Airports Are So Much "Fun"...

So, I am on the computer, making reservations for my trip to Texas with my son, and he says to me, "Be sure to check the box, so that you can get text messages to alert you to changes on your flights."  Sure, sounds like a great idea.  I must say I never needed that feature more than I did on my flight home!!  I was all packed and ready to go (well, not really ready, I wanted to stay longer!) when I got a text message saying my flight was delayed.  I wasn't worried because I had a three hour layover in Detroit. It was great, I got another whole hour to spend with my mom!  So, after stretching our visit as far as we could, it was off to the airport... no more texts... must be that all is good.  Great.  I go through security pretty quickly, which was nice.  My gate was right across from security, what could be easier!  We boarded the plane right on time, and off we flew to Detroit - Once there I would have two hours, plenty of time to grab a bite to eat, relax a little...

The first leg of my flight home went wonderfully.  We landed, and when I turned on my phone there was my text message giving me my gate info, and saying that my connecting flight was on time.  So, off to my gate I went.  It was all the way down at the end of the same terminal, which was nice - a bit of a walk, but there have been times I've had to walk to a different terminal, take a shuttle, go outside, go back inside, through a tunnel, take a taxi.... to my next gate. (You know how that is!)  I arrived at my gate, and my flight was listed on the monitor.  It's all good - so I settled in with a snack and my book.  I was there just a little while, when I looked up at the monitor and there was a different flight listed... what happened to my flight?  I didn't hear an announcement about a gate change.  Certainly I didn't lose myself in my book so much that I missed my flight completely... just then I received my text message alerting me of a change in gates.  So off I go... about half way back down the terminal.  My flight is listed on the monitor - so I sit down.  Everyone is talking about the change of gates, already aggravated... and then we go back to our books and newspapers.

Not too long after that, I look up at the monitor, and  it doesn't say Flint... Flint is my final destination, why does that monitor say Charlotte?!  Oh wait, there is my text message... a change of gates again.  So I announce it to the people sitting next to me, who were thankful, because they were waiting for some sort of announcement over the loud speaker - which never came.  Off we all go, the group of us a little bigger now.  This time the gate was all the way back where I first started.  We all sit down, chatting a bit with one another, when suddenly...


I get a text message... you guessed it... another gate change!  We hadn't noticed the change of flights on the monitor, but there it was - a different flight was listed, and still no announcement.  Everyone was as thankful as me to have the text message telling us where to go.  Although this was beginning to feel a little like some sort of Twilight Zone episode!

So, like a herd of turtles, we are off once again in search of the gate that is actually going to lead to our plane. Or so we hoped!  As we settle in at our new gate, I look around at what are now familiar faces.  Some are laughing and some are looking like they are just plain tired of the run around.  I thought of it as good exercise... but I'd had enough by now, and just wanted to get home.  Suddenly we hear rumblings from the attendants working at the gate... There's some kind of technical difficulties... they are going to send us to a different gate!  A different gate?!... Again!  Wow, this is getting to be a record in gate changes!  And yup, it's official, I got the text message!    This time we all head downstairs, where we hear loud birds chirping - our gate is near a simulated outdoor area - for ambiance I guess - some didn't find the sounds of the birds chirping quite so charming!  But, by now we are all good friends, chatting "outdoors," like we were at a backyard BBQ!  Mostly the conversations were about wheather or not our luggage was going to find it's way to our plane... And what plane?!  Some of us were a little worried by the fact that there was no plane at our gate... is this going to lead to another gate change?!

But I guess the 4th time is the charm, in this case anyway!  We hadn't waited all that long when a plane pulled up to our gate!  Our plane we hoped!!  Sweet relief... it was our plane, maybe we were going to get home after all!!  And we were even more relieved when they actually announced that they were going to begin boarding!

Well, I don't know about the others, but my luggage made it home with me, and the plane landed only about an hour or so late - after all that!!  :)  Yes, airports are so much fun!  We do learn from our experiences... and I learned that I will ALWAYS check the box that gives me text messages alerting me of any changes in my flights!!  Modern so much fun!  We do learn from our experiences... and I learned that I will ALWAYS check the box that gives me text messages alerting me of any changes in my flights!!  Modern technology is great, and it sure helps to have kids who keep you current on that sort of thing!!