My Journal- December 1995

All right, so Friday night I am so happy because I am flying to Dallas to see this really wonderful guy named Nick (yes, you've heard me mention him once or twice). I'm practically all set to get going when American airlines calls and says my flight is cancelled due to technical difficulties-- phhppbb! Technical difficulties my butt!

After Nick found another later flight for me to catch, I was a little more relieved, but still very antsy.

Finally the time came to catch my flight... No technical difficulties with THIS flight. I flew to Chicago, sat in O'Hare for an hour, waiting to catch another flight that would take me directly to Dallas. Ooooh! Everything on schedule there, too! JOY! As a matter of fact, I reached Dallas 13 minutes EARLIER than expected!

I hurriedly walked (maybe skipped, I dunno) off the plane and was immediately greeted by a big warm hug coming out of nowhere. Thankfully it was Nick and not some 80 year old guy who thought I was his long lost grand-daughter. ;-P

It was a fantastic weekend, we saw a Dallas Stars game (hockey), went to his company's Christmas Party, bugged his family, saw 'Father Of The Bride II', watched a buffalo (don't ask), and more (don't ask-- hehe)!

Monday evening came much too fast, and it was time for me to catch my flight out. With what we thought (ooh-- foreshadowing!) were only minutes to spare, I caught my flight to Chicago. But, it was soon announced that we could not take off till our wings were de-iced. 'O.K.', I thought. 'De-Icing, sounds kind of fun.' Yeah, fun for a cadaver maybe.

We sat there for over an hour waiting in line for our wings to be de-iced. It just so happened that I was sitting right over the wings. I didn't see any ice! They looked fine to me. I was about to share my expert opinion with the pilots when I saw this guck (yes, I said 'guck') come shooting out of a hose a fire-fighter-like guy was holding. Excuse me, but what is this guck and how is it helping? Far be it for me to interfere, though, so I sat and watched on. After the guck had been sprayed, I figured they must have to wipe it off or something, but they didn't! Just left it there to refreeze! NOW we had ice on our wings! Hmmmm... oh well, as long as we left, I didn't care. I had a connecting flight from Chicago to Milwaukee to catch!

Around 8:00 p.m. the plane took off (now an hour and a half past schedule). The flight was slow and very very bumpy! Finally the pilot guy came over the loud speaker and announced that Chicago was not letting us land, and that we had to circle for a while. Oh oh oh oh oh oh! I began to panic... this could not be! Would I be stranded in Chicago?? (very scary thought if you read my Greyhound story on Dec. 6th) Surely not. They would hold the plane. I believed!

As the plane finally landed and we began to unboard, they announced all the connecting flights had left except for the one to Champaign, IL. "We are sorry for the delay, there will be representatives waiting for you at the gate to inform you about morning flights and local hotel rates", the pilot said. Oh NO! I don't think so! I did NOT miss my plane!

So frantically I ran full speed to gate G3 only to realize-- the pilot was right, it left! Wait a second! How could it possibly leave without me? Aren't I special? Aren't I someone? Many glum looking people by this time started to fall in the deserted gate behind me, breathing heavily, and protesting in despair. So I wasn't alone... there were at least 15 other people who needed to get on that flight.

After trying to make a few phone calls, I wearily headed back to the arriving Dallas gate, H-something-or-other, to talk to one of those representatives. Forcing back the tears that were threatening to spill out, I told myself they'd have some answer for me... some way to get me home and into that warm waterbed of mine!

"Sorry, because it was a delay due to weather, we cannot offer to pay for alternate transportation or a room for you to stay in." Was I hearing this with my own ears?

"But sir," I said, my voice wavering, "I have no more money and no place to go, there must be something you can do... are there any busses, alternate flights... ANYTHING? I need to get home!"

"Sorry, ma'am. Our first flight to Milwaukee leaves at 7:15 am, would you like me to switch your tickets now?" Resignedly, I told him yes. A million thoughts ran through my mind. Could anyone drive the 2 hours down from Milwaukee to get me? No. Should I just stay awake in the airport till 7:15? Impossible. Should I fork over $80 and stay at a hotel for the next 6 hours? As if. Should I put a gun to the rep.'s head and tell him to drive me home now? Mmmm... maybe. Should I pray for a miracle? Yes.

Meanwhile, my roommate, Rob, is waiting in the Milwaukee airport for me (he still thinks I am on that flight to Milwaukee). I had to somehow get a hold of him. Yes, this rep. would atleast help me do that. After Rob was paged, and told I was not on the flight, I sat down in a heap.

I began to take notice that next to me was a lady who spoke no English at all. Only Espanol. She had not a penny and no where to go either. It was just me and her and the 2 reps left by this time. Fortunately, one of the reps spoke Spanish and was able to communicate with her. It was decided that they had to put this lady up in a hotel. But there was a dilemma, no one was able to walk her to the hotel, be sure she got there safely, tell the lobby she needed a wake up call, take her to her room, etc. Neither one of the reps was able to go and neither was anyone they called. They were going to make her sleep in the office, but there was no one willing to stay there all night to watch over her. Hmmm.... dilemma... where would they ever find someone who had to stay in Chicago all night and who had nothing better to do? Both their eyes turned to me.

Here's the deal: if I took care of her and blah blah blah, they would put me up in the room, too! Well, not the best offer I've ever had, but at that point, I would have slept with the Grinch! Yes, I will help, I said. And in another hour and a half, we were on our way to the Hilton (walking, of course).

So there I was, two in the morning, checking and rechecking my alarm clock to make sure it would go off in the morning, then even placing a wake-up call to be extra safe. I cuddled up with Kentucky Bear (my stuffed bear) and went to sleep.

The alarm went off and I couldn't believe it. Was it really 5:30 already? Youch. Showered, dressed, checked out, back to the airport... oh geez, don't let my flight be cancelled! Was it??

No. It wasn't. Whew!

I arrived in Milwaukee at 8:00 am sharp and there was my roommate, Rob, waiting for me. Boy was I glad to see a familiar face. Now, on to work. 'I can do it, yes I can', I mentally cheered.

I think I decided never to fly American again. Had they held that connecting flight to Milwaukee just 5 minutes longer, I would have been home Monday night, but NO, it was a Marketing decision (stupid Marketing people- hehe) to get the plane off on-time, despite half the people who were to be on that flight were on the plane coming from Dallas.

Well, it's important that I'm safe and sound, back home and complaining about it. Right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!