A Slight Flight Delay.
Yep. And it was all my fault.
At least I think it was.
No. I am pretty sure it was.
See... I like to check in online. Preferably with my mobile phone. And this one airline I was flying between Toronto and NYC today doesn't have a mobile app for checking in. You CAN check in online. But then you have to print your ticket out. Seeing as I don't believe in owning a printer (and being as a paperless as possible), I couldn't print my ticket.
"I'll just check in and print it out once I get to the airport!" I said to myself.
But when I showed up to the airport and went to the machine to print my ticket, I was informed that for "U.S. Travel, check-in at the counter." Meaning I had to wait in line just to get my ticket printed out.
Oy.
This took about 15 minutes, as everyone and their old wheel-chair-bound family members (as noted by the number of wheel chairs in the check-in line) were traveling to the States today. I got to the counter, slapped my passport down and said I just needed ticket printed.
"Absolutely ma'am," the agenct said. "Are you checking baggage?"
I told her I was not. That's when she said she needed to weigh my carry-on. I obliged.
"Sorry ma'am," she said. "We're going to have to have you check this bag. It's two kilograms (4 pounds) over the weight limit for carry-on luggage."
That's when I said I would be happy to remove the extra pounds from my trolly carry-on into my "personal item" Balenciaga Weekender bag.
She eyed me suspiciously and said, "That's not how it works."
She tagged my bag. Then she informed me that because their luggage belt behind the desk was out of order, I would have to take my bag over "there" (point off into the distance) and drop it off on the "Oversized Luggage" belt.
I didn't see a belt... I only saw a large crowd of disorganized people and wheelchairs. It was the line to add the luggage to the belt. And it was moving slow. I looked over at the security line and saw no one in it.
"Eff it!" I said to myself. And I tore the luggage tag from the airline off of my bag and walked into the security line. Two minutes later, I was in the gate lounge, drinking a cappuccinno and relaxing.
Then it came time to board the plane. It went very smoothly. The only hold up was a little old lady, dressed very posh, who was in line ahead of me as we were boarding the plane. She stopped to confirm that the airline would have someone with a wheelchair waiting for her at the gate in NYC.
"You didn't have enough wheelchairs today," she said to the agent. "So I had to walk all the way myself with my bag. And it wasn't easy."
We got on the plane, and I noticed she was in the same row as me. We all boarded and were ready to take off on time.
But we didn't.
We sat for about 10 minutes. Eventually, the captain came on and said, "Apologies for the delay. We appear to have a miscalculation with our baggage count. It should be a few minutes more. We should be airborne in about 15 minutes."
That's when I started to worry.
"You know what that means," the guy next to me said. "That means they lost someone's luggage and can't find it."
That's when I realized it was probably my fault. My bag had been counted as "checked." But I didn't actually check it... Because really... Who wants to check a bag flying into the international terminal in NYC?
I sat in my seat and prayed that we would take off soon, and without a long delay. I also prayed that the flight attendants wouldn't come to me all apologetically and say, "Sorry ma'am. It's your bag we can't find. When you land in NYC, we'll take care of you."
The guilt. It was weighing on me the longer I sat. But eventually, we took off. (Yay!) And I felt a karmic imbalance.
Once in the air, the captain came back on the intercom to tell us that today was the 5th anniversary of the airline. And as such, they were going to be drawing a seat number at random to gift with a free roundtrip ticket to anywhere the airline flies.
"The seat number is 12B," he said.
That was my seat number. The person in seat A, next to me smiled at me. But there was quickly debate as to whether the captain had said "12B" or "12D"... the seat with the old lady in it.
I don't know if the captain did call out my seat. But given my guilt from the whole baggage delay... And the old lady's experience with the lack of wheelchairs... I played dumb and said, "Yeah, it was 12D he said. I would love to win it. But I didn't."
Hoping my karma is evened out now.
At least I think it was.
No. I am pretty sure it was.
See... I like to check in online. Preferably with my mobile phone. And this one airline I was flying between Toronto and NYC today doesn't have a mobile app for checking in. You CAN check in online. But then you have to print your ticket out. Seeing as I don't believe in owning a printer (and being as a paperless as possible), I couldn't print my ticket.
"I'll just check in and print it out once I get to the airport!" I said to myself.
But when I showed up to the airport and went to the machine to print my ticket, I was informed that for "U.S. Travel, check-in at the counter." Meaning I had to wait in line just to get my ticket printed out.
Oy.
This took about 15 minutes, as everyone and their old wheel-chair-bound family members (as noted by the number of wheel chairs in the check-in line) were traveling to the States today. I got to the counter, slapped my passport down and said I just needed ticket printed.
"Absolutely ma'am," the agenct said. "Are you checking baggage?"
I told her I was not. That's when she said she needed to weigh my carry-on. I obliged.
"Sorry ma'am," she said. "We're going to have to have you check this bag. It's two kilograms (4 pounds) over the weight limit for carry-on luggage."
That's when I said I would be happy to remove the extra pounds from my trolly carry-on into my "personal item" Balenciaga Weekender bag.
She eyed me suspiciously and said, "That's not how it works."
She tagged my bag. Then she informed me that because their luggage belt behind the desk was out of order, I would have to take my bag over "there" (point off into the distance) and drop it off on the "Oversized Luggage" belt.
I didn't see a belt... I only saw a large crowd of disorganized people and wheelchairs. It was the line to add the luggage to the belt. And it was moving slow. I looked over at the security line and saw no one in it.
"Eff it!" I said to myself. And I tore the luggage tag from the airline off of my bag and walked into the security line. Two minutes later, I was in the gate lounge, drinking a cappuccinno and relaxing.
Then it came time to board the plane. It went very smoothly. The only hold up was a little old lady, dressed very posh, who was in line ahead of me as we were boarding the plane. She stopped to confirm that the airline would have someone with a wheelchair waiting for her at the gate in NYC.
"You didn't have enough wheelchairs today," she said to the agent. "So I had to walk all the way myself with my bag. And it wasn't easy."
We got on the plane, and I noticed she was in the same row as me. We all boarded and were ready to take off on time.
But we didn't.
We sat for about 10 minutes. Eventually, the captain came on and said, "Apologies for the delay. We appear to have a miscalculation with our baggage count. It should be a few minutes more. We should be airborne in about 15 minutes."
That's when I started to worry.
"You know what that means," the guy next to me said. "That means they lost someone's luggage and can't find it."
That's when I realized it was probably my fault. My bag had been counted as "checked." But I didn't actually check it... Because really... Who wants to check a bag flying into the international terminal in NYC?
I sat in my seat and prayed that we would take off soon, and without a long delay. I also prayed that the flight attendants wouldn't come to me all apologetically and say, "Sorry ma'am. It's your bag we can't find. When you land in NYC, we'll take care of you."
The guilt. It was weighing on me the longer I sat. But eventually, we took off. (Yay!) And I felt a karmic imbalance.
Once in the air, the captain came back on the intercom to tell us that today was the 5th anniversary of the airline. And as such, they were going to be drawing a seat number at random to gift with a free roundtrip ticket to anywhere the airline flies.
"The seat number is 12B," he said.
That was my seat number. The person in seat A, next to me smiled at me. But there was quickly debate as to whether the captain had said "12B" or "12D"... the seat with the old lady in it.
I don't know if the captain did call out my seat. But given my guilt from the whole baggage delay... And the old lady's experience with the lack of wheelchairs... I played dumb and said, "Yeah, it was 12D he said. I would love to win it. But I didn't."
Hoping my karma is evened out now.
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