Of Mice and Middle Seats: The Journey Home

The final departure day of a trip is never a pleasant one and this one was no different. In fact, this one left an additional sting as we were up rather early to catch our 3 AM hotel shuttle to the airport. As we were the very first flight of the day, we made the fun discovery that TSA was not even open yet as we were greeted with a large locked gate before security. Now with some time to kill, we descended down the escalator to the Dunkin’ Donuts downstairs. As we had passed hundreds of these while in Boston, we decided we had to at least try this staple while we were here. Unfortunately we had the most bizarre interaction with an incredibly rude cashier and to top it off, witnessed a mouse sprint by. Fortunately TSA finally opened and we shuffled in line with all the other sleepy eyed travelers. Once through security, we were again met with multiple delays after delays. Once finally boarded, I was situated in the dreaded middle seat and proceeded to have one of the worst flights I’ve ever had to endure.

We finally touched down in Atlanta and we used this time to spend our precious $10 meal voucher that Spirit so graciously provided us due to our delays a few days prior. Unfortunately the Atlanta airport shifted into a bland purgatory as the hours continuously ticked by as again our flight kept getting delayed and postponed. Once it was finally time to board, we joined the sprawling line and spent the next hour standing in the exact same spot, without even a single step forward. We later overheard that the plane was too hot to board and we were fortunate enough to be standing near the agent’s desk as our fellow travelers were not as lucky as they were stuck on the boiling jet bridge for over an hour. Due to the jet bridge’s doors being left open for so long, a piercing alarm then began to sound and they officially delayed the departure again.

We used this time to leave the line and use the bathroom upon which we both received a text message saying that the departure was again delayed another hour. Upon exiting the bathroom, we meandered back to the desk to inquire about the flight and happened to notice the line just randomly moving again. We quickly joined the line and moved forward to board. We were a bit confused and frustrated as if we didn’t go back up there, we would have missed the flight as we never received another text and all the display boards were turned off. While in line to board, we pulled up the airline’s app and began plotting about which seats we should try and snag as it appeared several were left open. We put on a small show of removing our jackets and packing our backpacks and moved to the back of the line. Being the final two to board, we had our pick of empty seats and nestled into an empty row all to ourselves; finally putting an end to this wild weekend.

To see the previous day’s adventure, click here.