It was the most pleasant 6 hours I ever spent in an airport, and given the weather we got today in DC – sleet, high winds both in gusts (up to 40 mph) and constant blowing (25 mph) – it’s probably a good thing that USAirways cancelled all their flights that use the little 50 seater regional jet.
And you know, if we hadn’t wasted the 25 minutes standing in the line at the check in desk only to be told that we needed to go to the ticket counter upstairs to see if we could get a refund on our non-refundable tickets, which we did (you have to give Useless Air that; they didn’t even flinch), we wouldn’t have been in line with the people we were in line with…funny, pleasant, looking on the bright side of a miserable situation people. One from Atlanta stuck in DC after a week’s business trip; one from Tampa with nothing more than a shirt and tie in a dry cleaning bag and copies of his resume in his zip up portfolio because he was in town for the day for a job interview.
We got to see the Diva in his big sunglasses and his fur (faux I hope) jacket and his overpriced Ugg boots have a tantrum at the counter. That was worth the price of admission. There was a little event managing (what bright light thought it was a good idea to put operational self-check kiosks in front of a staffed ticket counter? or was it just an experiment in adjusting the blood pressure of everyone waiting on the line to see someone blithely walk up to the counter after you’d been standing there for two hours only to realize he was headed for the computer terminal not the attendant?). And there were a few laughs. Plus full refunds!
Fortunately I did not have to hand out my for travel-use-only anti-anxiety meds like candy to the people in the line (more for me later!).
Unfortunately we did not make it to TGF’s sister’s wedding. And with any luck the back side of this weather won’t keep them from going on their honeymoon in Europe.
No matter what happens, Friday was yet another entry in the “you can’t get there from here, lady” tour.
Sometimes things work. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes a sense of humor (and an ability to re-tell it) is all that is needed!
Have a swell week!
STB
Anyone wearing Ugg boots is a sure bet for the shallowest possible end of the gene pool.
glad you survived the wait without having to beat said Ugg wearer over the head with their own boots.