Dec. 15th – it’s the wee hours of the morning…
Sarah has just dropped me off at the Denver airport and I have checked in, gotten my boarding pass, dropped off my luggage and am waiting to board my plane. The first leg of my journey is underway. So far so good.
I arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth airport and need to get on the next plane to JFK. We are told that the flight is delayed. Something about weather conditions at JFK. Air Traffic Control is not allowing anyone to fly in to New York. So I wait. The second leg of my journey is off to a rocky start.
Unfortunately, the flight to JFK was delayed for so long that many of us missed our connecting flights to our next destinations. So now leg #3 has come to a standstill. As I exit the plane at JFK, a little bit of panic has set in. No one is being clear on what’s to happen next. I ask one of the attendants at the gate about my flight and am told that I have been re-routed. Re-routed? To where? She just simply tells me that I have to go to Gate 2. Well, ok then…off I go. I arrive at Gate 2 and see two gentlemen standing behind the counter. I ask them about my flight. The first man simply stares at me for a moment and then condescendingly says “We’re pilots. We don’t know anything about that. Ask the people over there.” Thanks a lot jerk face. Once I get to the next counter, again I am greeted with a blank stare and am off-handedly told that I need to go to ticketing, that the flight leaving from THIS gate is going to Hawaii. Wow, customer service is key…it really is. Not.
After a little pep talk to myself to quell my anger, I march off to ticketing only to find an insanely long line of other travelers that either need to still check in or have also been “re-routed”. Now real panic starts to set in. I have NO idea when my next flight is supposed to be or where it’s going. I just know that I have an anxious mother waiting for me in Zurich. I have the feeling that I am running short on time. I watch as people one by one seem to be having issues with the check-in process and I’m growing more impatient by the minute. Finally it is my turn and as luck would have it, the only agent who seemed to know what she was doing was the one to help me. Finally a silver lining in this dreadful experience. She assures me that everything will be fine. She confirmed my flight info and shakes her head. I ask why and she states that the flight was delayed to weather issues however, there were NO weather issues. WTF?? What the hell was Air Traffic Control doing in their little ivory tower? Playing Canasta?? How could they screw that up? Regardless, the wonderful lady at the ticket counter re-issued my boarding passes and re-checked my bags for me. She advised that I would be flying to London Heathrow first and then to Zurich, my final destination. This delay has now added an additional stop on my already very long journey. She confirmed that my luggage would be in Zurich when I get there. I am finally able to go to my gate (after having to go through the security check point) and relax for a little while as my plane was not due to leave until 9:30 PM. At some point I was near tears with frustration. I sent a text to Jason asking him to just tell me that everything would work out. He did and I felt a little better.
At last the time comes to board the plane and fly to London. Hurray! I would be in Jason’s time zone soon! And now I can also finally get some sleep. I did watch a movie once I was settled in and almost tussled with an irritable British woman whose seat came flying back and nearly jammed the TV screen into my face. When I asked her kindly if she could just move the seat up a bit since I was watching a movie, she informed me that that is why the screens tilt. Oh really? You don’t say. Silly me, how could I not know that. Grrr. Let’s just ignore the fact that I am nearly 6’ tall and already have no leg room! Now I have even less but please, don’t mind me…go ahead and get your beauty rest. You need it.
Given the fact that I was a bit wound up and didn’t actually sleep until a few hours into the flight, I thought I’d do a little people watching. There was one man who looked suspiciously like a vampire. But more of an Anne Rice vampire and not Stephenie Meyer. He was menacing looking and his hair didn’t match his skin tone at all. It looked unnatural. Then I noticed a group of Hassidic Jews, a family I believe. And the men all wore glasses. Is that normal? One of them (perhaps the Rabbi) was constantly out of his seat much to the frustration of one of the flight attendants. I think he was praying but I couldn’t be sure. I just know that flight attendant nearly popped a vein when he had to tell the man for the umpteenth time to please sit down.
And then I saw something I haven’t seen since I left the south. A black man dressed in a VERY shiny royal blue satin shirt and a VERY shiny black patent leather baseball cap. Is it possible to wear that much shiny clothing at once? I couldn’t see his pants but I suspect that they were shiny too…
At last…we arrive in London. I have some time to kill so I wander. Wouldn’t you know, Terminal 5 has put a Prada store and a Tiffany’s store right next each other! I have found my Mecca. I had to walk away; I didn’t want to run the risk of getting drool on the merchandise since I can’t afford to pay for it. Sigh…
I try to use my phone to text Jason and call my Mom but soon discover that no network would support my phone. Of course. Because everything else on this trip has run so smoothly, why not? So I have no contact with my loved ones. I look out the window and notice how foggy it is. My brain is feeling about the same at this point. Naturally there was yet another delay because you can’t fly a plane in the fog. Safety first.
The time has come. I finally get to board my LAST plane! I am finally on my way to Zurich where my poor mother has probably been ripping her hair out with worry. The flight is smooth, I get some sleep and the next thing I know I’m in Zurich. Yay!!! I go to baggage claim to get my suitcase only to discover, surprise, surprise, it’s not there. Why would it be? After 15 minutes of waiting for luggage that’s not coming, I go to file a claim that my luggage has been lost and make my way through customs to at last greet my Mom. This trip was nearly over and boy was I glad to see her. The hour long train ride we still had ahead of us was nothing compared to what I had been through. Mind you, it is now Tuesday, December 16th at 3 PM.
I got my luggage at 9 PM the following night. I think my suitcase had an even worse trip than I did…
