Who knew?
Spent the past week in Austin, Texas working on some stuff for an enormous project for next year.
I was looking forward to some balmy weather. Instead, it was 45 degrees. And grey. And raining. I didn't even know it got that cold in Texas!
On top of it, there were a multitude of other issues. Take for instance, my flight. I left on Thursday morning right after my first class (skipping my second) and got to the airport only to find out that the non-stop direct flight I had purchased for a ridiculous sum wasn't non-stop at all. In fact, on Thursday I flew from LaGuardia to Minneapolis to Memphis to Austin. Grrr...
But wait, it gets better.
Saturday, I connected with the person at UofT (Go Longhorns!) that was supposed to be coordinating several company tours on Sunday morning only to find out that they had cancelled them due to lack of interest. This was annoying considering I had booked a late afternoon flight just to accommodate them in my schedule.
So, I called Northwest and inquired as to the likelihood of being able to fly standby and get out of Austin in the morning (thereby getting home to NYC by afternoon and having time to prepare for the conference I was hosting for 125 alumni of the Dual Degree Assoc. Monday night). NWA told me no problem, there were four flights before mine and each had good availability.
So, after partying like an animal with friends Saturday night, I got up at 7am and went to the airport. Because of the open seats, NWA had downsized the flight (sent a smaller plane) and I could not go Standby. By noon, it was clear that I was going to have to sit in the airport until my 4:00pm flight.
But wait! When I told the ticketing agent I'd just keep the ticketed flight I had, he said. . ."But, I can get you into LaGuardia two hours earlier." So I said, "Okay."
Big mistake. BIG.
Long story short, I got on a plane and flew to Detroit. Meanwhile, my luggage (including my books and homework for the week) got on a plane and flew to Memphis.
When I arrived at Detroit and tried to check in, they said but we don't have you ticketed to New York, you're just standby. There's no way we can get you out tonight, it's Sunday and everything is overbooked. (At which point my blood pressure rises on account of frustration, lack of sleep, mental fatigue, anxiety over the next day's conference, mounds of junk food etc.) So I add myself to the standby lists for two flights and can't get on either one.
I had dinner (it's now 7pm - 12 hours since I began my journey) and called the NWA reservations line to try to get on any flight to NYC that night (even if I have to connect through Atlanta). The agent is a total and complete Uber-Bitch. I was irrate. The only way she was going to get me from Detroit to NYC was if I bought a $160 ticket! I told her where to go.
I then had a slight breakdown in the airport on account of being out of money, stranded, exhausted and having just found out that all my shit was in Memphis. Thank god for the kindness of a woman behind the counter who took pity on me and switched me to the top of the standby list in the computer. On the final flight of the night, there was 1 seat open on the plane. ONE.
I am soooooo grateful to that woman.
When I got on, I fastened my seatbelt and told the person sitting next to me that if they tried to bump me off they'd have to pry the buckle from my cold, dead hands. I got home sometime around midnight and it took another hour to wait in the queue for a taxi back into Manhattan.
It's been a long week. I could use some sunshine. If you have any extra, could you pass it my way? Thanks, I appreciate it.
Posted by Amanda at November 12, 2003 12:26 AM
