morning, my adventure to England started right away in my own Salt
Lake International Airport when the first of my flight legs -- to
Dallas, in this case -- arrived late. (British Airways doing business
as American Airlines.) This was followed by needing to have a concern
checked out, and then after that required some sort of maintenance --
all of which delay, you can well imagine, resulted in those crazy,
safety worries that begin to sprout and grow in the recesses of your
mind when things like this happen. Eventually, following a several
hour delay, we were permitted to board. We remained sitting there at
the gate for a while -- with periodic announcements over the loud
speaker assuring us of the flight crews' appreciation for our
continued patience and understanding -- when it was revealed that
seeing as how the day was much hotter now than when we had been
scheduled to take off originally, the plane at this point was over its
weight limit and 11 volunteers were needed to take a voucher and
continue their summer dreams on at a later flight. (What?! Honestly,
considering the weight of a heavy airbus, can that of 11 persons, a
majority of them children, really make that kind of difference?!)
Eleven accepted, and without further adieu, we left. No incidences.
(You'll be assured to know we did not crash and burn!).
In the meantime, my brain is putting two and two together: it is a
given that without a lot of deep thought that I am going to miss my
connecting flight to London Heathrow from Dallas-Ft Worth! (A heck of
a way to start an adventure, if ya know what I mean! . . . but I keep
reassuring myself that England is not going anywhere, and that it'll
all work out. Keep calm. Actually, my only true concern was for the
friend Richard had so kindly arranged to pick me up on Tuesday noonish
in Manchester, and I had no cell phone with which to let anybody know
about my dilemma. I am gratified to report that an amazing number of
Samaritans were willing to let a stranger use their phone and make a
series of desperate calls. (I first called Erin from Salt Lake prior
to having even boarded, at which point she said, "Hi, mom, calling to
say you've arrived in Dallas?!" Aaa, no.)
After shifting to a more advantageous seat (closer) following the
departure of "dead weight," I ended up next to a perfectly nice and
interesting woman my age ( Gina) who had -- and shared -- one of those
awesome kind of stories I love to hear. She had been single
(unfavorable marriage to husband numero uno, incurred at BYU) for a
while, raising her kids, and now has persisted in a marriage for 9
years with a man with 11 children, and a former wife with Borderline
Personality Disorder. She began the story by confiding that her
present husband had had a sick wife, and I spit out BPD before she
could even get the explanation out. Couldn't have picked a more
stimulating travelling companion than that! She is a nurse and they
have had some wringer experiences raising both of their children, with
the expected challenges. Boy, do I admire her -- for oh, so many
reasons! That was, needless to say, delightful for me.
Another positive note, I have failed to mention yet, definitely
started my morning off on a cheery note. At the very moment Nicole
dropped me at the curbside, a sky cabbie approached and asked if I'd
like some help. For my cursory tip of 5 bucks (Thanks, Nicole!), he
weighed my two monstrous bags (each a mere fraction above the 50 lb
limit – yes!! Good to go.), tagged them, had them delivered to the
plane, printed out my boarding passes, and changed one of my hundreds
for smaller bills -- and all this from the curb. Man, was I smiling!
And grateful!!
Back to the next leg: I had overheard a fellow traveler remark that,
knowing full well that he would miss his flight, he had begun working
with the agents to get himself transferred on to the next flight out,
at 7:45 (our original departure time had been 5:15). I, of course,
hadn't thought that far ahead. The stewardi assured me that passengers
in situations like this were automatically rolled over to the next
available flight and not to concern myself at this point. (Famous last
words, eh?!) When I could check with them, once we'd landed they said,
"Oh, no prob, we've got your back. We've got you scheduled on the 9:50
flight!" The heck you do! With another unscheduled delay under our
belts, we left for across the pond at 8:20 (British Airways doing
business as American Airlines). Supper included!
The lovely aisle seat scheduled for me in the outset by my faithful
travel agent in Provo weeks earlier disappeared way back in SLC and I
was stuck in a middle seat. Glad it was as close as it was, as this
was a very large plane! Aisles of two on either side, with five
abreast across the middle, extending WAY back. (Only have travelled on
that large of a plane a couple times before, and both were on the way
to Hawaii.) The blessing of this delay was that I ended up sitting by
and making another friend – Cedric, a kind and generous Lebanese guy
about Erin's age from San Diego who was on his way to Behruit to visit
family. He took such care of me and helped those long hours drain by –
9 in all. We did have all kinds of audio and video, (including
continuous information about our changing flight path and other
exciting statistics particular to our progress. Yes! David, you would
have loved it!!), games, and TV shows to choose from. One was The
Hunger Games. Watched a wee bit; did not peak my interest. (The book's
the thing anyway!) What I did enjoy – particularly because of our [me
& the plot's] shared circumstances – was The Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel, starring the two queens of British theatre – Dames Maggie Smith
and Judi Dench – and the star of the Indian movie, Slumdog
Millionaire. (You know -- what's his name!!) Anyway, it is the story
of six British retirees who move to India with the romantic notion
that it will be so much more wonderful and economical to live there
than the high-pressured, over-inflated life they've left behind, and
the many insights they gain while having a crazy adventure, gleaned in
this later juncture in their lives. (Spoke to me.) Here are a couple
quotes/concepts I liked. One is a saying they supposedly have in
India: Everything is alright in the end; and if it's not all right,
then it's not yet the end. The other is All we know about the future
is that it will be different. Very philosophical, eh?! And
appropriate, for my present situation.
{You'll think twice about inviting me to write about my adventures,
imagining you'd find enough time to read it. Worse than my prayers,
eh?!}
