The gods must be crazy...

What a start to a trip.

I got to the airport at 8.15 am to make my 10.45 direct flight from Atlanta to Seoul. I got in line, in a good mood. Optimistic about the entire procedure, making new friends chitchatting and whatnot, trying to be cool. One of my suitcases is five pounds overweight so I repack my stuff… Great.

Then the clock starts ticking. More and more people are freaking out about missing their flights. It became a vicious cycle. As people missed their flights and they spent longer and longer to rebook them, it keep us in line waiting longer and longer…The guy right behind me has a 10.00 am flight, and they’ve already told him he’s missed it. It’s now 9.30 and I am freaking out.

I get to the counter at about 9.48, and the guy tells me my flight just closed, and not only that, but that there was no available flight until Sunday. At first I’m irritated. I’ve been here 2 and a half hours and you only have 4 `people working when you claim to know it’s the busiest travel day of the year. The man gets rude; I demand to speak to a manager.

They keep asking me to step aside. I say look, I am being as polite to you as possible because I really have some choice words I would like to utilize. The manager needs to come over to me because that’s his job, and you other random travel agent need to focus on who else’s flight you are attending to and step up off my case. I said I am not in the way, you can check in whoever you need to and since I am not doing anything illegal you can have security escort me if you please.... I really just need a minute to process this because now you are telling me that I will not get to Seoul until 7.20 am Monday morning, when I have training at 9.00 am that morning.

No. This can’t be true. Maybe it’s a sign I need to take my ass back to Atlanta and get that stupid CDC job… The guy begins telling me of some option where I can fly to Japan, and from there try to get to Korea and that would have me leaving tomorrow instead of Sunday, or I could try to fly standby to Japan or something.

At this point I am barely listening to him as I bawl my eyes out. Why God Why have you made 2008 the worst year ever. I think at this point everyone starts to freak out because there is this skinny mini bawling so hard she is shaking. My buddy from the 2 hour line comes back (even though he can’t leave until tomorrow) and says I just can’t leave you, how are you getting home, and he’s trying to calm me down.

I’ve already called my good old buddy to come get me from the airport cos I’d told my ride to leave hours ago, when I hear the next lady getting crunk as to how she can’t get to Korea today. I say, me too, that’s why I’m crying. I knew a crapload of people were going to miss that flight because I saw a plethora of Koreans behind me. So they’re travel agent is putting them on a flight that leaves the same day and will get them to Korea on Sunday as like the earliest they can do. Wait a minute I say, why can’t I get on that? so the guy puts me on it.

Turns out in order to arrive in Korea on Sunday afternoon, I have to go to Prague first, and I have a 10 hr layover there. Are you kidding me? That’s why I shelled out the extra money for a direct flight so as not to deal with this crap, and now instead of a 2 hr layover in san fran, I have a 10 hr layover in Prague?

Well, I decide, at least I get to Korea before Monday like I need to, and I get to see a new country from the airport, so lets make the best of it. Of course my flight is not until 6 pm tonight and its only 11.00 am and of course I can’t check in until at least 12.10…

The nice guy I met earlier offers to buy me breakfast/lunch to which I refuse because I was still in too much shock to eat. We end up chatting, and he’s a really nice person. I wish there were more people like him in the world now that is a true Christian, the type I admire… It wasn’t sketchy. He just said if my daughter were traveling alone I’d hope someone would help her out. He has a five year old daughter. We ended up having personal conversations about life and people and everything like that, which I won’t put his biz (or mine) too much out in the street but it was therapeutic. Hopefully we keep in touch. When I got in the line to check in for the 2nd time he left. Of course there was a flight to Nigeria so I am surrounded by my brethren, not even realizing I am one of them.

It was beginning to look like the same thing would happen again to so many people, but I’m not worried. 6 hrs gives me beaucoup de temps… I’m now best friends with the delta lady that kept walking around because she was so sad for me, and even that mean dude from earlier was my best friend when I told him I loved him for getting me the new flight. Ass.

Oh, while I was waiting some rico Sauvé walks up to me and tries to holla, I’m like dude I am leaving today. Another Problem is he is like same age as my dad. Yeah. He’s still very handsome and he must have been gorgeous in his 20s but I’m not looking for a sugar daddy. I’m queasy about those things. 10 years older is like my max and even then, you’ve got to be a young 10 years older than me. I can tell he was a young’ in at heart though. He told me I was a VABW (which I learnt means very attractive black woman) that my eyes and hair were gorgeous, and that I was going to break a lot of hearts. If only he knew I have no time for that shit.

So anyways towards the end finally 8 people are working the line so all my new found buddies will make their flight to which I am ecstatic for them. I have now waited 1.5 hrs the second time around, but my stuff is checked. Off to security. Of course I am selected for additional screening because I “bought” my ticket last minute. You serious? You guys gave me that. Losers. I am still keeping a smile on my face, and since I have hours to kill anyways I humor them.

Finally I get to my gate, exhausted, waiting to board for Prague when guess who walks by me as I type this. TI, the rapper. Yes TI, who can have whatever he likes. He’s much shorter in person. That was the highlight of my day. There wasn’t even an entourage with him, just two people. He’s cute. If he wasn’t so hood then… but I like preppy boys…

So here I am, waiting at the airport, 2.5 more hrs to go, and the freaking Atlantaairport doesn’t even give free wi-fi…. I guess I’ll update you from Prague. Now all I’ve had is coffee and tear juice and I’m starving, plus this totally screws up all the plans I had for Sunday in Korea but it’s all good, I’m finally on my way…