Up in the Air

Being a teenager is all about rolling with the punches. It's about being able to take things in stride and take them as they come. Things never go as planned, the sooner you learn that the better off you'll be. As teens were an adaptable sort, legit everything is NBD. Don't get flustered by a change of plans, just go with it. Everything's up in the air.

For those of you who don't know, I've got quite a bloggable history of crazy travel stories. Here's another one, get ready for more airline hijinks - this is up in the air. Sunday, I'd just finished my conference craziness (missed those tales read Conference Crazy & Sassy Snap) and got dropped off at Rochester airport at like 8:30am. Even before I got to the airport, I received a flight update that my connecting flight from DC to Dayton, OH was going to be delayed by 4 hours. I was like whatever, so I checked in, turned in my piece if baggage and proceeded through the security checkpoint. I had some down time so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast foods. I made it to my gate and took a seat. 2 hours roll past and it's boarding time. The United Airlines agent comes on the PA system to say that our plane had an oil leak and it'd be 10 minutes to fix. Lies, 30 minutes passes by and the plane was deemed unfit to fly. Flight was just cancelled, everyone rushes to get in line to have their trips rebooked. I stood in line for 40 minutes before I got my trip rerouted through Cleveland, OH departing at 6pm. Mind you it's 11am. I was a little more than bitter, I was originally supposed to be home by 1pm - no such luck. I knew from that moment on things would just be up in the air.

Airports are like little enclosed cityscapes. Pretty much anything you could possibly want or need they have. I got up to redeem my $10 food voucher at Famiglia's where I at some average at best spinach pizza and chugged some ginger ale. At this point it was like 2pm and I retreated to this little circle area complete with soft chairs and power outlets. I set up camp like a Call of Duty outdoorsmen. I plugged legit everything in and got my charge on. I blogged a bit, creeped all over facebook and twitter, and watched an episode of Arrow. I was more than sleep deprived, only a total of 12 hours over a 72 period. I was going in and out of sleep, but I cannot sleep in public, shoot someone could come steal my stuff #paranoid. I was like hallucinating, I for real thought I saw Clifford the big red dog. It was too much, I felt like I was going crazy. I came to the realization that airport terminals are like purgatory - like a little miniuate hell on Earth for travelers. Four hours, let me repeat that, four hours later I went to get ready to board my flight. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands for three minutes and when I came back, I'd apparently missed my flight. I was like mindblown, like you had to be kidding me. The flight agent said he'd been paging me (what I look like, some 90's doctor - the eff is a pager) and I was like I heard nothing of the sort over the intercom. The guy was giving me sass and I just wasn't having it. He booked me on another flight right then and there I walked over and got on a plane to Chicago. This entire day just went up in the air.

Sleeping on an airplane is not ideal at all. When the plane just drops and dips I panic like a mofo. It's crazy, it's like going down a hill in a roller coaster except there's nothing to hodl on to. I plugged in my headphones and listened to One Direction and pretended I was  not in the slightest bit afraid. Finally we landed (forcefully) and taxied to our gate at O'Hare. I got off and entered an amazing world of extravagance. Literally everything that makes America - America was in that airport. Sushi bar, shopping mall, masseuses - you name it, that place had it. I was like overwhelmed by all the first world problems. There were so many people there and it was like a game of Temple Run trying to get around all of them. I walked all the way across the airport from gate C to A, sat there for 20 minutes and then got an alert that my terminal had changed. I walked all the back, and down to terminal F. I was on one of those moving sidewalk things and wanted to just breakdown and cry. I was more than done with that. It was just too much to go on. It was just before midnight and I'd spent the entire day in the airport, I was like not taking anything. I made it to my terminal finally and just sat there. People came and went all around me. A group of sign language using Canadian women came and just signed all over me, and I was literally in the middle of their conversation. Like that place was so random. The most awkward thing happened when I was sitting there. This dude who pretty much the same age as me came to sit down. I was thinking, great - at least someone I can relate to and make petty conversation with. I liked his cardigan, it was on point - but homie was wearing sweatpants in public (unacceptable faux pas). We were just talking about our colleges and what not and I asked him where he got his sweater, of course he said Banana Republic. He in turn asked me if I was single - and I was like "oh, ohhhhh" ooph, yeah I'm single, but not looking to mingle with you homeboy. Oh getting hit on is flattering and what not, but it's still awkward.  I don't know if I just attract all people, but sorry I'm looking for a wifey not a hubby. Dude did look like Grant Gustin (Sebastian from Glee) if you're into that thing, but I was like - this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Finally my plane was ready to board. I made it back to Ohio, and my parents picked me up and drove me the 40 minutes home. Home sweet home at 1:40am Monday morning, 12 hours later than expected. By far the most outrageous travel story I've had to date. Who knows, you just go with it. It's up in the air.

Being a teenager is all about dealing with anything and everything that's thrown your way. No matter what happens, there's a way out. You can never truly be stuck, trapped, or held back unless you, yourself keep yourself there. Things change, you've got to be able to change with them. Everything's up in the air anyway.

My blog post question for the day is ... Do you have any epic airport or travel stories? It's like every time I travel something unbelievable happens. #Storyofmylife

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