Poetic Tides Through Time

Disappointment

"Tell us about that time you were excited about something, only to be bitterly disappointed when it was delayed or cancelled."

         In March I took a trip to Scotland and spent a few days in England. All in all I was gone for about 16 days. As a gift to me, my daughter arranged transportation to the airport from the hotel in London where I spent a few nights. I truly had a fabulous time and was ready for the trip to end. I was looking forward to returning because I had taken on a new assignment at work, teaching a course in Mental Health. And work started in five days. So imagine my surprise and shock when I realized that my transport to the airport was booked for the same time my British Airways flight departed London for Denver! The hotel managed to get me another transport and we "raced" through London's traffic at a snail's pace. I did get to the airport at 2 PM, forty minutes before my flight departed. Alas, they would not let me on the flight because I arrived less than an hour before take-off.
         Frantic phone calls were exchanged between me and my Denver relatives with directions and ideas of all sorts suggested. "Fly to Dublin, then to Iceland, then to Denver. You'll get home on April 4th! It's much cheaper" was one suggestion. Well, the cost of a hotel not to mention the fact that I was to be teaching on the 4th more or less nixed that idea. With three suitcases that I was pushing around the airport, I wanted a direct flight. Finally I took matters into my own hands, with help from British Airways. I re-booked a flight to Denver on United, round trip for $2001.00 US dollars, holding my breath as I handed over my credit card. Resigned to the fact that I was going to spend another night in London, I checked my luggage at the airport and got a hotel room nearby. Determined to make the best of it, I had a wonderful meal at the hotel that evening and great conversation with a gent from the US traveling on business. My initial disappointment was that I never got the gentleman's business card or his name and that I had to fork over more money for a flight that was already paid for, losing my seat on British Airways.
         Lessons learned from that experience: if you book through any of the online venues (not the airline), always get travel insurance and expect to pay more if you have to change your flight. Flying internationally? Book through the airlines to avoid a huge price increase if you have to change your flight. Get an international calling package through your phone carrier. What'sApp works for most things but sometimes you need to have a direct conversation with someone and if you don't have the package, you will pay dearly after you return!
         My final disappointment? Getting a reminder from United to check in for my return flight to London at the end of April, and knowing that I couldn't take that trip!

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.~~Robert Frost