aaaiiiia
so here i am in an airport again...only this time it's san francisco, not omaha, and i'm on my way home.
well, that's a lie. in about 5 hours, i'll be on my way home. because i missed my flight. because i managed to go the wrong way at EVERY single opportunity there was to choose a way to go. literally...well, maybe i went the right way the first time. yes. ok. let's break this down minute by minute:
12:30pm--i check out of my hotel and wait for the shuttle to the BART station. i call my mom while i'm waiting. she says "wow, you're leaving so early for a 4pm flight! i'm impressed!"
12:45pm--the shuttle comes. i get on.
12:50pm--the shuttle drops me off at the bart station. but instead of seeing that, i see the bart air bus. i'm like oh...clearly i should get on that.
1pm--get on the bart air bus
1:30pm--arrive at the oakland airport (my flight was leaving from SFO, not oakland). think...hmm. where's the BART train? not here, apparently. ask a police officer:
police officer: you have to take the bart air bus to the train station
me: but i just did that!
police officer: yeah, um...you shouldn't have.
1:45pm--get on a new bart air bus ($2 a pop, people) to go back to where the shuttle dropped me off
2:15pm--arrive where i started, and immediately see the train. feel dumb but slightly amused with myself. get on the train.
2:45pm--arrive at the daly city station, four stops from SFO. stay on the train, thinking it'll keep going. the train...reverses directions.
2:45pm--call miranda, who i'd been texting, to tell her that i've managed to screw up a second time. we both find this kind of hilarious. we start entertaining the notion that i might miss my flight...but not really.
3:00pm--get on a new bart that will actually take me to the airport
3:15pm--arrive at the airport. hear that i need to take an airtram to my terminal. run to get on the airtram.
3:16pm--realize that i've gotten on the airtram going the wrong way. start laughing to myself and looking insane. call miranda again.
miranda: you're not making your flight
me: it's not over til it's over. i'm gonna go now, though. i need to think for a minute and figure out life, instead of just reacting.
3:20pm--get on a tram going the right way. it takes forever. call miranda again
3:30pm--finally get to my terminal. get off the tram. hang up with miranda so i can do some hardcore running.
3:36pm--make it to ticketing/baggage check. ask the one person ahead of me online if i can skip her. she says yes, and becomes my favorite person.
3:38pm--am told by the ticketing lady that there's no hope. i try to argue, but she points out that they're no longer checking bags, and even if i could make it through security and to the gate in 22 minutes, i'd still have a humongous, unchecked bag. i concede; she's right. she puts me on standby for a full flight at 10pm.
3:43pm--on the way to security, someone asks me to donate 20 dollars to kids with AIDS. i donate 2, because i barely have enough cash to get dinner tonight. i feel guilty.
3:45pm--i try to go through security, but am told that i'm in the wrong place for american airlines. my eyes bug out and i pretty much scream, "WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO?!?!!" they're like, "dude...over there," and point to the exact place i was a minute ago, getting my boarding pass. i walk by the guy getting people to donate money, and he looks confused at why i'm walking by him again.
3:55pm--i get to my gate. i set up my computer and plan to not leave for the next six hours, because if i do, i might end up in alaska.
4:30pm--the woman who let me cut her in line walks by, and is all "did you miss your flight?" i'm like, "hehe, yyyeah...it's all good though." she points out that at least i get to relax now, which is true. other positives: email checking (which i haven't done in at least 24 hours) and getting to see the sunrise in flight, which is the most beautiful thing in the world and something i've only experienced once.
stories from the tour are multiple, and i'll tell you many of them in due time. for now, though, let's just talk about :
so we're in rosemead, CA (that's near/in LA) and i'm sitting at the sign-in table, doing my "change walmart, change america" thing. it's a lovely event--this community has been fighting to keep walmart out for four years, and the crowd is really diverse and a bunch of people have brought their kids and we have anti-walmart balloons that i'm tying on people's wrists and there are some politicians there and it's just good. there's a rally outside before the event starts, and at the end of the rally, someone starts a solidarity clap. it doesn't go as well as USAS solidarity claps--people get faster and then just kind of fizzle out. i start thinking "awww, i miss usas." i text miranda something to this effect and how our solidarity claps beat everyone and she writes back that she's missing jess a lot (jess is in cambodia). i start missing jess too, and just USAS in general. so i'm sitting there at this table and the sun is setting and i'm missing USAS and feeling kind of melancholy. all of a sudden, who do i see coming towards me but...LEE SIU HIN!!
i scream, "SIU HIN!! OH MY GOD!!" and run up and give him a hug (i'm not even kidding, i totally did that. that's how much i was missing USAS. my eyes like, started tearing up). he doesn't seem weirded out by seeing me at all, he's just like "oh, hi, nice to see you emma." i introduce him to my friend sam, and he gives sam his immigrant solidarity network business card. i just keep shaking my head. the event starts, everyone goes inside, and i text about a hundred people to let them know. miranda's just like, "well, obviously he'd be there," which is true, but still. he's everywhere, dude. completely insane.
in happy news--i got into the "writing the novella" class i wanted to get into, and the professor sent me the best acceptance email ever. yay.
well, that's a lie. in about 5 hours, i'll be on my way home. because i missed my flight. because i managed to go the wrong way at EVERY single opportunity there was to choose a way to go. literally...well, maybe i went the right way the first time. yes. ok. let's break this down minute by minute:
12:30pm--i check out of my hotel and wait for the shuttle to the BART station. i call my mom while i'm waiting. she says "wow, you're leaving so early for a 4pm flight! i'm impressed!"
12:45pm--the shuttle comes. i get on.
12:50pm--the shuttle drops me off at the bart station. but instead of seeing that, i see the bart air bus. i'm like oh...clearly i should get on that.
1pm--get on the bart air bus
1:30pm--arrive at the oakland airport (my flight was leaving from SFO, not oakland). think...hmm. where's the BART train? not here, apparently. ask a police officer:
police officer: you have to take the bart air bus to the train station
me: but i just did that!
police officer: yeah, um...you shouldn't have.
1:45pm--get on a new bart air bus ($2 a pop, people) to go back to where the shuttle dropped me off
2:15pm--arrive where i started, and immediately see the train. feel dumb but slightly amused with myself. get on the train.
2:45pm--arrive at the daly city station, four stops from SFO. stay on the train, thinking it'll keep going. the train...reverses directions.
2:45pm--call miranda, who i'd been texting, to tell her that i've managed to screw up a second time. we both find this kind of hilarious. we start entertaining the notion that i might miss my flight...but not really.
3:00pm--get on a new bart that will actually take me to the airport
3:15pm--arrive at the airport. hear that i need to take an airtram to my terminal. run to get on the airtram.
3:16pm--realize that i've gotten on the airtram going the wrong way. start laughing to myself and looking insane. call miranda again.
miranda: you're not making your flight
me: it's not over til it's over. i'm gonna go now, though. i need to think for a minute and figure out life, instead of just reacting.
3:20pm--get on a tram going the right way. it takes forever. call miranda again
3:30pm--finally get to my terminal. get off the tram. hang up with miranda so i can do some hardcore running.
3:36pm--make it to ticketing/baggage check. ask the one person ahead of me online if i can skip her. she says yes, and becomes my favorite person.
3:38pm--am told by the ticketing lady that there's no hope. i try to argue, but she points out that they're no longer checking bags, and even if i could make it through security and to the gate in 22 minutes, i'd still have a humongous, unchecked bag. i concede; she's right. she puts me on standby for a full flight at 10pm.
3:43pm--on the way to security, someone asks me to donate 20 dollars to kids with AIDS. i donate 2, because i barely have enough cash to get dinner tonight. i feel guilty.
3:45pm--i try to go through security, but am told that i'm in the wrong place for american airlines. my eyes bug out and i pretty much scream, "WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO?!?!!" they're like, "dude...over there," and point to the exact place i was a minute ago, getting my boarding pass. i walk by the guy getting people to donate money, and he looks confused at why i'm walking by him again.
3:55pm--i get to my gate. i set up my computer and plan to not leave for the next six hours, because if i do, i might end up in alaska.
4:30pm--the woman who let me cut her in line walks by, and is all "did you miss your flight?" i'm like, "hehe, yyyeah...it's all good though." she points out that at least i get to relax now, which is true. other positives: email checking (which i haven't done in at least 24 hours) and getting to see the sunrise in flight, which is the most beautiful thing in the world and something i've only experienced once.
stories from the tour are multiple, and i'll tell you many of them in due time. for now, though, let's just talk about :
so we're in rosemead, CA (that's near/in LA) and i'm sitting at the sign-in table, doing my "change walmart, change america" thing. it's a lovely event--this community has been fighting to keep walmart out for four years, and the crowd is really diverse and a bunch of people have brought their kids and we have anti-walmart balloons that i'm tying on people's wrists and there are some politicians there and it's just good. there's a rally outside before the event starts, and at the end of the rally, someone starts a solidarity clap. it doesn't go as well as USAS solidarity claps--people get faster and then just kind of fizzle out. i start thinking "awww, i miss usas." i text miranda something to this effect and how our solidarity claps beat everyone and she writes back that she's missing jess a lot (jess is in cambodia). i start missing jess too, and just USAS in general. so i'm sitting there at this table and the sun is setting and i'm missing USAS and feeling kind of melancholy. all of a sudden, who do i see coming towards me but...LEE SIU HIN!!
i scream, "SIU HIN!! OH MY GOD!!" and run up and give him a hug (i'm not even kidding, i totally did that. that's how much i was missing USAS. my eyes like, started tearing up). he doesn't seem weirded out by seeing me at all, he's just like "oh, hi, nice to see you emma." i introduce him to my friend sam, and he gives sam his immigrant solidarity network business card. i just keep shaking my head. the event starts, everyone goes inside, and i text about a hundred people to let them know. miranda's just like, "well, obviously he'd be there," which is true, but still. he's everywhere, dude. completely insane.
in happy news--i got into the "writing the novella" class i wanted to get into, and the professor sent me the best acceptance email ever. yay.