st. thomas...not yet!

Just dug up this photo from this summer. It funnily fits with my tale...

Yesterday I posted "...86,400 seconds in a day to turn it all around or to throw it all away..." on Facebook. Today I am trying to take my own advice. At 6 a.m. I was supposed to be on a plane bound for Miami. Only, I wasn't. After a whirlwind of a week, I scurried around last night doing laundry, packing, buttoning down the hatches. I quickly looked up my itinerary for my trip to St. Thomas and noted the 9:35 a.m. departure time. (Yeah, only that 9:35 a.m. time was the arrival time in Miami.) I realized that at exactly 7:36 a.m. this morning. Uh oh...

I've never missed a flight on account of my own stupidity. It's extremely maddening. As a friend rushes me to the airport, I tell an American Airlines rep over the phone to get me to St. Thomas ASAP. "I can route you through Dallas and overnight you in San Juan. You can be there by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow?" she says as more of a question than a statement. "Great! Can we try that?" Suddenly, I'm pumped. A night in Puerto Rico? Swweeeet. Land at 10 p.m., get some drinks and explore, back to the airport by 6 a.m. for my flight. Perfect, and a good chance to practice Spanish. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't put you on the flight. You have to follow the same flight pattern to rebook. You must go through Miami." Back to a mixture of madness and sadness. "You'll have to talk to your reps at Lambert. I can't help you, ma'am."

At Lambert I wonder whether to play angry, sad, nice, desperate or any combination of the emotions. In the end, I don't have time for play emotions, as my real ones take over. "These are really flights you can't miss," the woman behind the counter tells me. Inside I want to laugh at her and ask, "And which flights are the good ones to miss, ma'am?" Then I remind myself, I'm the stupid one today. She rebooks my ticket for the earliest possible flight, leaving Lambert at 4:40 p.m., staying the night in Miami and getting to St. Thomas about 24 hours after my scheduled arrival time.

I text my friend in Miami and craft a quick recovery plan to stay there tonight. Then I sit down with my bags and literally freeze. I'm not sure what to do, who to call, where to go. I sit in silence. I'm overwhelmed by my absentmindedness. I'm disappointed I won't see my cousins tonight...or the St. Thomas sunset. Then I remember the silly song lyric from Facebook. ...86,400 seconds in a day to turn it all around or to throw it all away.

So I have a night in Miami with an awesome friend ahead of me - not to mention three full days in St. Thomas. Tomorrow morning, before heading to St. Thomas, I think I'll lay in the sun. And, for someone who never has free time, I have a few hours to do something - anything - I want. I have no reason to grumble, no fingers to point and only myself to forgive.

I jump on MetroLink to head home for a little rest before my afternoon flight to MIA. Once off the train, I wait for the 70 bus to come in my seaglass earrings, tank top and wet hair I didn't have time to dry. I was dressed for the beach - and very, very cold.

Turn it all around, turn it all around.

The bus arrives, but the driver doesn't let us on. Someone on the bus had passed out. People in line grumble while a guy selling smokes urges everyone to get off the bus. He tells us all that it's a "perfect time for a smoke!" What else is there to do? "Throw 'em off the bus! It's cold and some of us have kids and shit!" a woman says to no one in particular behind me. Cold. Cold. Cold. After another ten cold minutes, a warm bus comes and dumps me about six blocks from my house. I walk with my two bags, thankful I packed light and that I'm not the one on the bus passed out.

Now, I'm off to finally blow dry this hair. Have a nice day, everyone. I think I'll get to the airport pretty early this afternoon...!