Wednesday, September 10, 2009
Yesterday was not a very good day: it already didn’t start in a nice way as the night before I had a big argument with my husband and I was feeling quite sad.
I went to airport in the afternoon, ready to go to London and then Amsterdam for my meetings and broadcast exhibition: I boarded the British Airways airplane at 7.15 pm as per schedule, sat down and started making myself comfortable when only after 10 minutes we were there, the pilot told us – I’m sorry, but we have a technical problem, which need to be fixed and we can’t leave until we are told that is safe to fly-.
Then we heard nothing for the next 30 minutes, 1 hour… and finally again the pilot:- the engineers are trying to find a missing part, which should be coming from Atlanta-…-aren’t we in Chicago? – I was thinking…I was already getting very annoyed by this delay and called my husband many times for the latest reports.
Two hours had passed, I hadn’t eaten, I couldn’t breathe very well, it was cold, my back was hurting and I already had enough of the waiting and stood up to check how my knees were doing: all good, at least one part of my body was still fine.
After 2 hours and 15 minutes finally a flight attendant: - I’m sorry but this plane has been canceled. There is an airplane leaving at 10.05 pm, but we will not be able to board everybody on that one unfortunately. Passengers in first class, business class, silver and gold card members will be transferred to that flight and then we will select a few others, depending on urgency of going to London tonight. For all the rest –I was of course sure already that I was going to be in this category- the next flight available is tomorrow at 5.30pm. I’m sorry about the inconvenience –bla, bla, bla…-
-Ok, I guess I’m out of here-. I started collecting my things and then I heard another passenger speaking Italian with one of the flight attendants who was happy we were not flying as she wasn’t feeling very well.
I started talking in Italian as well with them (I thought at least I could speak my language today with someone and tried to stay positive): the passenger was a business man from Milan who didn’t seem to be too mad at this cancellation or at least he was not showing it too much…just like me…or we just didn’t know who to blame for this, us for choosing to fly tonight, the missing part of the plane or British Aiways all together for not checking before all the essential parts of the airplane were there.
Anyway, we all got out of the plane and a flight attendant started calling some people – I guess the lucky ones- who could board the other aircraft and leave the same night.
Then she started with the categories that could fly, besides the ones already selected before: people with children- why am I not surprised? You have an annoying crying baby with you and you can pass first all the times... I’ll never know why is that…-
After hearing this I decide to join the line for the people that were leaving tomorrow and so did the Italian business man: I thought that if I had to be among the ones who couldn’t fly that night, I might as well be the first for once of one category.
As a matter of fact the next and last category that could leave that night and go to London were the people who had booked a cruise ship the next day –no one in front or behind me understood what was that…perhaps they had left out of the plane only the foreigners? Oh well, at this point I didn’t care, I just wanted to go to sleep some time soon-.
Finally I could speak to someone at the desk: the flight attendant had turned into an agent and told me I could go to sleep at the Hilton, have dinner and breakfast for free and next day I could leave early in the morning with American Airlines –I’m not happy to have to go with American Airlines but I need to leave as soon as I can to get to London on time for my meetings- I thought.
The Italian man now needed my help to understand the lady at the front desk: she basically told him the same thing and put him on another flight in the afternoon next day.
We both finally went to collect our luggage: - thank God, my red luggage was right there at the front desk…my luck was back I thought!- The Italian man said his luggage was black and it would be hard to find it: -I thought he could have been right so I told him that I’d like to go and if he wanted to join me for dinner he could call me later-. He agreed and told me his name was Luigi and we said goodbye for now.
I went to the hotel and on my way there I met a bunch of interesting people who were in the same airplane that didn’t fly tonight. We called the elevator that was going down to the hotel: - It was broken…of course! I was starting to think I was just having a bad dream. I never had all this bad luck in just 1 day! Actually I think all the bad luck I didn ’t have in a lifetime was coming to hunt me that day, the 9th of September 2009 …-uhmm, 09/09/09, I guess this date brings bad luck in some way, I’ll never fly again on the 09/09, that’s for sure!-
We got to the stairs and saw the direction- Hilton-! We were there finally and we decided to meet at the restaurant all together the 4 of us.
I did the check in, entered my room, left my luggage there, called my husband again with the latest and go to eat.
We sat down, we introduced ourselves and we ordered right away: my food arrived first. It was 11.00 pm already, I was starving and I started eating…I knew I should have waited for the others (I usually have manners) but I didn’t know them and I was hungry so I started cutting my bruschetta and eat my shrimp cocktail!
So at this table I was sitting with a guy on his 30, his name was Floppy and he was from Romania: he had long hair and his face in fact looked from Romania. The other two at my table laughed when they heard his name and asked him what name was that. He explained them that is name was actually Florin but because he likes computers his family calls him Floppy –all was clear now they said…-was it-?-The other two were a woman on her 40 (her name was Emma) from the UK, working as a nurse in Chicago and married to an American and a man on his 45 something (his name was Lenn but I’m not sure I catched the right name) from NY but living in London- I told him he was lucky and he replied that in fact he was very happy to live there-.
At the table next to us there was a friar, or a monch…I’m not sure: later he would explain what he was and that he was going to Rome to study Theology but he was not a Francescan even if he looked like, he belonged to another category which I didn’t understand what it was…anyway it didn’t really matter to me, the music was loud, I was tired and I still couldn’t believe that all this situation could be real...
The NY man asked him to join our table and the UK woman asked him to bless our food –I guess we all needed to be blessed so even if I’m not religious I listened to his blessing…perhaps I needed it that night-.
They finally asked me where I was from and what did I do: when I told them I was from Italy and I was working in Broadcast and was going to a meeting in London with Bskyb they were all very interested in me. Before they didn’t seem that interested: maybe I was just looking like a pretty but looking very tired girl on her pink cardigan, while then they understood I was a business woman and actually had a very interesting life.
It was already 11.45, my husbands called me and I told him I was ok, and having dinner with total strangers.
After a few minutes Luigi called finally- I had forgotten all about him- and he told me that they lost his luggage- so I thought:- someone has much more bad luck than me today or it was just one of the smartest ideas for me to decide to fly with a shining red luggage-
When he arrived at the restaurant of the hotel where those strangers and I were having dinner, I was ready to go to bed, so I introduced him to the other passengers at my table and said goodnight.
I called my husband to say goodnight and head to bed. I only had 5 hours to sleep so for the first time in my all life (and hopefully the last) I went to sleep wearing my clothes, I only took off my pants.
As I said before I was too tired for anything.
5.30am, 10th of September and my wake up call rings: I wake up, I’m ok, I just have a little headache. I go to take a shower, wear my clothes and head downstairs to have a quick breakfast.
The croissant is perfect and so is my cappuccino so I’m feeling that today must be a better day…even if I’m flying with American Airlines…The American guy from NY last night said that the people working at American Airlines seem to be bothered by our presence in the airplane: I rarely used AA and actually I think he might be right, I had that feeling too.
When I get to the check in kiosk the lady seems ok with me, she assigns me a seat, which I request in the aisle so that I can stand up whenever I want – I can’t sit for too long, my body can ’t take it-.
Well, I decide now to try my luck and once passed security I go to my terminal and I see that the chubby lady at the AA desk is free so I go straight to her and ask if there is any chance I can get upgraded. She looks at me and she says:- No- so I explain to her what happened last night with British Airways and that I thought I actually deserved an upgrade considering the circumstances, but again she said:- No, I can’t, BA would not pay us for this-…ok, no luck again… cazzo!
I board the airplane at 9.05am –we are on time-, I go to my seat and there is no TV screen in front of my seat! I feel I have been downgraded now…with AA there are only a few screens on the walls and you can only watch the one movie they decide to put on.
The American man come and sit close to where I am and he says to me:- As I said yesterday AA sucks…-.
It’s ok I think, nobody is sitting next to me and I have 3 seats all for me, which means I can sleep, I’ m lucky and all is great!
Then I look at my wedding ring…-where the hell is it? It’s not on my finger!! Oh no…- and then I immediately remember that I left it together with my mother ring by the bathroom sink in my hotel room when I went to wash my hands.
As soon as I can take my safety seat belt off I go to the flight attendant, the one that looks nicer comparing to the rest of the crew and ask her to please call immediately the hotel at the airport and she tells me- I’m sorry, but with American Airlines we have no phone connections, nothing, I’m very sorry…-
Cazzo! Who is going to tell this to my husband and my mother now?
