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Blogs by Paul Cuenco
A Plane to Nowhere 3/4/2012 10:12:06 PM
We all ended the day quite relieve that the conference was a success. Most of the conference participants rode into the limousines all headed to the airport. I took my boss to the airport with my rented car but a colleague and I decided to go to downtown Chicago and spend a few hours there before our flight. I rented a car because after going to Chicago every year, I discovered that it was much cheaper to rent one than to ride a taxi to go to downtown in a taxi. Indeed, upon our arrival, we would ride a limousine. But after the each day’s conference, there was nothing to do in the hotel. Either I ride a taxi to downtown or stay at the hotel. So instead of waiting for our flight for the next five hours, off we went. The traffic was not too heavy. But by the time we hit the Gold Coast, there were a lot of people scattered about in the different restaurant, bars and cafes, lounging, talking and generally having a good time.
We decided to hang out at an open bar. We talked about the good old days and how to increase sales. We were watching our watches that we don’t go over our allotted time. But we opted for one more pitcher of beer just for the road, since we thought that we have more time on our hands, after which we hurried to our car so that we could catch our plane back to Oakland, California. This time, the traffic was heavy. We had thirty minutes to spare and we thought that that was sufficient to check in our bags and run straight to our flights. Boy, were we wrong. The person responsible to let us in did not allow us in. We argued that we still have thirty more minutes. But she said that that was too late to let anyone through. So, we missed our flight.
It was going to be a grueling night for the counter person said that there were no more flights available for us to take. We went back to the rental car place and rented back a car. We will have to try our luck the next day. That night, we traveled the highways of Chicago, eventually sleeping in the car at a rest stop. My partner can’t stand my snoring so he took it upon himself to sleep inside a shelter. (Chicago has this rest stop with shelters where one could buy items and have the use of toilets.)
The next morning, we went to the airport, early in the morning so that we could catch a plane. But most planes were full. They have given priority to people who have a connection. We were given the lowest priorities. And we were not the only ones stranded. There were others but it seemed that we were the only ones stranded. If we took a paid flight, it would have cost us $800 each, one way. So we waited for each flight to come and go. There were a lot of planes going to the Bay Area: Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento. One flight has two seats left. I have a membership in the awards program of the airline. My friend does not have one. So he applied and both of us were added to the roster and were accommodated. But it was not to Oakland we were headed. Instead, we were dropped off at Sacramento International. Our cars were parked at Oakland International. We have to rent a car at Sacramento International and drive to Oakland in order that we can retrieve our cars.
This was not an embarrassing incident, mind you. It turned out that this incident was more of an adventure. Even the wife of my colleague was so much concerned about him. But he just laughed it off. That following week, we were the news of the sales team. I guess I already had a reputation to these kinds of antics. Some fellows wanted to be in my company but they at the same time did not want to. Too much adventure for a day. I still could have these types of adventures but like some of my colleagues, it begins now to be too much for me, too. I suppose, youth has its rewards, to take things in perspective; and sometimes this perspective was just right for the age I am in.
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