Airport Anarchy

I am praying that my flight experience back to Texas will be less insane than it was getting here. But I've already run into a few things that have been proving otherwise. Getting through security and onto the plane on Friday was fine, however soon after we boarded the captain came on the speaker and said that he had noticed one of the 'pins' holding the Co2 tank for one of the emergency slides had been pulled. He wanted to make sure it was still safe, and that the slide would not deploy spontaneously in flight so the passengers who were seating in the rows near the slides had to de-board the plane while it was being looked at. At first everyone was fine feeling assured that our captain had only our safety in mind. After about a half hour later he came back on to announce that we were waiting for the mechanics to come up with a diagnosis for what was going on. He said that at some point one of the catering staff probably tripped the pin while supplying the plane, and that if the slide deployed unintentionally it could seriously hurt passengers.

The flight was supposed to leave at 1:35pm, and by the time 3:00 rolled around and we were all still sitting there on the plane, people started getting anxious. Some said that they were already going to miss their connecting flight and were looking at their iphones and blackberries to see if any other flights were available. People were generally friendly with each other, but also frustrated with the situation. One boisterous woman began to joke that the airline should turn "lemons to lemonade by serving us free cocktails!" hahahah.

The captain kept saying that it was better to be safe than to end up in the air in a situation where we could be in serious trouble, and everyone could understand. They finally announced that they were going to have a whole new slide shipped from Atlanta for it to be replaced and the flight was delayed to leave at 8:30pm. I was scheduled to arrive in Charlotte at 8pm! If I would have stayed with that flight I wouldn't have arrived in Atlanta until 11pm and they were giving out hotel vouchers because there wouldn't be anymore flights to Charlotte until the morning. As it is I was only going to have barely 2 days to hang out with Amy J, and I wasn't ok with having to sleep in Atlanta and miss out on that time. It was ridiculous how they were helping people figure out alternatives. They had one, under-qualified woman helping a huge line of people and it took almost an hour to get to the front of the line when there were only about 7 people ahead of me. Even better was that once I got to the front she was no help at all. I had just missed a flight 10 minutes before that was going to Atlanta!

I prayed for patience and strength as I tried my hardest not to break down crying. I turned my

survival mode on and walked up and down the terminals, and asked one of the delta ladies at the terminal of the flight I barely missed and she told me about a flight that was also headed toward Atlanta. I met her a little while later at the other terminal and got a stand-by ticket, and noticed another guy from my original flight doing the same. We had no problem getting on, and there was a connecting flight right to Charlotte that same night! What was with that lady? She didn't even offer stand-by! Anyway...I ended up getting here around midnight and Amy

picked me up.

Oh, except...because I changed flights so last

minute, my bag was not able to be transfered to my plane. So guess where my bag was? Yep, on that original flight not scheduled to arrive in Charlotte until 10:30am the next morning. Luckily I was staying with a girlfriend is just about the same size as me hah. The weekend went very well, I explored the city while Amy was at work on Saturday and then we went out to a really yummy dinner.

She rented a car for the weekend so we could get around more easily, and she had a bunch of

things she really needed at the mall, so we spent

the whole day shopping! It was awesome :)

Plus we went and saw Alice in Wonderland

in 3D!

Last night we watched the Oscars and made cookies :) And had some fun with the self-timer on my camera :P

I've been praying since I woke up that my travels back to Texas today will be much more seamless. However, after I checked my bag and waited in the enormous security line, they stopped me and found my Klean Kanteen in my bag, which I forgot to empty. GAH! They made me go back out and empty it and come back through the scanners lol. A minor bump in the road really. Then I arrived at my terminal to find that my flight was on time and everything looks good. Right? Wrong. As soon as I sat down, this middle aged man walked up to me and told me that he was just about to leave on his flight, but noticed me when I walked by and wanted to tell me that he thought I was really beautiful. At first I was flattered and he seemed harmless so I smiled and said thanks. He asked a couple harmless questions about what I was doing in Charlotte, but when he found out I wasn't from here, he appeared disappointed and proceeded to tell me that he was hoping I was from around here so he could take me out to dinner. AHHHHHHH!!!!! LOL He left and I shook it off. Ew. Then about 10 minutes ago, as I was beginning to write this posting, I hear that the flight is delayed because of possible thunderstorms? So I went to the desk and got a backup flight that will get me into San Antonio only an hour or so behind schedule. Continental Airlines has already proved to me MUCH more helpful and customer service friendly than Delta.

♥ Chantal