A day in my life

To some of you who don’t know me well … this might seem like it’s not a “normal” day for me or for anyone for that matter. But sadly, I have more days like this than not.  

I was woken up at 4:30 a.m., my home ringing. I started to panic. Only bad news comes at 4:30 a.m. In my fog of sleep, worrying about who might be calling and making sure my children aren’t woken up, I ran downstairs to catch the caller. I missed the call. The answering machine blares and I discover it’s Delta calling to tell me my flight is delayed by 45 minutes. Seriously, you’re going to wake me up in the middle of the night and give me a heart attack for 45 minutes? I tried to go back to sleep. No luck.

My flight to Atlanta was uneventful, so I thought … in route to Atlanta my connecting flight was canceled. When I landed I was informed my flight to Newark has been canceled and Delta kindly rerouted me through Memphis. I wouldn’t touch down in New Jersey until almost midnight (mind you, once I landed, I had an hour drive ahead of me to the Jersey Shore).

Since I thought “status” might have its privileges, I went straight to the Sky Lounge and asked a ticket agent there to help me.

“Is there any way you can get me to NYC any earlier than midnight?”

“No.”

“So every single flight from Atlanta to the New York City area is full?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said as she slides my old, useless boarding pass to me, and turned to walk away. She still hadn’t even given my new, albeit crappy, boarding passes to Memphis and then Newark. We continued “talking.”

She continued to be rude and unhelpful. I gave up. I took my new boarding passes and headed out. Fuming at this point I called Delta. The nice man on the other end of the phone is both kind and helpful. Within 10 minutes he had me on a new flight, this time directly to LaGuardia, arriving at 6:30 p.m.

I got on my new flight. A man insisted I’m sitting in his seat. We were both assigned the same seat. I was upgraded, score one for me! All is well … until I get to LaGuardia. At baggage claim there is no bag for me. After a little research, it’s discovered my bag is at the Newark airport. I filed a claim and they promise to deliver my bag to my hotel (an hour away by car) before midnight. Like an idiot I packed my coat in my bag, so coat less I’m off to Avis.

I got my car and headed to Jersey. I navigated the Brooklyn Queens Express Way without incident. I made it over the Verrazano Bridge. I was feeling great, until I saw the toll booth. The toll is $13. I have a total of $4 cash in my purse (I could have sworn I had more than that!). They don’t take credit cards at the toll booth. After being playfully mocked, they let me pass.

At this point, I’m tired and have to pee like a race horse. Normally, as a rule, I always use the restroom before I leave the airport. You have to, because you never know what could happen. But in all the chaos of my missing luggage, I forgot. So now I’m somewhere in New Jersey, on some parkway, I’m about to pee my pants. And then I realize my phone is about to die. The same phone I’m using to get directions to my hotel. Can it get worse?

I found a bathroom, woo hoo! I tried to buy a car charger for my phone … no such luck. I gave up and got back on the road. I made it to my hotel with a dead phone, but an empty bladder. Checked in and went upstairs.

My room is a chilly 62 degrees inside and even though the heat is on full blast, cold air is blowing. This won’t work. I complained. They moved me.

And now I sit with smelly teeth, no pajamas and no clothes for work in the morning. My friends … this is my life. I’ll take poopy diapers and cranky kids over this crap any day!

Update: I gave in. I waited until almost midnight for my bag to arrive, but it didn't. So I hit up the 24-hour Walmart. Let's just say shopping for underwear at a random Walmart in New Jersey is interesting, but not what I want to be doing on a Sunday at midnight. I had no idea Hanes now has "wedgie proof" briefs. Though I'd like to test out their marketing campaign, I went with the least ugly pair I could find. I'll spare you all the picture. I'm happy to report I now have new pajamas, a tooth brush and tooth paste and clean undies to sleep in. I'm told I should have my suitcase by 10 a.m. I guess my 9 a.m. business commitments will have to wait!