For all travelers flying in December, holiday tradition requires that some type of delay occur at the airport. Generally this requirement is met by inclement weather, but when the weather is not cooperating in an inclement manner, airline officials are pressured to make up some other delay.
In our case, the pilot kept making announcements explaining why, although we were all settled on the plane, the plane could not take off. First we were informed that we had a "loose seat" in the back of the plane, and we had to wait for maintenance to come and "bolt it down." Of course maintenance lived in another time zone, and had to fly in from another airport that was also making up various delays. In the meantime the rest of us, now suddenly worried about our seats, tried to find out, by surreptitiously rocking and shaking them, whether they were bolted to the floor.
When the seat was once again secured, the pilot announced that we were 4th in line on the runway. This good news was quickly followed by an amendment: "Uh, folks, I was misinformed here about when we're gonna take off. We're actually 54th in line on the runway."
In our case, the pilot kept making announcements explaining why, although we were all settled on the plane, the plane could not take off. First we were informed that we had a "loose seat" in the back of the plane, and we had to wait for maintenance to come and "bolt it down." Of course maintenance lived in another time zone, and had to fly in from another airport that was also making up various delays. In the meantime the rest of us, now suddenly worried about our seats, tried to find out, by surreptitiously rocking and shaking them, whether they were bolted to the floor.
When the seat was once again secured, the pilot announced that we were 4th in line on the runway. This good news was quickly followed by an amendment: "Uh, folks, I was misinformed here about when we're gonna take off. We're actually 54th in line on the runway."
This made us wonder whether the pilot may have been "misinformed" about other trivial matters, such as perhaps where we were headed ("We apologize that this plane is not going to Chicago, as previously stated, but is actually bound for Sweetgrass, Montana....uh, sorry, folks, we're not going to Sweetgrass, either. We're just going to taxi for a few hours and deposit you all at the far end of the terminal. Your luggage, however, may be picked up in Sweetgrass at your earliest convenience, though it may not contain the entire amount of Christmas gifts you originally packed. As always, thank you for flying Errorlines Express").
Even the wise men of old, though not traveling by plane, encountered many delays on their way to Bethlehem, although these delays were not recorded because the wise men had taken a vow to never reveal where they actually ended up the first time they set out (Bermuda). Luckily they had brought their Christmas gifts with them instead of sending them by cargo, or who knows where the gold, frankincense, and myrrh may have ended up (Greenland).
But the wise men, of course, did eventually make it to their destination, and so did we, and so, somewhat to our surprise, did our luggage. We try not to take the safe arrival of our luggage for granted, for holiday tradition also dictates that somewhere, someone's luggage is going to Bethlehem instead of Chicago.
Even the wise men of old, though not traveling by plane, encountered many delays on their way to Bethlehem, although these delays were not recorded because the wise men had taken a vow to never reveal where they actually ended up the first time they set out (Bermuda). Luckily they had brought their Christmas gifts with them instead of sending them by cargo, or who knows where the gold, frankincense, and myrrh may have ended up (Greenland).
But the wise men, of course, did eventually make it to their destination, and so did we, and so, somewhat to our surprise, did our luggage. We try not to take the safe arrival of our luggage for granted, for holiday tradition also dictates that somewhere, someone's luggage is going to Bethlehem instead of Chicago.
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