It was a dark and stormy night. No, actually, it was a rainy afternoon when the thermometer took a dive and the rain froze on the windshield as I drove. I was on my way to the Kansas City airport traveling to a far away destination when the state police stopped the traffic on the interstate to divert us onto a small neighboring town. The officers let us know the traffic was stopped due to icy road conditions.
I had no choice but to follow the officer’s advise and booked a room at the first motel in sight. The weather did not improve during the night and the next morning was worse than the day before.
Since we were iced-in as opposed to snowed- in, there was no food delivery from any of the restaurants around so I subsisted on the candy bars, chips, water, sodas and whatever else was offered at the coin machine. It was not a pleasant experience for my stomach, but at least I wasn’t too hungry.
Two days later, the roads were finally cleared and I was able to continue on the road to the airport.
The airport was packed; there were long lines to confirm tickets and luggage, but being a frequent flier I was able to step up to the front of the line and get the trip organized.
Destination, Miami, where the sun shines all year long with tropical breezes smelling like flowers; I was dreaming of a Mai-tai on hand, enjoying the balmy afternoon.
I arrived in Miami in the evening, with hurricane winds blowing the umbrellas, drenched to my underwear and hoping to find clean, dry clothes waiting at the hotel.
The luggage did not arrive with me, because the flight was overbooked and some of the luggage remained in Kansas City. Lucky me, I had nothing to wear, no make-up, no hope to get ready for the next morning and see clients; this will be a wasted trip if there was no contact with anyone.
I called the airlines to see if there was any hope for my luggage to arrive at a decent hour, and the answer was negative.
Because the weather outside was horrendous, the clients I was to see were not available; I was forced to cancel all appointments and stay in the hotel room for the remainder of the week, waiting for the weather to stabilize and the airport to reopen.
I was to meet one of the company’s young British managers for training, but his flight from London was delayed as much as mine had been. When he finally arrived, he was suffering from jet lag, fatigue, bad mood, hunger, sleeplessness and was not anxious to speak or to work. We ordered food and drinks and settled down without any business talk.
The next morning, when the young waitress arrived for the breakfast order, she wanted to know where my son was, but she was confused, as she noticed he had a different accent than mine. I was happy to let her know that he had inherited his accent from his father, not from me.
She was happy with the explanation and left. Sometimes a simple phrase works better than a lengthy one.
Finally, two days later, the luggage arrived, I was able to get to the airport and book the flight back to Kansas City with nothing accomplished but soggy underwear.
I arrived back to Kansas City to discover the luggage stayed behind in Miami, again. The young Brit returned to London more knowledgeable about Americans after going out with the waitress.