Cancelled Again = Foilage & Flexibility

There I sat with the rest of the lemmings- waiting to board flight 4542 to Raleigh in our something less than comfortable airport chairs.

One passenger standing nearby answered his cell phone. His buddy who was supposed to be on the same flight was running late. In his mad dash to the ticket counter, he discovered that our flight had been cancelled.

A quick scan of the nearby departures screen failed to confirm this. A glance at the counter near our (and every other) gate showed a complete absence of any airline personnel.

Laptops whirred and cell phones snapped open. Dozens of passengers sought answers and found that indeed our flight had been cancelled. (By the way, no announcement of this fact was ever made in the boarding area.)

The airline agent I spoke to (on my iphone!) suggested that I return to the ticket counter. Not that I minded the walk, but there was something about walking back by the TSA personnel after I'd just done the security shuffle (you take your laptop out, you take your shoes off..) that fried my bacon.

After arriving at the ticket counter and waiting my turn behind a large group of friends with an even larger group of bags to check, I was told that there was good news.

I'd been rebooked.

For 5pm the next day.

I'm not sure if the groan was audible or not, but I felt it in my bones.

You see- this was my short trip. Out Friday am, back Sunday pm. And although I didn't want to leave my family, I took solace in the fact that I'd be flying.

Or maybe not.

Suddenly, the 6:30am commute to the airport seemed so unnecessary.

Time to get to the solution side of things.

I rallied and asked the ticketing agent to please retrieve my checked bag with as much kindness and charm as I could muster. Five minutes later I was at the Budget counter, laying claim to a gold Chevy SSR- their, more masculine version of a PT Cruiser. 5 minutes after that, I was racing the predicted arrival time in the right hand corner of my GPS.

Yes, it was disappointing.

Yes, I missed a lunch date with Connections leaders that I was really looking forward to.

Yes, it rained most of the way there- and hardest after it got dark.

Yes, I stopped at almost every rest area in West Virginy to pee.

As an aside to my KY friends- the fine folks of WVA make us look cultured! At least those who engage in conversations in the rest area men's rooms do anyway.

On the upside, I saw some beautiful stretches of fall leaves.

And I listened to another David Baldacci book on cd. Bless you Cracker Barrel.

And I'm sure God used the moment to remind me that I'm not in control and that the world doesn't end when my plans fall through.

And why was my flight cancelled?

Mechanical problemns made the aircraft unfit to fly.

Thanks again for the drive Lord.