Terminal

(I have not seen that movie, which I overheard some travellers condemn as "the Worst!")

I felt like Tom Hank's character in Terminal yesterday. I arrived at 5:15, checked my bag and got myself confirmed using one of those handy self-check in computers. Very smooth. Took all of 15 minutes, and that was only because I was tagged to wait with my bag while is was scanned. No problem. I had faith that I was going to get where I needed to go, despite the dire warnings of my in-laws, who are much more experienced with the chaos stand-by can create.

Then I was told by the ticket counter lady that there had been a computer malfunction and the airline I was using couldn't make any of its flight plans. They had no idea when it would be fixed. Turned out that they were back up and running by 6:00, but because they then had to do all kinds of plans and fuel calculations and such, all the flights were about 2 hours delayed. It stayed that way for the rest of the day. This meant people getting rerouted all over the place, which meant that my little non-rev, stand-by butt was staying right where it was. I was number 26 on a list for 5 empty seats at one point. They kept saying "Oh, the next one looks better...keep trying", so I stayed until almost 2 pm, when I finally gave up.

I was so frustrated at not being able to end the day by seeing family (the thing that made it worthwhile to sit in an airport alone for hours), and so tired from getting up 3:45 am, that I cried as I waited for Mikey to come pick me up. I just couldn't convince myself that my faith hadn't been misplaced. I had spent the whole day in a state of calm, telling myself that "it was okay I missed that flight, I guess the next one is the one I am supposed to be on". And there I was sitting in the front of the airport (without my luggage, which DID get to Minneapolis on the first flight), choking in the smoke 3 desperate smokers (tampering with smoke detectors in the lavetory is a federal offence), and headed back to the home I wasn't supposed to see for another 2 weeks.

As I calmed down, I realized that behind the frustration, I still did have that faith. I decided that there was no way for me to know why, but I was not supposed to leave yesterday. Maybe by staying in Cali, some horrible tragedy was diverted. My mom was supposed to drive to the cities to pick me up, but she didn't have to... Or perhaps, there was someone else who needed to get where they were going more than I did - a man going home to see his father for the last time or a mother who needed to be at her only daughters wedding. Or maybe I was just supposed to learn that it is worth $400 to get home to see family. I don't know. Whatever it was, I am greatful for the opportunity to be a part of it.

So, I still have my faith that things happen for the best. It was tested a bit in the San Diego airport yesterday, but in the end strengthened. However, when I got home, I booked myself a flight to MN. After all, to paraphrase, life helps those who help themselves. I am headed back down to the airport in about an hour. I have faith that I will be in MN by 8:35 tonight. I just hope that all the sons are with their soon-to-be-departed fathers and all the mothers with their soon-to-be-married daughters. Because today it is my turn to see my parents.