A Minute Matters

Here's how my day went a couple of days ago.

(It just so happened to be a day that I was catching a flight.)

Our flight departed at 11:20 a.m. and our plan was to leave our home at 9:20 a.m.
.....but you know how that goes. Wait! Do you? Or am I the only one who rarely makes their "scheduled time of departure?" (I first tried to abbreviate that, but it had a bad result! :))

We ran into a few delays.

1. Miss B's red shoes (and she HAD to wear her red ones - she's her mother's daughter!) were no where to be found around our place. But upon replaying, in my mind, her whereabouts the last time I saw her wearing them, I was led to my next door neighbor's yard. I eventually located them in the very last place I looked - on their back deck swing.
2. I had gotten in the car to go, but then went back into the house to get an apple, since I'm trying really hard to get "5 a day" for a month, and I knew it would be hard on a travel day.
3. We stopped at someone's house to drop off a check (that couldn't wait until we returned from being out of town.)
4. I called the Jr. High on the way there, since I had forgotten to call when I was still at home earlier like I had intended, to get Kyle checked out of school to go with us. The drive only takes a couple of minutes, so when we arrived, he hadn't had enough time to get out front yet and we had to wait.
5. Then I remembered that I had failed to bring any books to read on the trip, so we swung back by the house and I grabbed the stack of books I had left on the dryer.
6. Matt dropped Kyle and I off at the airport terminal curb, at least an hour and 10 minutes BEFORE our flight, while he went to park the car.
7. Kyle and I got all checked in for our flight and dropped off our bags, and then sat down in some chairs by the escalator leading up to the security check point to wait for Matt. There were four different groups with "Welcome Home Elder" banners waiting with baited breath for their missionaries to come down - it provided good entertainment while we waited, about 20 min.
8. Matt came to where we were and went up to the Security Line (in Terminal 2). He came back down and said it seemed pretty long and suggested we go over to the International Terminal since that one is always less busy.
9. We speed-walked over to the International Terminal and saw a sign blocking the entrance informing us that it was closed between 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. It was 10:28 a.m.
10. We half-jogged back over to Terminal 2 and got in the security line, which was very long - much too long for Matt's liking.
11. Matt left us in line there and jogged over to Terminal 1 to check out that security line. He called me and told me he thought it was shorter over there and that we should come over there with him.
12. Kyle and I jogged over to Terminal 1 and got in line with Matt.
    
13. Did I mention I was wearing new clogs for the first time? That were not broken in, yet? Not exactly great jogging shoes.
14. We waited in that Security Line. And waited. 10 minutes. And moved forward little by little. 20 minutes. And zigged back and forth in the line. 30 minutes. And the clock ticked forward.
15. RIGHT WHEN we got to the front of the line, a bunch of First Class and wheelchair passengers both came through in their respective lines and our line stopped for a while.
16. After going through the body scanning machine, I got pulled aside for a "pocket check" (done by a female TSA agent, with the back of her hands) and swabbed for explosives powder on my palms.
17. Matt & Kyle took off sprinting to our gate. I trailed behind in my clogs, running on the moving sidewalks - what a sight. (I now have a line of bruising across the top of my instep!)
    
18. Our gate was D-11....clear down at the END of the hall. Remember, we were in Terminal 1, where the "A" gates are. Of course, our gate couldn't have been any of the "C" gates, or even gate D 1-6, which are also Delta airlines gates - AND were CLOSER!
19. Matt arrived at gate D-11 at 11:11 a.m. The plane was to depart at 11:20 a.m. (whew!) BUT the door was already closed.
    
20. The Delta airport employee informed us (with a stone-face and NO compassion in her attitude) that they close the door 10 minutes before departure. One minute too late! THE PLANE WAS STILL SITTING THERE at the end of the jet bridge, but we were denied boarding!

If ANY of these events/situations would've been different, that ONE minute wouldn't have even been an issue! Matt about made himself crazy thinking about, "If only we would have/wouldn't have __________." If the shoes would've been in Miss B's closet. If we would've taken the check over the night before. If I hadn't wanted a book. If we wouldn't have waited for Matt. If we wouldn't have played "Musical Security Lines." If the departure would've been from a "C" gate. If only Delta employees were as awesome as our JetBlue crewmembers. (I'm not biased! :) There's a reason we've won SEVEN consecutive J.D. Power & Associates awards for best airline.) etc. etc.

Man! All this "experience" we have with air travel, ever since I became an airline crewmember 4 1/2 years ago, and we're still learning......

I tell my kids ALL THE TIME that every minute counts (a minute wasted here, a minute wasted there) and they don't believe me -- well, here's PROOF!

{We got on the next flight FOUR hours later!}