Airport Madness

My dad was in Las Vegas for a week working at the big annual Audio Convention there with his friend Larry. My mom has been sick (super bad cold, sounds a little like she’s dying) for about that same time period. Originally the guys needing picking up from the airport at 10:00 PM last night (probably getting the driver home around 11:00 PM) so I begrudgingly agreed to do it.

Somewhere between when they left on the trip and last night the pickup time became 8:30 PM. Fine. What was really bothering me was the fact that my mom didn’t have (and therefore couldn’t give me) an airline name, a flight number, or a connection city name. She loosely mentioned Denver, but I think it was only because I was interrogating her like a bad cop would.

I got to the airport at 8:30 and ran to the big board to see what was coming in from where. First off, there were NO flights coming in at 8:30. None. OK, next, where are flights connecting from? Um, Dallas, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis, St. Louis….. there wasn’t a Denver Flight until after 10:00 PM and no direct flights from Vegas for the rest of the night.

*sigh*

I call my mom (dad doesn’t have a cell phone!) and tell her that none of the info I have makes it easy for me to pick them up. We argued for a bit, and I said bullshit many times, and finally I told her that it was unreasonable to ever send someone to the airport without an airline name, connecting city, and flight number.

I sat down with my book and waited. And waited. Finally I saw my dad’s bald head coming down the escalator. I got up and approached him, he looked tired. He just kept talking to his friend Larry and completely ignored me. I trailed the two of them ALL THE WAY to baggage claim, all the while they never noticed me (and I was about a foot from them, clearly invading their personal space if I were a stranger).

At baggage I finally say, “Hi guys!” and both their faces are happy, yet confused. My dad says, “Are you a back up driver?”

???

I say, “Mom sent me to pick you guys up.” Dad says, “We already have a ride, but we’re happy to go with you honey. It’s been a really long day.”

DUDE, they HAD A RIDE. My mom put me through all that nonsense for no reason.

On to the day Dad and Larry had:
Apparently in Vegas, they had given my dad’s seat away to someone else. He wasn’t late getting there or anything, they just messed up. So while my dad stood there, they had to go on the plane and basically eject the guy that had his seat. That guy must have been on standby previously. That guy was PISSED! He started out with “This is bullshit!” and his commentary only went downhill from there.

Then, they had given Larry’s actual TICKET (and seat) to someone with a similar name. Similar in that it started with the same first letter. Not so similar beyond that. So it was basically a miracle that they even made it home.

And the connection city was Chicago by the way….