Holiday holiday
Getting into Heathrow was OK, except that there were some bullying security guards at the door. I have to admit, nerves and sleep-deprivation meant that as soon as I heard them saying to the people in front of me, "You have to show us your ticket or you can't come in," my hackles raised. I had an e-ticket, and I hadn't thought to print out my itinerary. This isn't usually necessary -- you check-in at an instant check-in machine using your passport and show that and your boarding card from there on in.
I said, "I have nothing printed but I am flying to Toronto at 9am come hell or high water." "No, you're not," shot back the most aggressive of the three guards. He was really unpleasant. He actually seemed to be enjoying saying to people, "Then you won't fly" if they said anything he didn't want to hear or anything to challenge him. One of the other, more reasonable ones, pointed out, as I had already seen, that my check-in time was listed on the board as 6.15, and it was now only 5am. He said I should go to one of the marquees and wait for instructions from Air Canada staff. "But I don't want to do that," I whined, "I want to go in where it's warm and find something to eat." "Too bad," said the nasty one. "You can't come in without showing us proof of your flight." "I have an e-ticket" I expostulated. "So where is it?" he asked. "Show me your e-ticket." "It's an e-ticket!" I repeated. "It's not printed out, I just show my passport, that's the point for fuck's sake." He then told me not to use language like that, I told him I'd use whatever the fuck language I wanted and he said, "Then you won't fly." "You're a bully!" I shouted at him. He actually looked taken aback at that. "A bully, am I?" "Yes, you're a bully and a horrible asshole!" I shot for good measure and turned away in disgust.
Exactly as I turned around, an older gentleman appeared wearing an Air Canada uniform. "Oh, oh!" I said to him, "I'm flying Air Canada! Can you possibly, please, help me get in?" He calmed me down, ascertained I was flying on the 9am flight to Toronto and walked with me to the door. "Excuse me," he said the young, bullying guard, "This lady is flying on the 9am Air Canada flight to Toronto. Can she come in?" To my amazement, he stepped sharply aside. I thanked the Air Canada man profusely.
The line-up for check-in was long. I had a chatty older couple from somewhere op north behind me. They had had terrible bad luck. They had booked their tickets to go to their son's in Toronto several months ago, with Air India. Then, some weeks later, Air India had contacted them to say they weren't flying to Canada anymore, ever, the tickets were cancelled, and they'd get their money back in six weeks. So they re-booked with Air Canada, for Sunday 19 December.
Of course, on Sunday 19 December Heathrow was in absolute chaos. The man told me he thought there were over a thousand people just in the small part of international departures in which we were currently standing. He said people were sleeping on the floors of the toilets. Hotel prices had skyrocketed to over two hundred pounds a night, and even with that, for hours there weren't even any taxis to take people to the hotels. They came away, then received a text message saying that their flight was boarding. They rushed back to the airport and told a man at or near the door about it. He very kindly checked the flights that were actually leaving Heathrow that day -- there were only six, and theirs wasn't one of them. "That's a joke," he told them, "your flight is definitely not boarding." They left again.
Their son in Toronto then somehow managed to arrange for them to fly Air Canada to Munich, and from there, Lufthansa to Toronto. It was leaving from Birmingham though. So on Tuesday, up to Birmingham they went and attempted to check in. They had their itineraries and thought everything was confirmed. But in Birmingham, Air Canada was having none of it. There is no way they would have confirmed flights with another airline. Their seats on the Air Lufthansa flight were not confirmed, not booked, the end.
So, their son had another go. Goodness knows how, as my flight was booked for months, so it wasn't like it was a new one put on to fill the gaps, but he managed to book them on it. And there they were, as the man said, on their fourth attempt! I hope they managed to have a nice Christmas in Toronto after all that!
My flights were routine and fine. The film selection was somewhat disappointing but I watched one and a bit fluffy romcoms. I slept the first five hours of the first flight and the last forty-five minutes or so of the second. I also had about four meals, which is what tends to happen when I have one of those twenty-hour-days that results from flying from east to west. Mum and Keith were ready to get me at YVR. Mum's first words on seeing me totter into the arrivals lounge was "One weary little girl!" My second flight was slightly delayed, so we weren't on the road to Kamloops until 5.30, which is unfortunately about an hour later than we'd hoped.