Running, Running, GONE

01/10/08
I always wanted to be that person who runs through the airport. I used to imagine where they had to be in such a rush-business trip? honeymoon? It always seemed so exciting and I yearned for their adrenaline rush.
Yesterday was my moment in the spotlight, but I wasn't as successful as my role models and I failed miserably. As fate has it, I am not in Missouri. I had three flights, three layovers, a train ride, customs, security, and a four hour drive home, so there was plenty of room for error. My first flight was through AirFrance from Geneva to Paris. This is where my troubles began. In an attempt to save time, I had the gentleman at the check-in counter check my luggage through my whole trip (my Geneva trip wasn't in my original itinerary and was added towards the end through AirFrance in order to get me to the airport in Paris on time).
On my plane to Paris, I had an epiphany. It hit me that my luggage ticket was marked YYZ (the code for the Toronto airport) when it should have also had STL. Ok. Don't stress. At the check in counter in Paris, I was asked if I spoke English or French. English. Then the cheeky guy replied, "Well I speak French." Ok? Since I have a hard time speaking even in English, I cheated. I explained my problem and he looked at me with a blank stare and said "Ok..." When I asked if there was anything I could do he told me no. I was concerned about the time and he assured me that I would be fine.
I was still concerned when I was on the plane, so I befriended a flight attendant who also told me that I should have enough time to get on my plane. He told me where I needed to go and in which order. I was flipping through the airline magazine and found a map of the Toronto airport, so I memorized my route. I was prepared to run like the wind when I got off the plane.
We landed at 2:30 pm and by the time I got through Canadian customs, it was 2:50. I waited for my luggage to arrive and at about 3:00, my two blue suitcases came passing around on the belt. I piled them up and ran to the exit. I went through another checkpoint where I had to show them my passport again and then the lady informed me that I needed to go through US customs. ah! I had one hour until my flight departed. When I got upstairs, I was running with all of my luggage and I had plenty of strange looks. I was second in line waiting to check my luggage in and a lady went around asking people when their flights were departing. I told her I had 40 minutes and she looked at my ticket and told me "Oh no, you aren't getting on that flight. It has already left. You are too late." I told her "No, I had 40 minutes and it wasn't my fault." I explained the situation and prayed over and over in my head that I could get home that same day.
I was tired and sick and the thought of missing my flight and not getting home made me upset. I started to cry. Then the lady who was rebooking me asked for assistance "because she couldn't deal with this." She handed me a new itinerary and telephone number to call for hotels and sent me on my way. I tried to rebook another flight but it would cost me over $1000, so I sucked it up. I have finally made it back in Missouri after over 40 hours of travel. I am exhausted and the jet lag is killing me.