Had a great time last night for Halloween. I met up with a group of about 10 friends, all of us dressed as vampires which was pretty cool. We started at a buddy's place on Michigan and then walked over to Lincoln Rd where I met up with some other friends before going to Gemma to finish off the night. I was "taking it easy", which means watching my alcohol intake and my watch so I could be home by 1am because I had a flight that I believed to be leaving MIA at 6am....
Fast forward to 4:51am when my buddy sends me a text saying he just got home and hopes I made it out OK. That woke me up. My alarm apparently didnt. I jumped out of bed, threw a bunch of shit in a suitcase (I'd 1/2 packed the night before) and bolted out the door. After blowing no fewer than 3 stop signs and 2 red lights (I slowed and stopped just didnt wait for the light since every normal person in Miami was sleeping at this time) I arrived at MIA. I found parking uber-quick and ran to the USAirways check-in counter. When I swiped my credit card in the machine, it didnt have record of me on the flight... Great.
Now Im thinking maybe my flight was out of FLL and Im in a slight panic. I check with Delta and United just to make sure I didnt book on them but in my mind I can see the email printout (conveniently located in my desk drawer at work) and I just know its USAirways. I ask the guy at the ticket counter to run a check on my name and see if Im supposed to be at MIA or FLL. He does and says Im not in there. I make sure he has my correct spelling (its an easy name but people make 1 common mistake) and he still says nothing. I check my frequent flyer itinerary online too - nothing. I go back to the desk again and ask him 1 more time if he is sure Im not on a flight out this morning. He gets smartass and says, "I dont know buddy, youre lost."
Lucky for me, even on little sleep my common sense meter recognizes that verbally accosting him for being a goddamn smartass is not going to help me get what I want. Its now 6:30am and any hope I had of a 6am flight is gonzo. So, I head home calling my sales rep on my way to let him know he is going to have to cover for me. I get home slightly happy that I wont be traveling but still pissed that I cant figure out for the life of me what happened to my flight reservation. Im a traveling veteran and Ive never effed up like this before. That's when I remember that my old business credit card had expired and the new one they issued me had a new number! Thats why it didnt work when I swiped it in the machine. So, I hit the internet one last time and instead of searching my frequent flyer number I search for my name online. Well whattya know? There's my flight at 6:30am! I call USAirways and speak to a woman who was a great help. She found me in the system right away and couldnt understand how the brainchild at MIA couldnt find it. She says there is a flight at 8:20am. Its 7:10am. Here we go again!
This time, I obeyed most traffic signals with the exception of 2 stop signs that I hate because they are pointless and one of those rotaries (what we call traffic circles in MA) in my 'hood in the Grove. I find parking very quickly and run into the airport, talking to my boss on the way in and letting him know my situation and that Ive found a new flight. You know who Im gunning for now... Mr. Smartass. I walk up to the podium. He's assisting another customer but I really dont give a shit at this point. "Hey, remember me?", I say almost out of breath from booking it from the parking lot, "I was on that flight at 6:30am." "Oh, but you said 6:00am.", he replies. "Yeah, but maybe if you werent so busy being a fucking smartass telling me I was lost and instead did what I asked you to do which was look for my name in the entire system then Id be halfway to Cincinnati right now!?!?!", I said as the customer next to me, and conveniently Smartass's supervisor, looked on. Smartass had nothing to say. His manager put me on the 8:20 flight and I was off to security check, surprised that I had only let out one F-bomb in the process.
Im now in Charlotte waiting for my next flight which boards at 1:15p. I got here at 10:45am... I managed to get in a good 2 hours of shuteye on the plane ride here and hope to get some more on the next flight. I still havent showered and the fake blood that was dripping from my mouth didnt exactly wash off 100% so I look like an asshole haha. I just cant win today. There are only 2 unknowns that are bothering me right now... One is that Im wondering if the supervisor at USAirways charged my card for modifying my flight itinerary due to the missed flight. He never asked me about charging me, so Im 99% positive Im in the clear there. He did give me a receipt though that had a $295 total on it but I think that was the original price I paid. The other thing that is bothering me is that I cant locate my parking garage ticket. Part of me thinks its in the car in the armrest where I usually put it. Another part of me vaguely remembers it being in my hand while I talked with my boss on take-2 of my airport mission. Im praying its in the car because its nowhere to be found on my persons. I cant imagine what the lost ticket charge will be if its not but that will not be cool.
Another day, another adventure. I swear my life should be a tv show like Jim Carrey's in that movie The Truman Show.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment