December 23, 2010

Bending the Rules

Today was a busy, busy holiday travel day. I got up at 7am to be sure I could fit in all that needed to be done - finish packing, pick up the laundry, buy cat food, go to the bank, finish cleaning the apartment, scoop the litter box (ugh) and fit in some sort of workout. I opted for a trainer ride and dove back into Season 5 of Lost. Good choice.

I was clicking right along on schedule and had a plan to be on the street hailing a cab by 1:00. Miraculously I was. And more miraculously a cab appeared within minutes. My lucky day... or so I thought. I was digging through my enormous bag for something and didn't notice he had missed a turn and was going the absolutely worst possible way. I immediately told him he needed to take a different street but it was too late, we were in parking lot traffic with a series of one-ways all going the wrong way. So what does he do? Just one block before the destination street he decides to turn, and we end up going right back to where we started! I was beyond furious and at this point he had wasted 20 minutes and 15 dollars. I started to suspect I wouldn't make it to the airport.

We got on the BQE and all was good, we were making decent time and there was a sliver of a chance. But that sliver crumbled when we approached LaGuardia and came to a screeching halt - accident on the Grand Central Parkway right in front of the airport. Learn to drive people!!! The 10 minute crawl to the terminal crushed my chances of making my 2:37 flight. I was exactly 3 minutes past the baggage check deadline and Delta would not budge. So I called the re-booking line while I waited in line and was given some very bad news. I would have to take another taxi home only to return at 5am for the 6am flight, which I'd also have the pleasure of paying an extra few hundred bucks for. Seriously???

But I refuse to give up so easily so I waited in line until I finally reached a real, live Delta agent. And to my good fortune, she was an angel. She immediately felt sorry for me and wanted to help. I suggested they let me go on the 2:37 and send my bag on the 4:30 since there was only one connecting flight in Detroit and it wasn't until 7:40. She brought a supervisor over to try to make it happen and luckily he felt sorry for me as well. He couldn't break the TSA rule of putting a bag on a plane without a passenger but he was willing to try to get me and my bag on the flight. He took me to the front of the security line and told me to toss out all of the liquids in my to-be-checked bag - bye bye hundreds of dollars of girly products - and take the bag to the gate where they would be waiting for me. I cut the security line and got dirty looks from fellow passengers, but sailed right through and was at the gate on time.

And then guess what? The flight was delayed an hour and they ended up gate checking just about everyone's bags for free... I'm the sucker who paid $23. But it was a small price to pay to not spend Christmas in Brooklyn alone with my cat. I'm now about 1.5 hours into my 2.5 hour layover in Detroit, sipping wine at the Vino Volo wine bar. I'm undoing yesterday's cleanse for sure, but it's the holidays and travel hell time, I can't help it. I'll be home with my family in about 3 hours.


I have a lot of running to do this week as I ease into my marathon training. I'll tackle 9 this weekend and will no doubt be thankful to be burning some holiday calories.

Happy holidays to everyone, wherever your travels and celebrations may take you!

4 comments:

  1. Wow...what a frustrating experience! I'm glad you got on your original flight in the end though!

    Have a great Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh boy! It sounds like you had quite a day. Great way to start the day with the trainer and Lost!

    Despite the problems, I glad it all worked out and you'll be home for the holidays!

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LAME!!! I just have to let you know I LOVE your blog...you are AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete

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