Flyin’ Right
My Darling Denise has been away before, but rarely for ten days, and never out of the state, let alone the country, so it was with some dismay that I got up Monday morning as she was headed off to Paris with some fashion design colleagues. I knew it would be a marvelous time for her – she thrives in that environment of beauty and creativity – but I had been becoming ever closer to her, and this impending separation didn’t feel good to me.
It didn’t feel good to her either, mostly because she hadn’t been abroad in ten years and she was struggling with all the new travel rules and packing issues. She was just putting some final pieces in her bag in the car when I flew out the door to tell her that her flight was cancelled. She thought I was joking. She came inside and to see an email from one of her traveling companions. She called the airlines, and it turned out that there was a mechanical issue and the plane would be delayed a few hours, not canceled.
Somehow that delay rebalanced both of us. I can’t explain how – someone said Mercury turned retrograde – but suddenly we both felt fine about the trip. I drove her down to the shuttle, and as her luggage was being hoisted into the back of the bus, I asked the driver if she might just drive right out to the plane so Denise wouldn’t have to wait in line. Alas, the driver didn’t know I was joking until I told her so.
It all turned out quite well. Per instructions from the airline, Denise arrived three hours prior to the new six o’clock departure time, and found the international terminal almost empty. No lines to speak of, and plenty of courtesy.
Traveling to Europe, and anywhere else for that matter, should be a joy, not just safe. Those who fly on Air Force One should remember that as be our goal. ‘Cause we can never making flying – or just living on the ground – safe from terrorists. Only a world without hatred will protect us.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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