Heading for the United Airways flight to Charlotte at 8:10 pm on a sunny day of Oct 6th & bound for Lexington for a business trip, I started from my office in Alpharetta at 5 for my home.
Dressed, had a cup of tea and headed for Airport at 5:30. The Airport is 45 miles from my place and I was sure that even in the worst of traffic, I would be able to make it in time & so did I.
I reached Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Int'nl Airport at 7:15 pm, got security clearance by 7:30 and was at US airways terminal (Concourse D, Gate 26) by 7:45 pm. Just 100 meters before the terminal was my fav Chili’s. Quite tempted and thinking of getting no dinner at midnight when I will reach Lexington, I thought of grabbing something quickly. However once I reached there, the idea shifted from take away to dine in. I knew that I had only 15 minutes to dine, but still hopeful of making it, I stood in the queue for getting in the restaurant. There I met a lady who was greeting everyone in the queue. She was quite obese but upon talking to her about my veggie habits, she mentioned that she has also turned veggie for reducing herself. She added that daily meat diet at Burger King has made her such. She was quite joy to talk to and I really enjoyed those 2 minutes laughing and exploring new views on being a vegetarian.
I was served by a Malay lady to whom I asked for a home salad and French fries with lemonade. It was 7:50 pm when I was served. Thinking, I still have plenty time to make it to my flight, which was around 15 minutes, I ate watching AFL. At 8 pm I asked for the cheque and with few happy moments of eating something, though not the greatest of foods, I rushed for the gate 26. To my surprise there wasn’t anyone there except the on ground staff of United Airways. I still had no hopes lost since I could see the carrier still outside. Quite unaware of the fact that the gate actually closes 10 minutes prior to the departure and that entry is prohibited after that, I asked the lady to guide me for the flight. At that my thoughts came to a halt when I realized I have missed it..She said that they announced my name quite a time and that they cannot help me except booking me for the next flight which is at 5:30 am in the morning. I was perplexed as to what to do now, I had to give a presentation at 10 am in morning and the next flight is going to land me on Lexington soil at 8:50 am. I will hardly have anytime to reach to Hotel and get ready for the presentation which I was sure going to be a 2+ hours long. Along with that came the thoughts of spending the entire night at airport since I could not afford to go to a Hotel and miss my flight for the 2nd time as getting ready by 5 am in the morning was itself a daunting task.
Apart from that I was getting angry to myself for having that salad in chilies which costed me such an inconvenient night. With a second thought of trying to reach Customer care to see if they can accommodate me in any other carrier (Delta had one for Lexington at 9:30 pm). However it was a very costly affair since they could not transfer me directly to other carrier and that my (my company's) ticket for United will be wasted (costing around 750 $ for a return fare) and would have to give around 700$ one way for Delta. I decided wisely and went back to the United crew and asked them to book me for the 5:30 am flight. I consoled myself by saying that it is going to be an exciting journey for sure now and the rest was although not great was something different for me.
I found myself a seat near a power outlet so as to charge my lappie and cell phone as I was sure of making their max use this night. Also, I was carrying few of my GMAT exercises to be given, which I instantly planned to give tonight. Didn’t wanna tell this to anyone for a moment so got engrossed in GMAT exercise. However in 15 minutes, I got bored and started wandering around, a teenage girl was talking to some of her friend on the phone booth very near to my seat. With an unintentional eavesdropping, I came to realize that she is also one of my kinds today, she sat beside me after finishing her call and I could not stop confirming about her situation and hence asked her about it. Therein, she told me that she has missed due to wrong terminal map and that she has been given a next flight at 10:30. However, she consoled me by saying it feels relieving when you know that you're not the only one who has missed. I really laughed at that, getting consoled at the same time. After she left, I called up my friend back in Alpharetta to inform that I have missed. However I could not tell them the exact reason for the same more because was not still convinced that I missed my flight. Talked to my fiancée back in India and told her about the same. She, like my other friends, expressed her concerns about spending night at airport but at the same time laughed also upon my mentioning the reason for the same. I eventually decided to content it to myself.
Thinking of the 7 long hours still ahead of me before seating in the plane, I recalled the desert survival game played in ILP & checked all the options and essentials. Instantly I stood up and went to Chilies again before it gets closed. Quite contrary to the previous time, I opted for a take away this time. Took the traditional chips and chili sauce from them and went back to my seat. The water bottle I was carrying was enough for the night. I started eating some of it while watching the same AFL, live from Philips Arena. Eventually after eating a few, I got bored of it, more since I never used to dine alone, I decided to stop eating and do some internet surfing. Also was on my minds the tomorrow's presentation and the impact my spending the night at Airport will make on the same, There was no free internet connectivity, so I thought for first checking the presentation I had to give, I also informed about the incidence to the manager at Lexington, so as to keep him ready with backup plans. I went through the presentation once and decided to go back to my GMAT exercise. Did like 60 Questions on Data Sufficiency in an hour when I saw a crowd full of Airport maintenance staff around the area where I was seated, the Gate 26 of Concourse D
I could not understand what this lot of people, around 30 of them all with Red T-shirts, was doing there. Then came to know that it is their usual place of gathering since there was a room to keep all their belongings/ equipments just opposite to this part of Airport. They were quite aloud in their conversation and were in plenty, I initially was amazed, somewhat scared later on and eventually got back to my work thinking that I might be there usual stuff. I was for sure had no Enochiophobia. However I could not focus anymore on the math questions and decided otherwise, It was already 11:45 and I decided to give a call to my parents and talked to them for long, With excitement I called up my dearest buddy and informed him about the same, Quite natural to our relation, he gave me all the teasers of being a gujju, worrying about eating more than anything else etc. it was a nice little talk which cleared my brain and ticked the sleeping alarm of my mind. Therein began my hunt for a suitable place to sleep. I had no expectations of getting a cozy 4 star hotel room as was booked for me in Lexington, but still had my hopes high to get something worth lying upon. Could not find anything except a deserted cluster of chairs without any partitions at gate 24. I decided to use my bag pack as a pillow and thought of spending some hours trying to sleep. I put all kind of alarms to be sure of not waiting any more after 5:30.am. I almost woke up every hour and tried to check my watch and eventually at 4 am got up and decided to spare the rest of few minutes at gate 26 itself.
The new day saw no unforeseen incidences, I reached at 8:45 am and quite adeptly got ready and reached the conference room by 10 am, It was my first visit to Lexington and everyone I interacted with on phone were strangers to me but the moment I entered the room wherein everyone was waiting on me became quite a good scene, The presentation lasted for > 3 hrs and was awesome. In the eve I was back on my way to Atlanta. At 10 pm I reached Atlanta, looking back at the terminal where I spent my night the other day.
All in all, the day was a happening one with me boarding 4 flights a day to fulfill what I was supposed to !
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