Planes, Train, and Automobiles...

and yet I'm still not at my destination.

I was excited about this trip. A visit to a city and country I've never been to; Cartagena, Colombia. Eric has been there for a week now and I was to meet him there this afternoon. My flight out of Logan was at an ungodly hour of 5:30 this morning, but Dad was kind enough to drive me in. There was a line at the Spirit Airlines counter. About 30 people ahead of me. I didn't think much of it because of the early hour and my early arrival to the check-in. It soon became clear however that the women behind the counter took acid that left them convinced they were doing their job while swimming in tar (or as my mom wondered later - perhaps they were on strike?).

They moved at a snail's pace, taking an average (and I'm not even exaggerating) of fifteen to twenty minutes checking each person in. The line finally got down to about fifteen people and it was quite obvious we would not make our flight (we were all going to Myrtle Beach and then on to various places from there).  A few people that the women had checked in even returned from the gate after being missing the plane.

We stood there for much longer, waiting for our turn to see what they could do to rectify the situation. When it was my turn, I stood there for fifteen minutes in silence (the woman, too) before I finally said, "What's going on?"  She told me that they were waiting for their manager to return their call and tell them what to do. Really? You need to be told what to do? I thought to myself that the answer seemed obvious.  I stood around for another twenty minutes before she said, very quietly, "We can get you there tomorrow"  I told her that there was a United flight (everyone was on their PDAs and iPhones checking other flight options) leaving in a few hours that would get me there this evening. After mumbling something to me, she ambled over to the on-site manager to ask if she could do this, then returned, shaking her head (slowly of course) reporting back to me that she could not.

I turned to the manager a few stations down and did something I don't recall ever doing in public to a stranger before. FLIPPED. MY. LID. "That's completely unacceptable." I told him. He told me they are not authorized to buy flights with another airline.

"That's completely unacceptable!  Your inability to be efficient is not our fault!  I'm not going to arrive in Colombia tomorrow afternoon so that I can be there less than 48 hours and then turn around and come right back again!" In truth, I would be there more than 48 hours, but not much and I was tired and my math sucks even when I'm not tired.

"Maybe you can extend your vacation." he suggested hopefully.

"I have to go back to work on Monday. You need to provide me an alternate flight!"  I told him I should at least be getting a refund. He said there was nothing more he could do. He could give me a refund (if I didn't take the trip).

After I stopped yelling, I had of course upset myself worse so I started to cry. (Not, like, flailing hiccuping crying, but crying just the same. Sheesh) And the woman behind the counter just kept looking at her screen silently, hitting some buttons, etc. I think maybe she was playing Farmville. About fifteen minutes later, she gave me my info for the flight I would be on tomorrow. A few stations down, a man trying to deal with the flight of his wife and their 2 year old got pissed, "Are you even going to apologize for this? Are you even going to apologize to her!" he pointed at me as I blubbered (quietly and stoically, I said!), "You need to at least have some communication! You need to at least look at your passengers and tell them what is going on. No one has said anything to any of us in this process!"  All I could think was that I don't care so much about an apology as much as I cared about getting to Colombia today.

Don't apologize. Just fix it.

So then I waited. I sent my dad an email asking if he could pick me back up and to call me when he got the email. I waited seemingly forever while the turtle-ladies finished up torturing the last few unlucky (non-traveling)passengers (the woman trying to get to Bogota with her two-year old now would not be flying out til the 5th!).  When the manager was done with all the rest, I took my turn. I apologized for raising my voice to him and I asked if any kind of compensation could be made. Throw me a bone here, man.

He gave me a refund for my baggage and roomier seats on the way there and on the way back. And he moved Eric to the roomier seats with me (we weren't going to be sitting next to each other initially on our return flight). Not that I'm not grateful to sit next to Eric, that is, if I ever make it there to begin with, but whoo-hoo. Baggage reimbursement? Lame.

I asked him how I could be sure this wouldn't happen tomorrow morning, too. He told me that as long as he's worked there, this has never happened, but that basically I should come in even earlier. When he told me that he now has to report to his boss what happened, the woman behind the counter, standing next to him mumbled something to him about the computer not letting them assign the seats.

Really, lady? And it didn't occur to you to have the courtesy to lift your head from your mesmerizing screen-saver to say to all of us in line, 'I'm sorry, but we're having problems with our computers. We're doing the best we can'?

Yes, I know there are policies about delaying flights and yadda yadda. I don't care. Not my problem. If I'd shown up late or something this would all be much easier to stomach. But I, and my dad who is very sick with a cold and kindly got up at a crazy hour to haul my ass here, was not late.

When I was done at the kiosk it came to me that my best bet was to take the subway home. It was still so early and even if Dad was available to come get me, he would now be getting into rush hour traffic. So, I hopped a bus which took me to a subway which switched onto another subway. I checked train departures on my phone, but the timing wasn't right and I'd have to wait over an hour for another one from North Station to Wakefield. So, I went to Oak Grove, just missed the bus to Wakefield and again would have to wait an hour for the next one. So, I asked the cartoonish cab-driver with fire-engine red hair in his jalopy how much it would cost to get to Wakefield, and I got in.

It reeked of cigarette smoke and there were three warning lights glowing on the dashboard.

It was kind of perfect. Oh, and did I mention that I had on lightweight pants and a lightweight sweatshirt because I was supposed to be tropics-bound and not traveling around Boston on the subway in winter?

So, my point is that I would not recommend Spirit Airways. Just sayin'.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I have been listening to this lovely book called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, about a group of people on an English island and how they kept each other company and sane during WWII. A few years later, Juliet, a woman on the main land catches wind of the group, begins to do research to write a book, and ultimately goes and visits the people she's been corresponding with on the island. She describes this one moment where two characters, a man and a little girl, sit quietly watching a bird pull a worm from the ground. I loved the simplicity of it. The intrigue that came from watching nature. There is a lot of colorful, beautiful description in this book, and it reminded me that joy can come from witnessing simple moments. I'm not much of a nature girl, but that doesn't change the fact that the writing brings the world of Guernsey to life in my mind. I can see what the people look like, how the sky was at sunset.

In the process of Juliet collecting information to write a book about the Society, she also learned about their struggles during the war. The book brings stories of the war that I hadn't heard before. How people handled certain situations; the children being sent away until the end of the war, for example.

Such an interesting contrast of the beauty and hospitality of the people of the Society, and the ugliness of the war.

Too Funny

...to not share.

BU

On Monday I start working full time as a photographer at Boston University. I'm quite excited about this new adventure and to join a shooting staff again. t the moment I am in chilly Cape Cod sitting in front of a fire. I was looking around on BU Today, Boston University's online news site, when I came across the project "LGBT Voices". I watched the video below and knew I wanted to share it.

Too Much Fun For Halloween!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Mail Guard

Oliver is exhausted from his daily mail attack. I was so happy mom caught this moment with her camera. We joke sometimes that Oliver might give himself a coronary throwing himself at the door and whatever is being placed through the slot. Note the condition of the junk mail at the top of the frame.

Technology's Taking Over

I heard a segment on NPR today about texting and how people are doing more of that than talking on the phone these days. The theory is that people want to know just the basic information they need to know rather than bothering with small talk. One college student talked about how she only communicated with friends far away by texting, and that it's actually considered intrusive to call someone.

Intrusive? So weird.

Technology is an issue for sure. I have become such a quick typer that any journal writing I do now is not written at all but typed. I write much slower, but when I write, it forces my brain to slow down as well, which I think it a good thing. I think the words I write down are probably different than the ones I type. Somehow, I feel like the way the information is recorded could actually effect what information is recorded. Like your brain operates slightly differently depending on how I'm recording them.

On a broader and much more important scale, I know that many school's are no longer teaching cursive to their students because of computers. They feel that people have no use for cursive anymore. I suspect that penmanship in general comes in last place when it comes to school subjects. I think it's such a shame. There is something to be said for the ability to hand-write a nice note. If I have kids someday, they will learn to write thank you notes. Snail mail thank yous, not ones made on some website and sent to the recipient.

As technology advances, we are becoming more and more insular as people. We go out into the world and wander it with our heads down, checking our PDAs and texting people. We may not be in need of new friends, but we wouldn't know how to make them if given the opportunity, because we have learned to communicate by text and not by talking. Regular everyday human interaction will be minimized.

The personal check out counters at the grocery store are a perfect example. I use them all the time. I feel like it's faster now that I have become so accustomed to how they work. But, it's yet another way I am failing to connect with another human being, even if only for a split second.

It's very sad to think that we will learn to simply keep to ourselves in every possible way as a result of modern conveniences. These modern advances take us to technology and away from humanity.

Monsters and Spice