Subtitle: Jenn's First Business Trip Goes Tragically Awry
Karma is a bastard. At some point in the past (as a child? In a previous life?) I did something truly awful, something so terrible, that this year has become the year that I cannot catch a flight on time to save my life.
The first sign, last Tuesday, that things were not going to go well was a radio transmission from JFK than an incoming plane was having an issue with the hydraulic systems.
First the flight was delayed, then canceled, because the part the plane needed was in New York City. All remaining passengers moved to the 3:30 flight to JFK and from there to Boston, arriving at 7:10 pm.
Flight to JFK delayed at the gate due to traffic at JFK. The plane was not cleared for takeoff until 4:30. We land in JFK and are instructed to stay on the plane to facilitate a quick turnover.
And we sit. And sit. And sit. First at the gate, then on the tarmac. During this time I am frantically text messaging my friend A, who was supposed to meet me at the airport at 4:00 pm, so we could have dinner together before picking his wife up from her class.
Instead A picked up his wife, picked my co-worker and myself up from Logan at 9:30 that evening, swung by the student union at MIT so we could grab a burrito for dinner and dropped us at the hotel.
Where I discovered that my room was directly across from the elevator, the king size bed was actually two double beds, my bathroom did not have tub, and the cable did not have Comedy Central.
No Midterm Midtacular. The only reason why my co-worker did not hear my screams of agony was because he had to go back downstairs to get his room key replaced.
A week later and I am still angry. Pissed that at the airline's stupid hub system, which strands passengers in smaller cities when something goes wrong. I don't want a $50.00 credit towards my next flight. I want the five hours I lost back.
The business end of the trip went smoothly, two days of training classes, with enough downtime to sleep in, swim in the hotel's saltwater pool and have dinner with A and K.
Like I told J, you're a fugitive from the law of averages.
ReplyDeleteI've learned the hard way to have a book I really like and never quite get tired of along, even though I rarely have to resort to reading. People-watching's much more fun in the busier airports.
FWIW, hydraulic issues in aircraft can develop suddenly, they're potentially pretty serious ("Hey, look, ma; no ailerons!"), and it's mighty expensive to have an aircraft and crew at "plus-thirty" or better. I know it's frustrating, though; I sympathize. Esp. with the lousy room and the missed program tacked on.
Let us know the next time you're flying and I'll sacrifice a rubber chicken or something to propitiate the FAA deities.
The best thing the airlines could do would be to just trash their whole system and start over. But, that's not going to happen. They're going to cling to that same failed business model forever.
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