the four-hour one-hour flight.

returning home for a week (normally a one-hour flight), i figured i'd fly into my mom's hometown which is about 45 minutes from mine and spend a leisurely late afternoon with her, catching up, having dinner and fawning over my dog, who was staying at her house.

alas, it wasn't meant to be. at least as i had planned.

first, i couldn't print my boarding pass.

then, on my way to the airport, it was pouring rain and the fast lane was flooded. traffic.

then i forgot my cell phone in the car at the parking lot and had to do a loop with the driver so i could retrieve it.

a bossy couple that was on the shuttle tried to cut me off at the southwest skycap line but then saw the check-in kiosks and went inside. jerks.

i told the skycap the wrong destination because i normally fly to another airport. she looked at me sideways.

then i got "selected" for additional security which was a first for me (did it have to do with the fact that i didn't know where i was going?). a huge guy manhandling my unmentionables! so gross. of course, i had to ask myself the chances of the huge guy changing gloves between inspections. i'm thinking slim to none. the entire suitcase is going into the washer. yes, the rollerbag, too.

i approach the regular security line and am told that i need to go to the special security line, where i had to take of my shoes and my sweatshirt (thank god i was wearing the right bra underneath my superthin shirt). then i was wanded, my underwire gently touched (ugh) and released into the wild, i mean, gate.

my flight was delayed and delayed and delayed. for two and then some hours.

we finally board and the plane returns to the gate because of a maintenance issue, which was cleared. apparently we were on one of the more modern planes that needed a "reboot," as the pilot stated. hmmm.

luckily, after that, all was well. the two women next to me, strangers, were comparing their lives and chatting away. they both had children the same age and woman a. even had a grandchild. woman b. said that she looked far too young for a grandchild, but they were around the same age. i could tell that woman b. was being judgmental because woman a.'s daughter was just 21 when she had her son. woman b. was also a little on the negative side. their differences were palatable. woman a. was all smiles, laughs and giggled frequently. woman b. was serious. a salesperson for a mainframe company.

but as they were talking, woman a. said that even though life never turns out the way you plan, it is still an amazing journey. she said that she could have never anticipated any of what has happened to her, but life is still a joy. i could see how right she was. though i arrived late, i got to enjoy that dinner with mom and fawn over my dog. it just took me four hours instead of one.

---

update: i was selected again on the flight back. in the words of ducky, "do i offend?"

art credit: watson wyatt.