Well I just got back from what seemed to be an eternity of traveling. The first week I was in Colorado, and the second week I was in Alabama. After the past two weeks' worth of experiences flying and at airports, I'm pretty much content to never fly again.
Well, I know that's not going to happen. So I just know for at least the next few months, I won't be getting on a plane.
Instead of dwelling on the negatives of 2 airports closing while I was at them, and of 4 or 5 delayed flights, etc., I'm choosing to concentrate on a particular story that makes me all toasty inside... :-)
I was supposed to come home on Tuesday night. Well, due to the Chicago airport closing, I was rerouted to Las Vegas (because there were NO more flights to Salt Lake... even on any other airlines.. crazy). This certain flight was landing in Nashville, where I'd have another layover before Las Vegas. At anyrate, I was flying Southwest were you can pick wherever you want to sit (well, 'wherever you want' meaning almost anywhere, because the front row and the exit rows are always taken...). I chose a seat and was getting settled when a man sitting in front of me was asking the flight attendant some questions about the Las Vegas connection flight. I interjected "OH, are you going to Las Vegas, too??". The man said "oh no, but this lady next to me is, and she's deaf and seems really confused"...
I exclaim: SHE'S DEAF?!?!?!? Omg! I know Sign Langauge!
What are the chances that of all the seats on that plane, I chose to sit right behind this woman who was completely lost.
A complete "WOAH" moment.
Come to find out after chatting with her that she was 32, and had never left Birmingham, AL in her life. This was her first plane ride. How scary!! I get scared flying on planes, even though I have flown HUNDREDS of times, and... I can HEAR!
This lady's name was Michelle, and on the connection flight in Nashville we sat by each other and had a GREAT time. Almost couldn't tell that it was a 5 hour flight!
During the flight, she orderd THREE Jack and Cokes. She would look at me and say she was worried that she looked like an alcoholic. I said No, that she just looked like a nervous flyer. :-)
I asked where she was staying in Las Vegas, and she told me the Venetian. Well, kind of. She couldn't remember the name, but something about Venice and that they had Gondolas... Here comes the other "WOAH" moment. Out of all the tens of thousands of hotels and motels in Las Vegas, there is one that I have a friend that works at as a security guard. Which hotel would that be? Oh, that's right. The Venetian. The only hotel that I had a hook-up that I could call to help out this tired, nervous, and very DRUNK deaf woman. What are the chances??
When I think about the delays and cancellations over the past couple days I start to get a little worked up, but then I think about this lady Michelle, and I don't mean to sound preachy here or anything, but I KNOW I was supposed to meet her and help her, and all the drama with the airlines didn't matter, and that drama is actually what made me meet her.
Merry Freakin Christmas, eh??!
