May 10th 2002
Help! We are trapped.......We can't get out of the country. We've spent most of
the time between July and Christmas trying to get a Visa to stay in the country and now
the Gods have been plotting against us and we are having trouble getting out.
It all started on Friday. Everything was packed and ready to go. Kevin was a little
late leaving work but it was no problem as we had plenty of time to get to the airport.
We took a taxi to the airport. The traffic was pretty horrendous but no
different to a normal Friday afternoon. We arrived at the airport at 4:45p.m. only
to find we were at the end of a humongous queue for the international check-in.
"This is ridiculous!" I said rather loudly for all and sundry to hear.
Yes, 'Yorkshire Wife' was in the building!
"It's always like this on a Friday" quips 'Geordie Husband'.
"It's never been like this when I've come here on a Friday" retorts 'Yorkshire
Wife'.
You can imagine the jolly banter that often goes on when Mr & Mrs Always Right are
together can't you?
One thing we did agree on was the fact that the queue was long not only due to the
volume of passengers but mainly because the American Airlines staff were so slow.
Good customer service is not a phrase that is synonymous with Chicago workers.
Things were so bad, every 5 minutes an American Airlines staffers (one American word I
promise I will never inflict on you again!) would call out for passengers booked on
flights that were leaving in an hour's time, to raise their hands so that they would be
rushed to the front of the queue. We predicted that we would be at the front of the
queue by the time our flight was called. Bang goes my chocolate muffin and tall
skimmed latte from Starbucks!
As we waited in the queue, or in line, seeing as though we are still on American soil,
Kevin heard over the tannoy actual names being called for the Manchester flight. He
commented on this and I of course ignored it as there must be another flight going to
Manchester. I was more concerned on testing out my theory on 'How to spot a Mexican
at the airport?' No, I know they look Hispanic, decidedly dodgy and go around saying
"Hey Gringo!" and "Scorchio" all the time but they also seem to
have 2 certain types of luggage that give them away.
1.) They will have some sort of electrical appliance MIB (Mint In Box to you
non-collectors) and
2.) A Kellogg's or other branded cardboard box tied up with string.
This one man in front of us who was very well dressed in shirt and tie, opted to carry
all his clothes in an open box tied with string. I bet that got to Mexico City in
one piece. It's only if your clothes are enclosed in a protective, waterproof
material that your clothes seem to end up strewn around the luggage carousel!
Where were we.....Oh yes....We eventually got to the counter and handed over the
necessaries. I was ready to ask about getting good seats as we were probably
one of the first to check in when the airline lady asked if we were on the 5:50 p.m.
flight.
"No." was the reply although I finished the sentence in my head with
".....you stupid woman. We are on the 7p.m. flight as it says on the ticket!"
"But there isn't a flight at 7 p.m. to Manchester. It leaves at 5:50 and you have
just missed it."
A quick look at the watch confirmed she was indeed correct.
"But it says 7 p.m. on the ticket" we desperately protested hoping that it
wasn't our fault.
"I'm afraid the time has changed. That's why we ask our passengers to ring and
confirm their reservations before they fly. "
Those words were sharper than any lines Kevin could muster and were definitely well
below the belt.
We looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as the truth dawned on
us....it was our own stupid fault. I'm still working on a conspiracy theory
though involving the FBI and Bin Laden. Just give me a couple of days.
So what next. The miserable, shirty woman behind the desk as she will now be
known as, or MSW for our specialists in 3 word acronyms, dug the knife in deeper.
"Well it normally costs $150 to change you on to tomorrow's flight .......but I'll
waiver that."
Yorkshire Wife and Geordie Husband both turn to each other and say in unison "Too
right!"
So, back to the apartment we go, wallowing in our own stupidity. Silence turned to
desperate justification.
"But I've never confirmed a reservation."
"But we've never bought a ticket where we return after 5 months before."
"But if it wasn't for that hideous queue we would have made it."
"But if we had checked the departure board we would have seen that the flight time
had changed and we would have gone straight to the front of the hideous queue!"
"But they should have had a departure board next to the queue, rather than an
arrivals board then we would have seen it. What is an arrivals board doing on the
departure level anyway?"
We finally resigned ourselves to the fact that 'we cocked up!'
So things can only get better right?
WRONG!
Due to our change in schedule there were a number of people we needed to contact.
Unfortunately due to the invention of time zones (apparently invented by the
Americans but that's another story I'm sure Kevin would like to tell!) we were 6 hours
behind the UK and loved ones who needed to be told of our non-arrival, would be sleeping
soundly in their beds, unaware of the turmoil happening 3000 miles away. We also
needed to contact the hire car company. Fortunately, there was one poor soul working
the night shift but he gave us the news that there was no record of our booking. Oh
no, not something else to go wrong. A-ha! But, we had someone to blame this time. We had
booked it with a company called Airline Network who we use quite regularly as their prices
are the lowest. However, we had a problem with them at Christmas which resulted in no
flights and overcharging. Unfortunately, they were closed at 1 a.m. in the morning
and so that one had to wait until the next day.
At last we could relax a little and headed over the road for burgers and beer. I
had lost 0.2lbs last week which allowed me to indulge, and added distress meant I could do
one better and go for a beefburger rather than chicken. Wahoo! Kevin of course stuck
to the veggie option but accompanied it with 3 Old Speckled Hens. That doesn't sound
vegetarian to me!
We were exhausted and headed to bed early only to find that Mad Bitch Woman from Hell
(or more precise next door!) had friends around. So much for sleep.
At 4 a.m. Kevin got up to ring his sister to inform her of the mishap so that she wouldn't
be worrying when we didn't turn up for our Niece's Birthday party. He also rang the
car hire company and eventually sorted out the missing booking problem. It was
booked under Mr. Kevin instead of Mr Blakey. The wonder of modem internet technology
eh? He then rang Sean. We were supposed to be going onto the Lake District on
Sunday to spend the week in a cottage with Sean, Melanie and the killing machines that are
Gaelen, Jasmine & Merlin, their dogs. Kevin was informed by Sean that the boiler has
blown up in the cottage and it wouldn't be fixed until Monday. I think Sean may have
been slightly perplexed when Kevin responded by saying "Gill will be
pleased!" You see, I'd been waiting for the third thing to go wrong. I'm
highly superstitious and believe that things happen in threes. The missing of the
flight was one. The non-existent hire car booking was two and the boiler explosion was
number three. Phew! What a relief!
So once everyone was informed it was back to bed.
May 11th 2002
We spent Saturday morning lounging around the apartment as the weather was really
bad outside. We just waited for our time to go back to the airport.
We left early, just in case, and this time there was no humongous queue. Kevin,
checked the departure board and the flight was at 5 :50p.m. and on time. We got to
the counter and again I handed over the necessaries and prepared to negotiate some good
seats as surely we were one of the first to check in. The new MSW behind the counter
informed us that the flight was oversold and we were confirmed on the flight but didn't
have any seats. We would have to check in at the gate before boarding to see if some
people had not turned up.
"But why didn't they tell us that we would be on standby yesterday?" 'Geordie
Husband' asked me.
"I don't know why they did not tell us we would be on standby yesterday."
'Yorkshire Wife' repeated much louder and directed at the MSW.
Although customer service is definitely lacking in Chicago they have a very successful
way of dealing with it. They say nothing. They don't apologise, offer
explanations or retaliate. They just let you rant on until you realise you are not
going to get a response and give up. So we went to the gate not knowing whether we
would be forking out yet another $40 in taxi fares back to the apartment or not.
The man at the desk was very helpful and said we would probably get on as some connecting
flights were not going to make it. But then he asked Kevin if he was wearing dress
shoes implying that we may get upgraded. But Kevin was wearing trainers!! Bummer!
But he still implied that we would get some good seats. Of course, I got my hopes
up. I may, at last get the upgrade I deserve. Even going on honeymoon did not get me
an upgrade and that is the only reason I got married!
We were eventually called and given our tickets - 2 seats at the back of economy! But if
we hang back at boarding he may be able to change them to something better. So
Kevin's shoes may not have hindered our chances. We waited nervously and eventually
went back up to the counter to find that the better seats were on row 33 and 2 aisle
seats. Oh well! We will never travel in comfort anymore. It is shirt and tie for Kevin
from now on and high heels and make-up for me!
It worked out OK because here we are now sitting together as the man in the window seat
graciously swapped places so we could be side by side. The international flagship meal has
been devoured. Kevin got his veggie meal no problem, which is a first in itself and the
screaming kid next to us is now fast asleep.
Who knows what gripping adventures will be had in England during the next week. I
just hope they are not half as stressful!
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