The original plan was to go see my grandparents for Christmas dinner- spend time with my family over the weekend and fly back to New York on Sunday- work for 2 days and fly out to Chicago on Wednesday to spend new years with friends, finally returning to New York on Monday night. The original plan was perfect- I was able to see everyone and work and please everyone and please myself..... Well... knowing my luck of the draw... the great blizzard of the north east had a different plan and made my plan go from smooth to an adventure... as always.
The flight Sunday afternoon back to New York got cancelled as the storm sat on top of Manhattan. Fine, no problem, I could just leave on Monday, still go to work Tuesday and half of Wednesday. Or at least that is what I told myself to feel better. Monday morning I woke up at 7:00 to leave at 7:45 for my 12:00 flight (Wanted to get there early in case of the mass chaos the blizzard caused). 15 minutes before leaving my Grandparents house in Orlando, Delta decided to cancel my flight AGAIN- without sending me an e-mail notification or calling me- just listed it on the website (Delta had a little issue dealing with the amount of callers and their entire phone system was shut down for 3 days, as well as their sky miles system.. if you know someone who works at Delta, let them know that it needs to be fixed...). I did receive a phone call, however, 10 minutes before my scheduled flight time letting me know that my flight was canceled. Thanks for the notice time.
Anyways- SHEER PANIC. How in the world was I suppose to make it back to New York, pack my winter clothes and fly out all in a day and a half with a blizzard? I had made new years eve plans MONTHS ago. All my friends were going to be there and not making it to Chicago just was not an option. Delta made that decision for me. The answer was simply No- I was not getting back to New York. The only other option Delta had was to get me on standby for Wednesday. No way was that happening.
Not knowing what to do, I brought my dad in for reenforcement. He came up with the genius idea to just fly me straight to Chicago, it didn't matter that I only had 3 pairs of shorts, sneakers, 3 t-shirts and one pair of leggings (I had packed for warm, sunny weather, not -40 and snowing).
Although he had this wonderful idea, because Delta's systems we shut down, the little woman at the ticket counter said, sorry, but no. This answer is never an answer for me dad, I guess thats where I get my drive from. So his solution- fine, if you won't give me what I want, I will just call the CEO of Delta's office and get it from him. And that is exactly what he did. After explaining to the executive assistant of the CEO that his daughter needed to get to Chicago instead of New York and was willing to give up a seat on a New York flight to someone who really wanted to get there (LOGICAL)- the assistant re assigned me- gave full credits for my flight and I was off to Chicago.
A short stop in Minneapolis (a very quaint airport, I must say) and I finally walked off the plane in Chicago- with no winter coat. Freezing the rest of the week and having to buy new clothes to be with my friends.... was 100% worth it.
My week stay in Chicago was amazing. I saw my best friends, saw the boy I mentioned in the last blog, had a great new years eve (even though I had to find a new dress.. not an easy venture.. the one that was stuck in New York will just have to wait for next New Years eve...). Once all the mess of the blizzard was figured out... my trip went smoothly, another adventure for the books none the less.
But let me tell you- Don't tell me dad no... He'll get you every time...
Lesson Learned:
If you can't get what you want, go to the top. There is always someone higher.
Peace, Love and Snowstorms,
B
No comments:
Post a Comment