stuff i think

A True Story
About a Man and His Wife
Trying to Get on a Plane

We arrived 45 minutes before our 6:24 flight out of Dulles this evening. After checking in at the airline desk, we headed to security with the Amabiles. The Amabiles slipped on through like a greased vienna sausage through a donut hole. Kelsey got snagged because her ticket was printed as Kelsey Bohlender which, technically is not her name. (The Bohlender part is...Kelsey is a psuddonym but you can ask her what her real name is.) So...we head back to the ticket desk.

I will not name the airline, because I don't want to be unfair, but let's just say they were not helpful, and I will not fly them again unless they are a last resort.

The woman took Kels' ID and ticket, along with her bank card that has "Kelsey" on it and went to a back room. She came out ten minutes later and said "It was $100 charge. I put it on your card." That was not our plan. Nevertheless, $100 poorer and and a little smarter, we grab our tickets and hoof it to catch our plan.

We get to Security and they stop us. "You don't have boarding passes. You just have tickets." The clock is ticking on our flight.

We go back to the Airline of Doom. Conversation as follows:

"You didn't give us our boarding passes."

"Did so."

"No, look at this packet...it's empty."

"I gave them too you. You lost them."

"In the fifty feet between here and security?"

"Yes."

"No"

"Yes" (see a pattern)

"No, and you need to print them."

"I did. But I will again." The agent prints them....we grab them and run to Security. We have about fifteen minutes to ride a bus to the next terminal and catch a plane. I get a call from Cheryl - she and Paul are already on the plane wondering where we are.

We get to security....they take out our boarding passes....and Kelsey's name is wrong on the boarding pass again. AGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!

We race back to the desk formerly known as customer service.

"YOU PRINTED THE NAMES WRONG!!!"

"No I didn't."

"LOOK AT THESE BOARDING PASSES?"

(dramatic pause....) "Oh."

So they start to reprint them but can't get them to print in the right name. Long story made longer, we missed the plane. Kels and I caught a bus to the metro station and rode the train back to Capitol Hill, where we walked the six blocks up Pennsylvania Ave and grabbed dinner at Cosi. Now we're back at the Justice House of Prayer, where Jason Upton is playing (albeit on a CD player...) In a few minutes we're going to walk back to the JHOP condo where we'll crash for a few hours and then take another spin on the Airline Wheel of Fortune at 8:30 AM.