I was enjoying the best fish sandwich I’d ever had and celebrating over beer the airport in which you’re allowed to smoke: Atlanta. I had forty-five minutes before my plane started boarding and I was starving because I’m too lazy to wake up on time to eat breakfast. I ordered another beer, drank it rather quickly, and started towards my gate with twenty minutes to scheduled take off.
“The plane left. We called you five times but you never came so the plane left. About ten minutes ago.” My heart sank and must’ve hit the floor too hard because in seconds it was racing at hamster heart speed. I missed my plane.
“Friends” that can’t say bye are like people that miss planes.
You missed the plane and there’s no calling it back. Stop wishing you were on it because you’ll never be. All the shoulda-coulda-woulda’s you can think up in your entire life will not magically erase the fact that you missed the plane because you weren’t paying attention when you should’ve been. Wish the plane and it’s passenger(s) a bon voyage and move on. Pay attention for the next plane so you don’t miss that one too.
A thousand thoughts passed each other as they sped to the far ends of my brain. How could I miss the plane? I was early! Why would the plane leave early? What am I supposed to do now? STUPID STUPID STUPID!! I can’t believe this happened!
“Friends” that can’t say bye are the relatives of the terminally ill.
When the shoulda-coulda-woulda’s don’t work, you decide instead to burden me with your guilt and frustrations about how things played out. Lost opportunities and misunderstandings are fish sandwiches and beer. There’s nothing I can do about your regrets because I’m leaving. Maybe now you’ll learn your lesson.
“But I’m supposed to be on that plane! How could it leave early? Are you even allowed to do that? What am I supposed to do now?” I was enraged because it wasn’t my fault, or so I felt at the time.
“Ma’am, we called you five times and you didn’t show so we couldn’t wait. If you call Delta on this phone (points to customer service) they’ll put your name on the standby list, which means you’ll get a seat to San Antonio only if there’s room on the plane.”
“What?! But it wasn’t my fault I missed the plane! It left twenty-five minutes early!”
“But that’s why we called you. There’s nothing I can do for you, ma’am. Sorry.”
“Friends” that can’t say bye are cops (and cops don’t accept no for an answer).
I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m leaving and you’re staying behind. Nothing you say or do is going to change my mind. So stop wasting your breath. Things happened the way they happened for a reason. Accept it and move on.
“Friends” that can’t say bye are not friends at all.
The standby list was fun: running back and forth between terminals and gates in the longest airport ever only to get denied boarding. What else was I going to do though? Stay stuck on how I missed the plane? No more fish sandwiches, no more beer, no more straying from the plane. It was my fault that I wasn’t on the plane. Nothing else to do but accept it and move on.
Post image courtesy of zingerbug.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I never heard of air plane leaving early before! It’s awful you have to experience that… I don’t even know they could do that, calling you or not…