This is a new idea to me, blogging, so I will just go back to my last major event in my life, and start from there. Of course, the dates will be off, so you just have to go along with it. This date should be July 17th, 2007:
I got my orders to Japan in May, and I was told to report in July. Not as much time as I would have liked, but I'm going to a place I want to be. I had not realized what a journey and adventure this would be. Once I recieved the orders my wife was told by her ex that she wasn't allowed to bring her son. This was of course a crushing blow to the morale of our family and people associated with us. Once we'd scrapped the money together to get our own legal consultation and Sheriff's officer shows up at our doorstep with papers to serve. He said she was an unfit mother, for reasons that were totally blasphemous and misleading. With this new knowledge my report date had still be unchanged. So we made plans for the best, and plans for the worst. Since we are not a pessimistic couple, but we always expect the worst, our plans were simple, go to Japan, and hopefully she'll be able to follow.
So as the weeks went by, the date came closer to my departure. I found it hard to be truly excited about leaving. I was leaving friends, family, my wife and step-son, and a life that I had become to know. I knew there would be many new opportunities and new things to see in Japan, but that part had not hit me yet. I was still in the "halfway" stage. I went to my school, while she worked, and the boy went running around the house half naked like little boys do. There were many times that it didn't feel like I was leaving. Finally the day came to pack up my things and head to an entirely different place, a new world.
My flight was set for 7:30 in the morning on Delta commercial. It was a much better idea than having to fly in a military C-130 and listen to that for hours on end. I had stayed up all night, thinking I would sleep on the 14-hr plane trip from Atlanta to Narita. I arrived at the airport at 5:50, which was a little shy of the "mandatory" 2-hours prior. Since it was an early flight, I figured there would be no problem to get a ticket, get through security and checked into my flight with plenty of time to spare.
"Sir, your flight is a little delayed this morning, is that OK?" said the girl at the counter
"Is that OK?" I thought to myself, what am I going to do, say no and then the flight is no longer delayed? Of course I just gave the automated response of, "That's no problem, I'm not in a hurry."
I received my ticket and proceeded to the security check point. Everyone who has flown in the past years, knows what an enjoyment this can be. I of course, had not flown in years, and I'm not the best "carry-on passenger." I had a backpack with a laptop, and inside that backpack was a carrying case for a camera, which held blank tapes, and another camera bag for my digital camera, because I felt like there was no way I was going to miss documenting my adventure. Little did I know, the adventure was from from the beginning.
As I sat in the terminal, trying to connect to the "Free Wi-Fi available at every terminal," which ended in frustration as apparently the Wi-Fi didn't work in my area. The flight was delayed at least until 8:00. Which was OK with me because I had no idea how long it would take me to make my connection in the Atlanta airport. My second flight was scheduled for 10:15. The flight out of Jacksonville was supposed to be 1 hour. So I figured I still had time. So 8:00AM shows up and still no boarding call, or a word from the counter. I noticed a line forming at the desk, for what I had no idea, yet. As time went on, the clerk at the counter came over the loud speaker to address the silent audience.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, as I am not exactly sure what's the problem, I would to extend my apologies for the delay. From what I am told, there was a bird strike last night, and there's a problem with one of the engines. They have to inspect the engine, and then do a test run, at which time we will be able to board, thank you for your patience."
It was now 8:30, and I was beginning to wonder what I am supposed to do. I stumbled into a conversation with the man sitting across from me who appeared to be a seasoned frequent flier. He basically told me that I should get on the plane here, and go to Atlanta and possibly get a later flight if it was available. If there wasn't one, I could stay in a hotel over night and catch a flight the next morning. That didn't seem to be an option for me, as I live in the Jacksonville area, maybe I can just miss this flight and catch one tomorrow.
I got in line around 9:15AM, still no boarding call, however I did hear the engines firing up outside. Great, they are making a ground turn, and I should be in the air. By the time I reached the counter, they had made a final boarding call and I began to get a little frantic as I didn't know what to do. The couple in front of me had already complained that someone had cut in front of them, so for fear of decapitation, I just stayed quiet. When it was finally my turn to speak, the woman told me I needed to board, or I'd miss this flight.
"It's not this flight I'm worried about, I'm supposed to make a connection in Atlanta to fly to Tokyo at 10:15AM" I said
"Oh, there's no way you'll make that connection." She replied
Are you sure? I thought to myself, as all the funny stories I've heard about airline counter attendants ran through my head, I felt as if I had a million witty comments to give her. I again, stayed quiet.
"Also, there's only one flight out of Atlanta to Japan a day, so you won't be able to fly until tomorrow" she went on to say.
"Well, what do you suggest I do ma'am, as I live here in Jacksonville it seems kinda silly to sleep in the Atlanta airport overnight."
"Just take a seat and we'll be with you in a few minutes." She concluded.
I took my seat and watched as they frantically typed into a computer getting all the names of the remaining passengers. I watched at the board went from 5 available seats to 35 available seats. So that's the line was for, makes sense now.
She handed me a "Flight Interrupted" ticket stub and told me to go back to the ticket counter and make another flight.
By this time, the line at the counter had tripled and the staff behind the countered seemed to be down to a third of the people from earlier. Many people were inline complaining they weren't going to make their flight because they were waiting so long and there wasn't any service provided. I guess they should have made their "mandatory 2-hr prior window."
I will take the time to say that the service at the counter was quite slow and odd. There were 4 or 5 people running around behind the counter just looking at things, not doing much. There were 2 people on the phone with "International Flights" as I later found out, that seemed to be on the phone for a very long time. I had already called my wife to come and get me, but I told her to take her sweet sweet time, and I was being honest. I finally got to the counter to encounter the rudest man on the face of the earth. I literally watched this conversation take place:
"Sir, is there a manager on duty, I'd like to speak with them" said a passenger
"Well, what in the heck do you want me to do about it" said the clerk.
"I suggest that you find out if there's a manager present and let me speak with him or her" he replied very calmly.
"Well, you are going to have to wait in line like everyone else, I'm kinda busy and don't have to deal with that right now" he responded.
I agree, the guy should have waited, but man, that's no way to be a customer service representative.
So back to myself and my own story, the guy called International Flights, said some things I audibly understand, he looked at me and asked "When do you wanna fly?" "Tomorrow's fine," I told him. "Is 6:30AM good with you?" I figured if I had MORE time to blow between the flights, that would be good, seeing as how Delta delayed 5 flights this morning. "Yeah, that'll be OK." He hung up the phone printed out another Interrupted Flight pass, and I was out the door.
I realized as I was standing outside, that my Delta flights were taken care of, but I had to make a flight on Japan Airlines, so I ran back and got the 800 number to call them. I was afraid I'd reach someone who didn't speak my language at all, but surprisingly, he was English speaking and our conversation was off.
"Umm, yeah I'm supposed to make a flight today, no, tomorrow, wait tomorrow is today there, crap. Sorry, I'm supposed to have a flight on your airlines sometime this week and Delta's flight just got delayed and I missed my connection to Narita to even get to your airlines" I told him.
"OK Sir, so if Delta delayed your flight, can I speak with them?" He replied.
I turned and looked at the angry mob forming outside the Delta ticket window and decided against going back into that crazy mix. Meanwhile my wife was sitting in the car in front of me, waiting for me to get in. Of course, I'm on an international call, trying to keep my flights booked.
"Sir, I don't think that's possible, as the person I talked to had a conversation on the phone with his International Flights department" I tried that, maybe that would give him enough reason to just change the flight. Somehow, that worked.
"OK sir, let me just make some changes and now your flight is for the 19th, not the 18th. Wouldn't want you to get confused with the days." He responded jokingly.
Great, I got a new flight and it's all taken care of. I was on my way back home again, to say goodbye to everyone, again, and try again in the morning. I decided that maybe saying goodbye twice would only be as bad twice over, so I just layed low. I went directly to sleep and slept most of the day.
I woke up at 8PM that night, thoroughly rested and ready to stay up all night again to catch my flight in the morning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment