforeseeable reason.
i finally got to the airport at about 4:34 or so. but, i drove myself. i’ve never done this before, i usually find a ride out there and get dropped off right at the correct concourse. well....i don’t know if you’ve ever gone and parked your car in the economy lot at an airport, but they are about a million miles away from any airport. after i parked my car on the pavement desert, i started for the airport with all my bags. i could see that there was no way i’d make it to the airport alive if i had to walk there. the heat, my totally cute but impractical three inch high boots, and overall lack of water because i didn’t bring a water bottle just so the t.s.a. people could confiscated it, convince me i will die in this parking lot. hopeful to live: i look around for some sort of shuttle service. fortunately, this airport had a bus system and i wasn’t parked too far away from one of the pick up spots. 
just as i am about to get to the pick up zone 3, the bus pulls up, and for a spilt second i thought i wasn’t going to make it. don’t worry, i made it just fine the bus driver was kind and waited. its now about 4:46. i am sincerely worried i won’t make my flight, so i call the airline and i’m assured if i don’t make this flight i can board the next one 5 hours later. i’m not trilled about that idea; but now i can at least breathe again cause there is a plan b. after what seemed like a billion years the bus arrives at my stop. 
i literally run off the bus and rush to the airline baggage check-in. i pray because i’m so grateful there is no line. after the wonderful airline woman finishes her cute story about her new shoes with her co-workers she hands me my late check tag for my bag and a few papers. i ask if it’s my boarding pass, and when i’m assured i have everything i need, i run rush to drop off my bag and head to the t.s.a. check point. again i feel like the luckiest late girl in the world there is no line at the security check point. :) but after riffling through my papers, i see that the airline gal did not give me my boarding pass. i run (actually run, in my boots) again back to the airline station, grab my boarding pass and jog breathlessly back to security. 
it’s about 4:59 when i finally get to the front of the security line, again. only...you see this time there was a line of about 20 people.  i have only about 11 minutes before the plane is going to pull away from the gate. in-front of me in line is an elderly foreign woman who is clearly very confused by the process. i try not to get frustrated because my things are in the appropriate bins and on the conveyor belt just waiting for her to finish. i debate asking her if i could go first, but then i realize that if i miss my flight it won’t be her fault. i’m overwhelmed with compassion for her and i don’t want to make this experience anymore confusing for her. after a few minutes i get to the other side. 
so there i am shoving my laptop back into my bag, and throwing all loose items into the same bag. in a spilt second i realize i do not have time to put my boots back on. at this point i’m really glad that i have chosen to wear my knee high orange tye-dye socks...umm...not. i look at the airport clock: 5:06 pm. i run.
anyone that knows me at all knows i don’t run. i’ve already ran to and fro the airline baggage area and now i’m running up an escalator, down a hall, into the b terminal. i start to slow down because i’m in the correct terminal so i can’t be too far away from my gate, also because i’m huffing, puffing, wheezing, slipping on the tile floor in my orange socks, and i’m getting strange looks by guys from a basketball team that are walking around the terminal. i feel like i’m about to die and i swear that there are little black spots showing up in my vision. you can understand why i don’t run.
well as it turns out i looked down the terminal and it only went to b9 and my gate was b21. i about had a heart attack either from the panic that i had gone down the wrong hall or possibly from the after effects of running. at this same moment i hear “attention all passengers on flight 1270, leaving at 5:15, from gate b21, we are boarding all passengers, flight 1270 at gate b21: this is the last call.” i have two choices: give up, take the later flight...chilling in airports can be fun, but i won’t make it home in time for the homecoming event and my sister is a princess...or run around aimlessly hoping i magically find my non-existed gate. i’m about to ask the muggles where nine and three quarters is, when i see a beautifully lit sign that read: “b11-b22 downstairs to the left.” i take the sign as a message from god to try. i run to the downstairs area. i run down the escalator, i run down the hall, run past the twists and turns, and run around the starbucks, and i finally see b21.
as i run to b21 it looks i’m too late. the flight info for the next two flights are up on the screen. i skid to a stop and am about to ask if i missed my flight, but i’m so out of breath i can’t talk. then, the fabulous airline lady said the most amazing thing: “are you jeannette?” i nod yes. “well you made it just in time, didn’t you sweetie, haha oh and in orange stockings and all :)” i hand her my boarding pass which i didn’t realize until that moment i’m death gripping. she takes the crumpled sweaty mess and tells me to go ahead and board. 
i casually board and i’m greeted warmly by everyone. i sit down and take a much need deep breath. i’m overwhelmed with peace. i know i tried my hardest and i made it; i’m going home. 


6. running aka trying your hardest even when it seems you have no hope

1 comment:

  1. Epic! I like how you always wrap up with something insightful :)

    ReplyDelete