[Rhodes22-list] ss report: Waiting for Detelin

[Mary Lou Troy]

I have often heard it said that the only difference between an 
adventure and an ordeal is attitude.

ML

At 06:56 PM 3/25/2008, you wrote:
>Some of us have ordeals; you & Rose have ADVENTURES!
>
>elle
>
>--- stan <stan at rhodes22.com> wrote:
>
> > (for when the List gets too quiet)
> >
> >
> >  "Dido" is no longer with us.  He has moved on (with
> > our blessings) to a better job with "Regulator" on
> > the other side of town.   Rose and I had gone to the
> > airport to pick him up.  He was coming in from
> > Dulles on the last leg of his usual flight pattern
> > from Bulgaria.  The flight was scheduled to arrive
> > at 6:02 and I played it safe by arriving at ORF at 5
> > pm.  (Rose had finally found out that ORF is code
> > for Norfolk International.   What a beautiful
> > Airport.   I would have named it JKI (Joyce Kilmer
> > International).   The architectural firm had been
> > handed an unspoiled waterfront section of town with
> > the instructions to save every possible tree.   And
> > so they did.   The entrance road, winding around
> > water ways and under tall leafy limbs, makes its way
> > to a beautiful terminal, in turn connected by a long
> > covered moving sidewalk to parking and baggage
> > buildings tucked in this gem of an airport, whose
> > warts I was soon to discover.
> >
> >     The first thing I noticed when the moving
> > sidewalk ejected me into the arrival and departure
> > chapel's upper terminal floor was the yellow notice
> > advising that United 7239 was going to be one half
> > hour early.   I had never heard of a flight being
> > early.   Well not a one hour flight being a half
> > hour early !   Even I, who had the US Navy Air Corp
> > on my resume, knew something was wrong in Denmark,
> > or at least in Bulgaria.   All of the terminal
> > schedule displays were in agreement:  United flight
> > 7239 arriving from Dulles was going to be a half
> > hour early.   Good thing we came early.   With my
> > computer disturbed by the math, I kept checking and
> > rechecking the displays until, low and behold, the
> > yellow sign disappeared and the flight was now
> > listed as being on time.
> >
> >     Rose and I settled into the first two seats this
> > side of the security border so no arrivees could
> > pass us undetected.   Flight after flight unloaded.
> >  No Dido.   Having lost trust in the schedule
> > displays I continued checking for changes.   When a
> > flight arrived the sign would say, "Landed".   No
> > such sign for my now overdue flight.   In fact all
> > of a sudden my flight completely disappeared from
> > all screens.   Surely, with all these bright faced,
> > tagged, uniformed airport personnel randomly flying
> > around inside the terminal I would quickly find out
> > Dido's fate and the fate of United's 7239, off the
> > screen
> > somewhere between Washington and Norfolk.
> >
> >     The easiest person to ask was the attendant at
> > the security gate.   He said he works for a
> > different company and has no idea.   I noticed a
> > sign that said this way to "Information", a few
> > football fields to the east.  The lone attendant,
> > whose uniformed chest was loaded with military
> > medals, said that he worked for another company and
> > according to his computer, that flight had landed on
> > time.   He was not interested in understanding why
> > the schedule displays had missed this; they worked
> > for a different  company.   I had a bright idea.   I
> > would take the external elevator for its full one
> > floor run to the United ticket counter underneath
> > me.  It was a two second trip but I concluded the
> > view made the cost of this glass walled theme park
> > ride worth every penny that it must have cost.
> >
> >     At United's ticket counter neither of the two
> > parallel lines of potential flyers was moving so I
> > bullied my way to one of the three attendants.   He
> > said he worked for a different company and left.
> > The second attendant admitted working for United and
> > said that that flight had not landed, that the non
> > moving lines were waiting to take that flight back
> > to wherever it had come from and that there was much
> > snow in Chicago where that flight from Dulles
> > originated and that that plane has just now made it
> > into the Chicago air and that it would be very late
> > tonight before it landed in Norfolk since it still
> > had to make it to Dulles.  At least she didn't work
> > for a different company.   She worked for United - I
> > would go with her.   And I would be a good citizen
> > and go back and bring the Information bunker up to
> > speed.   But another look at his computer confirmed
> > again, at least for the Information attendant, that
> > 7239 had landed.   He explained that the company he
> > works for has t
> >  o go with the company the computer works for no
> > matter what the company the ticket lady works for
> > says.
> >
> >     I asked him to call the pilot's lounge and see
> > if they knew anything and he said he can not do
> > that.  The tower?  He said he can't do that.
> > Chicago?  He said he does not have that number.  He
> > said I should go back to United and ask them to
> > verify their story.   So back I made it to the
> > United ticket line.  They seemed to be busy giving
> > refunds but I went to the front of the line and the
> > helpful lady went back to the computer - the flight
> > was somewhere in the air and she had no fixed time
> > of arrival yet and that I should go home and come
> > back later.  Home was hours away in NC so I decided
> > to make one final visit to Information who stuck to
> > his story that the flight had landed.  I asked if
> > there was some sort of court of appeals I could take
> > my case to - he said no such higher authority.   In
> > a fit of humorous creativity I asked if there was a
> > lower authority I could go to, like "baggage".   To
> > my surprise the Information attendant was impressed,
> > so off I hiked to the tiny
> >   United baggage office which turned out to be
> > conveniently located at the farthest end of the
> > complex.  By now most of the airport was closed down
> > and all the commercial booths were under tarps but
> > the United baggage office light was on and the
> > office door was open and there was a nice lady
> > behind the counter shuffling luggage.
> >
> >      I told her my story of getting different
> > endings for flight 7239.   She looked at me with
> > amusement and said she worked for a different
> > company and could tell me without any ifs or buts
> > that that flight had long since landed and that she
> > personally had taken its unclaimed bags off the
> > carousel.  And further more that she could tell me
> > that Detelin had not been on that plane.   I
> > exploded, "What, you know who is on each flight?"
> > and she said, "of course".   My god, I had stumbled
> > onto the Central Intelligence Agency of the entire
> > airport operation cleverly headquartered in baggage.
> >   I would go back to the United counter and tell
> > them the flight they were looking for had actually
> > landed long ago and that is why they could not find
> > it.   By now I had found that by taking the walking
> > sidewalk in the wrong direction I could run and get
> > to the other end much slower which was great for my
> > exercise program.   On the escalator part of my
> > trips I would go up the down stairway.
> >  My exercising exercise got me late to United
> > ticketing territory.  It was closed and its two non
> > moving lines had moved.   Somehow this darkened,
> > quiet, peaceful part of the airport inspired an
> > inspirational thought.   I would ask the CIA bag
> > lady for the passenger names on the next flight from
> > Dulles that was due in at 11:30.  Brilliant.
> >
> >     A flight had come in from somewhere and the bag
> > lady was doing her thing.  She did not seem pleased
> > to see me.   By now I was well known by most of the
> > airport's night crew.  The Information guy waved to
> > me as I flew by his booth.   I said to the bag lady,
> > "tell me if Detelin is on the 11:30 flight".   I
> > think this is when my bearded face finally came into
> > full focus and reminded her of the oath.  "It is
> > against the law for me to give out passengers'
> > names."
> >
> >     Now I am not dumb.   I have seen "All the King's
> > Men" two times.   I know how Bernstein and Woodward
> > handle these kinds of situations.
> >
> >     "I don't want you to tell me the names of any of
> > the passengers" I said, " I just want you to tell me
> > if I should wait for the 11:30 ".
> >
> >     The bag lady, relieved by my professionalism,
> > whispered, "wait for the 11:30".
> >
> >
> >     What does one do at an airport for six and one
> > half hours, other than use the gym.
> >
> >     Rose and I noticed a lot of loving.  As each
> > flight unloaded, as soon as its passengers crossed
> > the security line, someone on the insecure side
> > grabbed them and kissed them - sometimes for
> > indecently long times.   What the hell, I would grab
> > the solo traveling ladies and hug and kiss them.
> > then say, "Oops, I am sorry.  I thought you were
> > someone else".   (With Rose sitting there, this was
> > my fantasy so let me add that each time I broke off
> > with the hugging and kissing and got to the part
> > where I said, Oh, I thought you were someone else,
> > there were expressions of disappointment.)
> >
> >     It looked like it was going to take a day to
> > pick up Dido but 11:30 came just in time.   The
> > flight was on time.  Dido was the first one to cross
> > the security line and I found myself saying, "What
> > are you doing here so early.  We did not expect you
> > for another two days.   Rose, on the other hand,
> > quietly got off her now well warmed seat and hugged
> > and kissed Dido - for an indecently long time and he
> > opened his bag and gave her a beautiful Bulgarian
> > wool blanket.   And what does the one who did all
> > the hard investigative exercising and fantasizing
> > get?
> >
> >     Well maybe the short lived satisfaction that
> > goes with   "mission accomplished"....
> >
> >
> > I'll sign this one with a Spitzer since the end
> > sounds like one - or maybe Carter.
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> > www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
>
>
>We can't change the angle of the wind....but we can adjust our sails.
>
>  1992 Rhodes 22   Recyc '06  "WaterMusic"   (Lady in Red)
>
>
> 
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