I go to check in, and can’t for reasons unclear.
I leave after work, and the travel to the airport is bogged down.
The airport parking is almost full (despite my prepaid reservation) and I miss the shuttle bus.
I get to the airport and can’t check in without intervention.
“Intervention” means a line 20 people deep of complex time- consuming issues serviced by a single counter.
Resolution does come, along with a 30 (no wait 25, no wait 24) minute delay.
We get boarded, finally, and then are all made to deplane because a security sweep of the plane was skipped.
We RE-board, and push off.
We sit on the tarmac for so long that I wonder if it’s possible I fell asleep and missed our takeoff. (I didn’t.)
The man next to me is slight but still can’t seem to keep from manspreading so that his leg is always touching mine. I push myself to the far side and he still shifts, maybe just falling asleep but still irksome, until I get fed up and shift so hard in my seat that he’s jostled and moves.
When we land, they instruct us to wait at the exit end of the jetway for the gatechecked bags, where a large shipping door will open to provide them. The door is jammed and after 3 attempts by two different staffers, they send us back to the plane end to wait for our bags to come.
I get my bag, walk the hundred miles through customs, and find a ladies room. It won’t dispense the soap.
I get turned around and end up at the wrong end of the universe to catch the airport shuttle.
I catch the shuttle and have trouble getting into my hotel room.
But finally, finally, there is a room and a friend and a shower and a bed. And the clock is past 2 as I wind down, and then at last I am asleep.
