“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”
T.S. Eliot
Our travel started very early on Monday, September 11th. Woke at 3 a.m. for a 6:15 a.m. flight from Sacramento to Boise. Everything went smoothly — got to airport early, sailed through TSA pre-check security — so far, so good. We arrived at SF with an hour+ layover. We sat near our gate, reading and waiting for calls to board. When I glanced at one of the electronic signs, I read in horror “Boise Flight 5449 Boarding Gate Closed”. Wait, what??? How could that be? We were sitting right here and NEVER heard one announcement. I jumped up and yelled, “Michael, what’s happening?”. He said, “What?” We then proceeded to run around the boarding area – both going in different directions, trying to find someone to help us. I actually went to the boarding doors and could see our plane sitting at the end of the jetway! I pounded on the doors “Open Up!” to no avail. I then grabbed the microphone hanging near the doors and announced – “We need assistance at Gate 71A immediately” “Hello? Please send someone to Gate 71A immediately, it’s an emergency!” No response from anyone. YES, I really did do that and I could hear my own voice over the loud speaker system. (How the Hell did we not hear the boarding announcements???).
I was in a complete and utter panic, because for the first time EVER, I did not purchase travel insurance and I had a vision the night before about missing our flight and loosing several thousand dollars. All I could think of was “This CANNOT be happening!!!”. I could see Michael out of the corner of my eye, running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off (much like myself), but I was focused on getting help. I ran to a TSA Security Agent nearby and said, “Please, they shut the doors and we HAVE to get on that plane. Can you help me?” He said, “No, I cannot. You need to go to United Customer Service, which is just down the walkway there…” and he pointed. I remember passing the Customer Service area and realized it wasn’t far away, so I took off in a dead run. I looked like a very much older, sickly female version of OJ Simpson in the old orange juice commercials (anyone remember those?). Basically, pushing people out of my way as I flew (well, in my mind anyway) through the airport. I arrived at Customer Service to find about 4 United Agents standing behind a counter in front of computers. No one was busy (thank goodness) and I ran to the nearest Agent. I was in tears at this point and panting (probably red faced as I DO NOT run – ever). I said, “Please, you have to help me. I have to get on that plane and they closed the boarding doors.” He said, “We cannot open the doors once they are closed.” I said, “But I’m going to lose $6,000 if I don’t get to Boise by 2 p.m. My husband and I are going on a rafting trip and the only transportation leaves at 2 p.m. We have to be there!!!” He calmly said that he would help me and that it would be okay and not to worry. His demeanor helped immensely and I calmed down slightly. So, he’s typing on the computer and looking around at the other Agents and says, “Is your computer down?” They say, “Yeah…” and I’m thinking, Are you F’ing kidding me? This is no time for a computer glitch. He finally gets the computer to respond and says, “Well, I have a plane going to Boise that leaves at 10:50 a.m. but there’s only one seat. Did you say there are two of you?” I said, “Yes, my husband and I.” He said, “I can put one of you on and the other we can do standby.” I said, “Put me in the seat!” (so much for loyalty to my sweet husband in a moment of crisis). Then he asks if we checked luggage and I said we had. He said, “I need your luggage receipts, so I can reroute them to this new flight.” I realized Michael had the luggage receipts with him and I hadn’t seen him in about 15 minutes. At this point, I have no idea where Michael is, so I texted for him to come immediately to United Customer Service. In the meantime, the Agent says, “Well, I have an 11 o’clock flight that will get you to Boise at 1:50 p.m. I’ll put you both on that, but I need your luggage receipts right away.” I said, “You have TWO seats on that flight?” He says, “Yes. I told you I would help you and it would be okay.” About this time, Michael rushes up and I ask for the receipts, which he pulls from his backpack. I asked about the luggage and the Agent said they would have already pulled our bags off the flight we missed, so they would definitely come in on our new flight. He said, “But if they don’t, go to the United Customer Service by baggage claim and see if they came in on the earlier flight.” We get our new boarding passes and I thank the United Agent profusely.
At this point, I was only concerned about getting our butts on that flight. I figured worse case scenario was that we would wear the clothes on our backs for a week. (Coincidentally, that’s not much different that what actually happened anyway, as I only packed two outfits for cold weather.)
We went to our gate and I literally sat staring at the boarding gate doors; determined that we would not miss the new (and only) flight that would get us to Boise in time. As time passed, we realized that there was no plane anywhere near our gate. 10:35 (boarding time) came and went. We only had a 40 minute window for any unanticipated delays; and at 11:00, still no plane. I finally realized I had the phone number for Dustin (owner of Idaho River Adventures), so I called him and talked to him about our dilemma. He said not to worry, the bus would wait until at least 3 p.m. and some of the musicians were driving to Boise and they had also had requested the bus wait until 3 for them to offload their instruments. He said even if we didn’t make it, they would figure out a way to get us to the raft take out point and they would NOT leave us! I was so relieved. By this time it was 11:20 and we were working with a 20 minute leeway to get to Boise by 3 p.m. The plan finally arrived and as we were in the last boarding group, I stood near the gate, encouraging everyone to please board quickly and have their boarding passes ready so we could get this plane filled and moving! Some found me funny and laughed while others gave me a stern look of disapproval. But I really didn’t care, I was on a mission and I wanted everyone to assist me in that mission. We arrived in Boise with enough time to find our luggage just outside the United Customer Service counter — in fact, it did come on the earlier flight and was there waiting for us. Thank goodness – it turns out I would need those long johns and flannel shirt!
At San Francisco airport. Once we got a new flight, we needed a little de-stressing. Even though it was only 10 a.m.
Safari So Good 