a series of unfortunate events

despite a 6 am wakeup this morning, i'm a little distressed to say that waking up ten minutes earlier would have landed us in austin, texas right now. either that or going without toasting my ego waffles. becca and i (along with our friend from camp, elizabeth, who was traveling with us) are finally heading back to camp after five weeks of leave for the counselor's banquet. but so far, today has been full of nothing but disappointments. sure, we left our driveway only ten minutes off schedule (or a ten minute late head start, as becca put it), just as the august sun began to paint the clouds with a touch of pink. traffic wasn't bad at all...we even got a close parking spot in hardly any time at all. the luck was short lived, though.

shortly after getting inside, we got denied at the kiosk...we had somehow neglected to list ourselves for the flight (becca said she actually watched dad list us...its a mystery, really). well, crumbalas. it was all downhill from there. i sent elizabeth ahead to go through security and wait for us at the gate...just in case. that bit me in the butt. after five minutes of waiting on those black phones (time which we didn't have to spare), becca was finally successful at listing us for the 8:04 flight. time check: 7:36. we knew it was tight. we rushed to get in line, but security drove us like cattle to the most inconvenient route to the security line. being the well-traveled passengers we are, we travel light to avoid checking bags. except that my backpack and duffle bag (plus my purse...but we'll pretend it was just 2 carry-ons) were packed to the brim and really awkward to carry.

well, the security line was a slow crawl and time was ticking away. time check: 7:43. the problem with airport security is that you simply stand in line to get to stand in another line. we finally got through line 1, displaying my picture id and ticket, (after pushing our way past 6 confused mexicans who didn't seem to understand that only ticketed passengers were allowed beyond that point...the five without tickets were kindly escorted out by security) to wait in line 2. i had brought my laptop to get pictures from people at camp (my reasons were reasonable when i opted to bring it). of course, this just delayed me because i had to remove it from my backpack. i scrambled to get it out, placing my ticket and id on the table.

i was ready to go, scooting my bags down the table, cringing as i stood there in my bare feet (curse those people who decided to put bombs in their shoes), when i heard the security man say "please make sure you have your ids and tickets ready to be checked." suddenly, i was in a panic. time check: 7:53. this was obviously an appropriate time to freak out... i can't get through security without an id or ticket, much less get on the plane that takes off in 11 minutes. where did they go?? already flustered with the time crunch, i went into shock. then i frantically yanked my bags off the table, dug through my purse, ran up and down the line like a chicken with my head cut off pleading with people to look under their belongings for my misplaced ones. the man right behind me looked pretty sketch...he seemed to have no reaction to the chaos. i'll admit, i suspected he ganked them. i felt as if i was going to either breakdown and cry or pass out. finally, i found them hiding beneath the bin where my laptop was.

in hindsight, i do recall a kind man in line reasoning with the security man that i had to have had it to have gotten through the last line. the security man smiled and calmly said it happened all the time and reminded me of places to look. i wish i could thank them now because that may have been what kept me from losing my mind.

heart pounding, i hastily stuffed my laptop back into my backpack. we hurried down the escalator, only to get to the train too late. we had to wait another minute for the next one (of course, that was a minute we didn't have). helplessly waiting when your heart and mind are rushing to get somewhere is not a pleasant experience. time check: 7:57. seven minutes. the train came and we hopped on.

no doubt, we were the first ones off that sucker when it got to our concourse, running up the escalator in my flip flop heels and about 40 lbs of luggage. i don't know if you've ever tried running with a backpack on...it doesn't work well. same for a duffle bag that swings just at your thighs. if you can imagine, the two combined with a purse is just an unfortunate experience. but i had no other option. what was worse was that the mad dash wouldn't end at the top of the escalator, nor a few gates down. no. it just so happened that our fate was to run (or hobble as fast as possible) to our plane departing from the LAST gate at the end of the hall. i am not kidding. seriously. thats about quarter of a mile. okay, maybe a little less than that...but not much less. but we had to run the whole way, me wishing the whole time that i had checked my bags for once.

it was like the end of a cross country race. my legs were heavy, chest burning, sweating, pushing myself, knowing that i needed to push on to the finish line because my team was depending on me to get to the state championship meet. only, this was indoors, i was in a dress, heels, my dangly earrings were slapping my neck, and becca and i were the only ones competing...us against the departure time of the flight to austin, rushing through the airport like lame mules...dodging pleasant travelers who were already settled in at their gates. i felt like giving up, but i knew that the penalty would be three more hours of sitting in the airport.

i pushed myself alright, but it only allowed me to see how narrowly we missed the flight. the ramp was pulling back as the plane backed out...leaving two upset girls wheezing as if they were having an asthma attack standing where the austin passengers had been no more than a few minutes ago. i checked the clock: 8:02. they had left two minutes early. my heart sank faster than my $5 wal-mart sunglasses. that meant that we had to wait for the 11:05 flight, elizabeth was on her way to austin without us, and i had made my desperate sprint for nothing. what a familiar scene. well, as if that wasn't enough, about two hours later, casey calls, looking for us at the austin airport. guess we won't have a ride once we arrive...who knows if we'll even make it in time for the banquet. this sucks.