Sentimental Journey

Here is the story about all of my airport shenanigans.

Alright, it's Tuesday morning, about 3am. I have to wake up around 5am in order to make my flight at 7am. Anyway, at 3am, I wake up in the middle of the night (only about an hour of sleep at this point), and I feel completely nauseous. I'm fighting it though. With all of my might, I am taking deep breaths trying not to throw up hoping it will just go away. Then I feel something... only it's coming out the other end if you catch my drift. I won't get too explicit, but we'll just call it some gastro-intestinal troubles. So I go back to bed still feeling very nauseous. Then, I just can't take it anymore!! I call for my mom because I am a five year old, and I am crying telling her that I feel sick, and that this is the worst timing ever!! She tells me that it is probably just nerves. I tell her that I am trying not to throw up, and she tells me to go for it, and I oblige. I felt pretty good afterwards... for awhile. Then I threw up again, and before I knew it, it was 5am. Time to get up. My mom tells me to just re-book my flight, but I cannot! I was worried that my advisor would be pissed because it sounds like such a fabricated excuse. So I refused to re-book, and I got up. Once I started walking around, I did feel a little better. My mom's van has been leaking oil, and my brother's car is exceptionally old. We figured age was a less risk than oil leakage, so we piled my luggage into my brother's car and hit the road. It's chilly this morning, but not too bad. Then we arrive at the airport, and upon opening my car door, I throw up in the parking lot of the airport. We also notice that it is a lot colder at the airport. My teeth are chattering as we walk into the building. So, I walk to the ticket counter to discover that my flight from Atlanta to Seattle had been canceled. They re-booked me on a flight to Memphis then to Seattle. No big deal really... if I only knew. This flight to Memphis left 30 minutes before my previous flight, so now I had to rush. Quick goodbyes to my mom and bro. Where's dad... we'll find out later. Now, I don't know if you knew this about me, but apparently I am a security risk. I got to stand in a special line where I would later get frisked. I know I look dangerous in my Universal Studios sweatshirt with a purple hood and butterflies on it. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly searched. Now I had to run to my gate and luckily boarded my plane in time. After sitting on the plane for what seemed like a little while too long, the pilot explained that there was a problem with... something or other, I can't remember... but it was fixed and they were filling out the paperwork (whatever that means). At this point it starts to rain, only that's not rain. My keen meteorology skills tell me that it's in fact freezing rain! Side note: I felt pretty smart being the one to announce that to the other passengers. There was ice on the window, so really anyone could have figured it out. Still though... I'm a meteorologist. They needed me to confirm it. We'll just say that anyway. Sure enough, the pilot explains that the plane is accumulating ice and will need to be de-iced. There are three other planes ahead of us though that also need to be de-iced. To appease the restless passengers, they start serving free drinks i.e. alcohol. Excuse me... it's 8am, and people are ordering drinks!! Alcoholics! If my stomach hadn't been on the fritz, I might have ordered one too I guess. At this point I realize that I won't be able to make my connecting flight to Seattle, but I figure I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. After a while, the pilot informs us that the de-ice trucks don't have the proper fluid to de-ice the plan, and we will now be de-boarding. So we sat on a plane for two hours only to be kicked off and told to go to the ticket counter to be re-booked. Excellent. Of course we weren't the only flight canceled that day, and the line to the ticket counter stretched for what seemed miles. So I waited in line for another two hours listening to business frantically call their travel agents to get re-booked so they can make that ever so important meeting in Chicago or wherever the hell they do business! Funny story though, one of the business men went to high school in Fairbanks. So I talked to him a little while. The very country man in front of me lived in Asheville for awhile. I explained to him that I LOVED Asheville, and that I wanted to move back there. He explained that the city was horrible now.... umm you're crazy. He says that taxes are going up (they are everywhere man) and that if you hit your kids, they will take them away from you, and that's just not right... yeah if you're crazy!! I held firm with my Asheville love and said, "Well, I don't have kids." To which he replied, "Well, you're young." To which I thought (and should have said), "Well, I don't intend on beating them." Anyway, I finally make my way to the ticket counter, and there only response is that they can't do anything for me. "What do you mean, you can't do anything for me?" They couldn't get me on a flight in the next few days at all, and they told me to check with Delta. Soooooo, I waited in line for 2 hours with an Alaskan business man and a child beater only to learn that I should just go to Delta. I'm a pleasant person, so I let that slide. Speaking of slide, I had my called my family in the midst of all of this and learned that my mom and brother had done a 360 on the busiest road in Knoxville. Thank God they were alright. They didn't hit anyone or anything, and eventually made it home safe but shook up. Actually my brother handled it fine; my mom, not so much. I also learned that my dad had come to the airport, but since I was put on an earlier flight, he had missed me. Also, on his way back he got caught in a huge traffic jam! He went one mile in like 2 hours or some statistic just as crazy. Luckily he had a client right by the airport, so he camped there and did some work. Alright, back to me now... I go to the Delta counter, and the earliest flight they can get me on is tomorrow!! It's about noon now. Mind you, I arrived at the airport at 6am. Luckily my Dad was so close, traffic had let up a little, and the ice had melted some. So my dad picked me up and drove me safely home.

And that's the story of how I got to spend an extra day home. Just think, if I had just re-booked my flight when I felt sick that morning, it all could have been avoided. I think about that everyday.

On Wednesday i.e. the next day, everything ran smoothly. No ice, no illness, no delays, no cancellations, and I made it back to Fairbanks.

Turns out Ana also did a 360 in the parking lot of Panera Bread. Thank God, she was also fine.

My mom thinks that the sickness was a sign from God. I believe her. Once I went home that day, I pretty much felt fine. Even ate a philly cheese-steak sandwich.

Dad eventually made it back to work that day.

Mom has recovered from her icy spin. She still hates winter weather though.

Mom's van is still leaking oil.