is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Dumped by a Day.
Today, about 2/3 of the way through my travel travails, Gene IMd me, asking whether I had finally been dumped by Valentine�s Day. I answered: yes. yes, I have. But it�s OK, because I have the power to rewrite history. Later. First, the real story:
Today I woke up at 7am so I could TCB before catching commuter rail to the airport. When I got to the airport all the Southwest flights were cancelled (this was not shared with me when I checked online before leaving!) and there was a huge line full of people waiting for their fates to be determined. Behind me in line was a guy in a suit carrying a small bag from Kay Jewelry. It was Valentine�s Day!
I waited in that line for THREE HOURS. Southwest had FOUR AGENTS ONLY working an airport terminal full of cancelled flights. The nice man with whom I finally spoke put me on a flight stand-by to Chicago (my flight to Las Vegas, land of good weather, was canceled, but, sure, fly me into the snowstorm some more) and even called the gate to make sure I was placed decently on the stand-by list. I got on the flight two hours later (and the gate agent was all, �you�re lucky that guy called me!� I am. THANK YOU, GUY. I think� because�) then, once on the plane, sandwiched in a middle seat between two large guys with very little consciousness of how much space they take up in the world, we sat on the tarmac for three more hours. Did I mention that both my carry-on suitcase and my computer bag had to be under the seat in front of me, and my coat and scarf had to be on my lap, because there was no overhead luggage storage left? I had NO SPACE. I was HUNGRY and THIRSTY and TIRED and FRUSTRATED and CROWDED and this is no string of adjectives you want to foist upon me all at once, as it rarely bodes well. I felt a bit like Jill-aged-20 might be about to surface.
Then it occurred to me that this tarmac-tarrying was going to make it impossible for me to make my Chicago connection. Can you imagine how much Valentine�s Day would have to hate me to make me pay for a hotel room in Chicago when I�m already broke, alone on February 14? So I called Southwest from inside the airplane and the nice lady who answered the phone sympathized but said she couldn�t book me on a later flight because I was currently on a flight. I�d have to wait until I arrived in Chicago and was officially stranded. I tried to reason with her, about how there was no way I was going to make a flight leaving Chicago in 40 minutes when I was sitting in a plane in Philly, and maybe other people would be trying to get on that flight in the meantime, and etc., but apparently there are rules. (Me, silently: �Oh. And what do you think rules are for? They are for SOCIAL COOPERATION! What are you accomplishing right now with your mindless application of policy?! No, allow ME to answer. You are OFFENDING REASON, madam.�) (However, since I also believe in civility (social cooperation), after the pushing went nowhere I said thank you and got the hell off the phone.) So I called my mother, who is a travel agent, and she disobeyed the rules and got me a reservation on the later flight. That�s where I am right now. I have been awake for 20 hours. I am very very tired. I keep doing that jerky head almost sleeping thing while trying to get reading done for some upcoming class meetings. I wish I were two years old so I could act out the frustration and tiredness I feel in a kicking and screaming fit.
But I am forty years old.
The worst part is that I chose the noon flight through Las Vegas instead of other flights through Chicago precisely so I wouldn�t hit bad weather and thus would be SURE to make it to San Francisco in time to take Heidi on a date for Valentine�s Day. Because sometimes she doesn�t like Valentine�s Day very much, and I thought it would be a really great thing to show up and take her on a date. So I planned it all out with her, and we were looking forward to it. And now I am a JERK, and Heidi is alone on Valentine�s Day. She has been left alone by a big jerk who is not loved by Valentine�s Day at all.
Or she isn�t alone, because of course she knows other people in the world. But that doesn�t make me not-a-jerk.
So, yeah, Gene�s right. Valentine�s Day has totally dumped me. Every year I collect more evidence, and yet I keep returning for more.
However.
I did manage to make one person very happy on Valentine�s Day, with what I thought was a smallish gesture, one that I very much enjoyed making, and which seemed called for by the situation. And I think it surprised him, too, the little gift, left on a doorstep. So, though I failed at one good aim, leaving Heidi on her own when she was promised a date with ME, the day wasn�t a total loss in that realm of my efforts to be good to those who are important to me.
And I think I�m going to go ahead and rewrite recent history, declaring Valentine�s Day to have been February 13 this year. Because on February 13 I spent an utterly lovely evening with Best Ever. So either that was Valentine�s Day, or Valentine�s Day hasn�t happened yet. In fact, maybe Valentine�s Day has NEVER actually happened. That�s my story and I�m sticking to it. Tomorrow we return to regularly scheduled programming.
And Evany Thomas picked me up from the airport even though I got in very late indeed! Yay. I heart her to excess, for certain. And you know the first thing I said once I got into Marvany Towers was: "OK. I need to see the twice-chewed beaverwood, STAT." Yes, I touched it. It felt dirty.
12:44 a.m. - February 15, 2007
Claverack Weekender - 2007-02-15 11:17:46
I refuse to travel in snowy conditions anymore, getting too old I guess. I just cancel my trip and make hot cocoa at home.
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