My Own Christmas Episode
Starting this blog is a bit tough for me. I’ve had a long day. A seriously long day. Filled with aggravating moments, and moments that reminded me of how good people really can be.
I’m currently writing this blog on my laptop in a bed at my friend Julie’s house in Chicago. The story of how I came to be here, is something that I feel must be documented tonight. Because this is straight out of a made for TV special. And it’s something that has very much renewed a great deal of my faith in man.
Today started like every other travel day for me. At the ass-crack of dawn. This mornings time of arousal was 7:00 AM. Not the earliest, I’d had to get up, but still pretty early. I woke up, got my stuff and hopped in my cab (my car is in the shop getting work done on it) and headed for the airport. The ride itself was uneventful, with the only stop being at an ATM so I could pay the guy in cash (he wanted cash so he could do Christmas shopping). Other than that, fairly normal.
Now, once I arrived at SeaTac, I should have felt that today was going to be long. Very long. When I went up to the ticket kiosk at American, I swiped my card, found my reservation, and I was then told I needed to goto my airline to get my ticket. Now, this was very strange to me, as I was at my carrier. Or so I thought. As it turned out, I was actually flying Alaskan Air to Chicago and American to Dayton (or so I thought).
Now, while at the American counter, I received my boarding pass for my plane from Chicago to Dayton. This is very important, because they checked on the flight at 9:00 AM. Now see, my Dad had been telling me to check on the flight before coming in. What he didn’t mention was that Cincinnati had gotten two feet of snow and that I might not be able to fly in. But since I was given my boarding pass by American and told that I would be getting to Dayton, I was in the clear. After getting a quick breakfast, I boarded the plane to Chicago at 10:30.
This boarding time is very important. For 30 minutes later, when I was sitting on the tarmac in Seattle, an email was sent by Orbitz to my inbox saying that my flight had been cancelled. Of course, I didn’t get this email. And this is the start of where things begin to go VERY WRONG. For when I said sitting, I mean the plane was not moving for fourty-five minutes. So while we were supposed to leave at 11, we didn’t actually take off till 11:45. Once again, another sign that this was going to be LONG.
So here is where things get really fun. As we are approaching the skygate to get off the plane, I turn on my phone to find that I have a bunch of voicemails. I shrug it off, figuring it was just my folks calling about my progress. As is customary, I called my parents to let them know that I had landed safely in Chicago and that there little boy would soon be home. Or so I thought. Instead, I was greated by my dad going, “Do you have a way of getting home?” Now, I didn’t know about the cancelled flight, but I’m like, “I think so.” “Well you better make sure, because they closed down Proctor (&Gamble), the Cincinnati Airport, and even the local Krogers.” F$ck.
I quickly got off the plane to find my worst nightmare. My flight had been cancelled. No biggy, I’ll just go to the gate and try to get on the next flight. My only response was, “I’m sorry, sir, the first plane back is at 9 something, Saturday morning.” Um…ok, how about Cincinnati? Nothing. Columbus? I can get you on a flight at 7:20. Great I’m thinking, could be worse. So I take that flight and go on standby for a ridiculously early flight to Dayton.
At this point, I’m stuck in Chicago. I begin to try and see if I can reach any of my friends from school who happen to be here in Chicago. I get a hold of Julie’s dad and ask if he can pass on a message to Julie for me. What I didn’t realize is that he would actually call her instead of just wait for her to get home. So I talk to Julie and tell her I’ll call her when I have info on my bags.
It is at the baggage claim that I begin to realize how bad things really are. While I’m there, I’m told by numerous people, that all of Ohio is buried in snow. Even friggen Cleveland shut down. This is bad. I also begin to hear that none of the flights are even guaranteed to be leaving tomorrow. No one knows anything. Even better, because so many people are stranded, they are out of rental cars.
After waiting for my bags to come out for 30 minutes, I find out you have to request that they be brought out from the back. After waiting for another 30 minutes in line, I’m informed that I may have to wait up to 8 horus to hopefully get my bag, and that I could have to leave Chicago on a plane without my bags. And that they may or may not be on the plane I get on. I need a definitive plan.
I head up to ticketing to try and get the bag thing figured out. There, I find out that the more rerouting requests I make, the more likely it is for my bags to get lost forever. Terrific. Realizing this, and realizing that I may need to get this nailed down; I ask my dad about flying into Newark and spending Christmas with the family in New York. Dad says he’ll call Steve, and that I should look into such flights, and if I can get transferred.
I then call American Airlines while standing in the Ticketting line. It’s filled with people needing to get into Ohio. This is a bad, bad scene. Meanwhile, I call Julie and let her know I’ll be ready to be picked up, since her super-cool family said I could crash there for the night. The guy at American, says that they will stretch the usual rerouting rules since my return flight is out of Newark. At this point, I just need to get to the ticket counter to get the new ticket and to work on my luggage.
The lady at the ticket counter was also exceptionally cool. I told her the whole story and she didn’t ask any questions. She looked up to see what I was saying and then made it happen. She also got me my baggage number since the guy who first rebooked my flight took my old folder booklet. She worked on rerouting my stuff to Newark. She let me know that there was a good chance I’d get to Newark with no bag, but that was not as bad as being stuck in Chicago away from my family on Christmas and Christmas Eve.
Shortly after getting that all taken care of, I was able to meet Julie and her mom who came to get me. For the first time in what had seemed like an eternity. Things just seemed to be going right. When Julie hugged me before we got in the car, I just felt so relieved. A friendly, familiar face. I think that’s what I needed most. Traveling alone can really suck, sometimes. Especially when everything goes to hell. As we drove away from O’Hare, I was just so happy to be leaving the airport and to not be alone. It was just wonderful.
When I got to Julie’s house, I met the rest of her family, took my bags to her room, and her Family then fed me. This was really more than I had even hoped for. I just wanted a couch to sleep on. Yet here I was, being invited into the Bert’s home with food and a bed. I felt very much like one of the Wisemen traveling. But such kindness just felt good.
Julie and I just hung out and talked for most of the night with her sister, Jill, and her mom. It was very, very nice. I’m happy because I’m with friends. I had never thought, in a million years, that I would ever have to call in a favor like this. But it has really made me appreciate my friends and my family. It’s Christmas, and I will be able to spend it with Family and Friends. I may not be with my mother and father, but I will see them in a few days, and we can celebrate again when I see them.
For now, I’m content to just know where I’m going and to know that I’m with friends and that I’m safe. I can’t really ask for more. I’d like to go to Cincinnati tomorrow, but it seems that God is leading me elsewhere. Such is His plan. So for now, I’m a wiseman, and I’m merely following a star.
