Thursday, April 19, 2001
New York, NY
Greetings to All –
Just thought you may want to know what’s been going on with me lately. You’ll want to file this story in the ‘another-day-in-the-life-of-Ellen’ category. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
As some of you already know, I had to take an unexpected trip home to Milwaukee. My dad had quintuple heart bypass surgery on April 2nd. My four older siblings were all in Milwaukee with my mom. I flew into Chicago then drove to Milwaukee on April 7th.
The trip home was slightly eventful because my direct flight from LaGuardia to Chicago got re-routed to Newark, which is a story in itself. When we landed in Newark, we were told we’d have an hour delay. I tried to get off the plane to make a phone call, however I couldn’t find my boarding pass. So, I told the ticket dude. He looked up my name then told me that I was never checked into the flight to begin with. They had no record of me! Well, that mess got resolved with me getting upgraded to first class!
Got to Chicago, drove to Milwaukee and went straight to the hospital to see my dad. That was a heart-wrenching experience. I got there when visiting hours were nearly over so, I had to tip toe through the hallways as I tried to find his room. I get to his floor and as I rounded the corner, I saw my dad walking slowly down the carpeted hallway. His back was to me, yet I could see he was wearing his comfy bathrobe from home.
I quickly realized he was taking his doctor appointed evening stroll in an effort to prevent blood clots. I stood in silence as he moved gingerly. Then, as if he sensed my presence, he turned around and our eyes locked. A large smile engulfed his lips as he realized it was me. My heart actually skipped a beat as I memorized that look on my aging fathers face. He looked small and fragile, yet his loving smile could’ve lit up an entire city block.
I’m happy to report that Dad came home the following Monday. I stayed in Milwaukee for about 12 days and helped him and my mom in his transition home. When I left yesterday, Dad was looking good and slowly feeling better.
So, yesterday I wake up early because I had a dentist appointment. I thought as long as I was home, I’d visit our family dentist for a check-up. Well, by 9:30 am he was reporting that I needed an emergency ROOT CANAL. Little did I know that was only the beginning of the emergencies I’d experience in one day.
Later that day, my sister drove me to O’Hare airport for my 7pm scheduled flight. We got there early, so I tried to get on the 6pm flight, but had no luck. Then, when it’s time to check in for the 7pm flight, I’m told it’s been cancelled! Now, my last chance out of Chicago is the 8:45pm plane. Needless to say, everyone who got bumped from the 7pm flight was going to be clamoring to get on the 8:45 which was bad for me because I was flying stand-by.
I literally was the LAST PERSON to board the plane before they closed the doors. I sit down and of course, I’m in the middle seat of a row of three. In addition, I hadn’t had a chance to fill the vicadin prescription, so I was swollen and throbbing. However, amazingly I was able to fall asleep pretty quick.
I slept nearly the whole trip until we got about 20 minutes outside of LaGuardia and the pilot came on the overhead speakers and announced: “This is not a drill. This is a command! Get in your seats now and assume the emergency landing position. An anonymous call has come into this plane telling us there is a bomb on board this flight. We will be making an emergency landing and the FBI and the New York police will be on hand to assist in the evacuation. Stand by for further instructions”
Even though I was groggy from sleep, I quickly realized I wasn’t dreaming as the folks all around me were grabbing their ankles and ducking their heads between their legs. This was actually for real! At this point, the root canal was already a distant memory.
We made the landing. The airport was a scene straight out of every action movie. Hundreds of police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, flashing lights, men in riot gear, the K-9 dog team…..it was the most surreal thing I’d ever witnessed.
We evacuated the plane through the rear exit after the giant yellow slide malfunctioned. (Apparently, NOTHING was going to go right for me on this day) Then, we were hustled over to waiting busses from Port Authority where we sat for nearly three hours. Finally, we were let off the bus and allowed back on the plane to gather up our carry-on luggage that we’d left behind. I won’t even get into the story about the guy on my bus that wouldn’t stop bitching about how he had to go to the bathroom!
Of course the car service I’d lined up to take me home to Long Island was long gone by the time I got into the terminal at 3am. I hailed a cab and that moron was going to charge me $100 to take me less than 20 miles home. When I nearly collapsed in front of him after hearing his price he asked me; “How much money do you have?”
Maybe it was that my teeth were throbbing and my heart was still pounding from the near death airline experience, but whatever it was, I pulled a novice tourist-like move when I told him exactly how much money I had. “I’ve got 71 bucks”
“I’ll take it” he responded. Ah, gotta love free enterprise. This guy had no problem taking every last cent from a single girl in the middle of the night after she survived a bomb threat. Wow.
Oh yea, did I mention that I had to be back on the road by 7am because I had a speaking engagement in New Jersey this morning? I got home to Long Island at 4am, stayed up, showered and hit the road to Jersey. I wasn’t even late for my appointment!
FYI – I’m still UNEMPLOYED too, ever since I lost my job the week of Christmas.
Lovely.
