Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Reluctant Journey to Reality



From the minute we awaken Saturday morning, there were signs that we should stay in paradise.  First, we got to the airport, turned the car in, went in checked in and began to go through security; taken my shoes off, taking the laptop out of the backpack and placing it in a separate box, putting my wallet, my belt, everything in my pocket, and my phone…..  It is then that I realized that my phone was left in the rental car.  Debra and Adrian had already gone through with my other stuff.  I grabbed my wallet, my tickets and my shoes and began a mad dash toward the shuttle buses to get to the parking structure where my super expensive, 4G, world connected, anytime-link-to-the-internet was left to fend for itself.

I get to the rental agency and my car was gone!  I frantically searched for the attendant who was at the other side of the parking structure.  He had not seen it but one of the attendant drivers delivering cars was due back from the other lot.  I waited forever and finally I was about to fetch the attendant again when I noticed someone cleaning the inside of one of the cars.  “I looking for a phone I left in the car I just turned in,” I said.  “Oh Yeah”  he said and went and got it from the office.  My baby was safe!

Back to the shuttle and back to the terminal and through security again and caught up with Debra and Adrian.

The next sign that I should stay in Florida was when the airline clerk announced that one of the flight attendants had gotten sick and they could not take off until they found a new one!  About half hour later the same clerk announces that they are overbooked and that there were looking for 10 volunteers to give up their seats.  They were willing to give two (that’s “2”) free round trip tickets anywhere to any Spirit destinations.  Visions of Machu Picchu and Mexico City danced in my head.  I made a bee line to the counter and offered our tickets.  The bad news:  They would only take me to La Guardia and we were on our own to find a way back to Detroit – No Problem.  Well it turned out there was a problem, no flights from NY or surrounding airports were available to Detroit anytime on Saturday or Sunday.  Machu Picchu and Mexico City began to fade from reality.

The flight form Ft Lauderdale to La Guardia would have been uneventful if it wasn’t for the family from hell sitting behind us.  If there was ever a time to beat the crap out of spoiled kids this was it.  They made the trip miserable for everyone.

The trip to Detroit was uneventful and we got back on time.  Back to our jobs, to school, to our daily schedules, to paying bills and to shoveling snow.   

Just so we remember the benefits of air travel, here is Adrian on Friday snorkeling in the Florida Reef and snow blowing the driveway on Sunday morning. 




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