Thanks to the efforts of daughter #2, who has a popular blog of her own, "Mommy Musings", I now have a Facebook page dedicated to this blog. If that is how you found me and you are new to this site - Welcome!
For those who know me, I pride myself on "doing the right thing" and observing all manner of decorum in my actions. There are times, however, when certain situations have arisen and the urge to, shall we say "put things right' has overridden my better sense. And things are said. Like the time....
One of several places in the world I'd always dreamt of seeing was Australia. As fortune would have it, the Englishman was scheduled to travel there many years ago for a business trip and I was to be his companion. I gave little thought to the details about the length of the flight necessary to arrive in Aussie land. Truth be told, the flight was in March of 2002. Just a few short months after September 11th. Flying was not something I wanted to think about.
But off we went. The initial flight from New York to California found us sitting in the last row of the plane. Literally. There was a delay in our taking off and as we got closer to the West Coast, it was becoming clear to us that we might have difficulty in making our connecting flight. Fortunately, the pilot was also aware of the situation. So as we came closer to descending for landing, the pilot made multiple announcements concerning the fact that there were several passengers on the flight who needed to make a connection for Sydney, Australia - and would all passengers please give them the opportunity to do so by remaining in their seats until said passengers had departed.
We landed.
Everyone stood upon the minute the wheels hit the ground and the plane slowed.
Everyone.
"Excuse me, excuse me, " I said politely, as the Englishman and I, with carry on luggage in hand, tried to move forward from the back of the plane.
Nothing.
Again, trying to maintain my composure. "Excuse me....."
And then, from deep inside my body, rose a feeling of utter frustration and annoyance, and I cried out in my Third Grade Teacher voice,
"EXCUSE ME. ARE WE ALL GOING TO SYDNEY?"
Silence fell upon the cabin.
Now, if you are expecting a happy ending to this story, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint.
Two people sat down. Two!
We had to wait until everyone in front of us had disembarked.
Upon arriving at the gate, with the several other passengers from our flight attempting to make the connection, we were greeted with the news that our connecting flight had just left the gate. Without us.
There was a woman in charge, so to speak, clutching her clip board tightly, who proudly announced, as she made a check mark gesture on her clipboard,
"Oh that flight left on time. There was absolutely no reason to hold that plane."
Other than the twenty people now starring in disbelief at her?
The saga continued.....
Phone calls were made by other airline staff at the little desk, and it was suggested that another airline might possibly have seats for us, if we hurried to their counter. A mile away. Through two terminals. I am not making this up.
Our "group" (how quickly difficulty can form bonds among people united by a common cause) walked as fast as our legs and burden of luggage would allow and we all got to said counter in record time. Where we were told .... they had not received a phone call, and therefore had no knowledge of our need!
Cue steam....exiting our ears....
I believe it was Divine intervention which then took place. One of the men manning the desk at the Qantas Airline, offered to do whatever he could to get us on the flight which at that moment was boarding for Sydney. He asked the assembled group if we were willing to fly without luggage. Without hesitation, we all shook our heads in the affirmative. He then gathered all our passports and went off behind a closed door.
We thought we were all either brave or stupid for having turned over our documents, not knowing for certain where they would end up, but we really wanted to get on that flight.
Now comes the happy ending. Sort of.
The Englishman and I did get on the flight. Unfortunately, we were unable to sit side by side.
For the next fourteen hours.
As I slipped into the seat directly in front of the Englishman, I had a moment of panic about being in such a tight space. But as we were determined to get to Sydney, I pushed the urge to bolt back up the aisle out of my mind and strapped on my seat belt.
Our ordeal, I'm grateful to say, was worth every moment of angst we endured to get to our destination.
Sydney turned out to be an absolutely amazing city.
But that story is for another day.
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