This week I was traveling on business. That is not necessarily new, but I went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was a new place for me. I thought the people there were very friendly and the area was nice. But every single flight I was on was either delayed or canceled. It started on Tuesday, when my airplane pulled away from the gate on time, only to promptly sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes. Then we flew to Philadelphia, where we circled for 20 minutes after arriving before finally landing. My next flight was scheduled to take off in 15 minutes and the flight attendant had everyone else stay seated while I and another gentleman were quickly ushered off the plane. I ran through the airport and across two terminals to reach my next gate, rushed up to the gate attendant and explained I was on the flight to Harrisburg. The guy looked at me and asked what I was so worked up about; that flight was 20 minutes delayed and hadn't even started boarding yet.
I managed to get to Harrisburg, but I was 30 minutes late to my meeting. The next day and a half ran smoothly, until I took a taxi back to the airport. My 6:05 departure was delayed until 7:15. I was supposed to catch an 8:05 flight from Dulles in Washington back to Raleigh-Durham. The gate agent was concerned that I would miss that flight so he booked me on to a 10:05 flight as well, to make sure I had a way home. I was a confirmed passenger on both planes at that point.
Flight takes off from Harrisburg and makes it to Dulles in 35 minutes. I hit the ground and make it to my next gate to find that my 8:05 departure was scheduled to leave at 9:20 at that point. So, I hadn't missed it. By 9:10, they had further delayed the flight until 9:54 pm. I asked the agent on the C concourse whether I should go ahead and take the 10:05, and she said she recommended it. So I book over to the A concourse and ask for a seat assignment. That is where things really went wrong. The agent at that gate refused to give me a seat assignment, even though I was a confirmed passenger on that flight. Her reason was that I already had a seat assignment on the 8:05 (currently showing a 9:54 departure time), and my luggage was on that flight. TSA Regulations require that I and my luggage fly on the same plane, so she said I had to go back to my original flight. (Don't ask what I think about how safe we all are in the hands of DHS and the TSA.)
I went to the Customer Service phone and asked for help. They said they were very sorry, but they could not override the gate agent, and suggested I return to the C concourse. The 10:05 departed, and my flight was scheduled for a 10:24 departure. We boarded the plane at 10:15 and sat. Waiting. For the captain to arrive from Philadelphia. They said his plane was in the air, he'll be here in a few minutes. Thank you for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience. Around 10:45--no captain. Still. 11:00 pm--first officer comes on the speaker and announces: sorry folks, the captain has timed out and cannot fly for the next 12 hours. Our flight is canceled, please return to the C concourse and we will make arrangements to get you to Raleigh sometime tomorrow.
By the time I make it to the ticket counter, two of the absolutely least helpful gate agents I have ever seen proceeded to insult each customer and "help" us with an attitude that felt like they thought it was our fault they were still there. I was booked out on a 12:40 pm flight the next day and given a voucher for a hotel in Ashburn. By the time the airport shuttle picked me up and deposited me there, it was 1:00 am. I won't name names here, but this was all on United. Aren't they the ones with the "Fly the Friendly Skies" motto? Ironically, TSA wasn't aware of it I guess, because my luggage went on to Raleigh on the 10:05 flight, despite the gate agent's brave efforts to prevent passengers and their luggage departing on different flights.
Ok, so that is the rant. I lost another day in the office, missed breakfast with my family, and got to sleep in another strange bed in the DC area. When I arrived at the airport and made it through security, I found my gate and settled in. I went plenty early, because I wanted to be ready as best I could for the next monkey wrench. A plane arrived at the gate, and as it was coming in there were several United ground crew members and Dulles airport staff who came in and out. You could tell something was different. As people filed off of the airplane, they were very quiet. And rather than rush off to their next fight, they gathered in the gate area and looked out the window. I walked over to join them. A hearse was sitting on the tarmac, with a Marine honor guard standing at ease nearby. The honor guard assembled and marched to their positions, and a flag draped coffin was unloaded from the cargo hold. The marines slowly saluted, then took up the coffin and delivered it to the hearse. There were at least 20 people watching from inside the terminal, and most passengers were still on the plane, watching through their windows. A muscular man to my left dressed in civilian clothes stood rigidly at attention, and saluted. I don't know whether he was active duty, CIA, NSA or what, but he had a military bearing. Some of the people there were Vietnam era baby boomers, some were foreign nationals, some were college kids. Several were quietly shedding tears. An Episcopal chaplain was among us, quietly doing what chaplains do. The door closed to the hearse and the honor guard withdrew, and the hearse pulled slowly away.
I won't spin this. I don't know how anyone in that room voted, or how any of them feel about the war. I am not going to talk about how that Marine's sacrifice made it possible for us to enjoy what freedoms we still have. I'm not going to rant about the waste of human life in the war. I'm just reporting what I saw and was a part of. It was an American moment and a human moment of paying respects to this unknown (to us) soldier. I don't know how that young man or woman would feel about strangers watching this event, or how his or her family would feel to know about it. But on Thursday morning, I saw people from all walks of life stop rushing through life to honor a fallen American soldier. I hope that we did our best for him or her. I know for me, I never regained the same level of frustration that I had been feeling earlier. I got back to Raleigh around 1:30 pm, and back to my house around 2:45. I thought about that flag draped coffin all day, and I guess I am still thinking about it.
Here is my heartfelt wish for all our people in Iraq and Afghanistan: I hope you all come home, safely, and soon.
Here is my heartfelt wish for all our people in Iraq and Afghanistan: I hope you all come home, safely, and soon.
1 comments:
Amen.
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