Nov. 17th : Went online to print my boarding pass for flight tomorrow morning. A red error stated “this flight does not exist.” Closed the website and tried again. Same error occurred. Ok, no worries. I’ll print the boarding pass from the kiosk at CAK (Akron-Canton Airport), ‘cuz those things work and this computer doesn’t always come through.
Nov. 18th: Arrived at CAK at 5:38 a.m. for the exciting
departure to Tahoe with Landon in his snazzy new ski jacket for his upcoming ski outing.
I approached the kiosk right in front of the Delta customer service folks and
entered my confirmation number. The same online error occurred. People were in two
lines and checking their bags. All in all, a fast-paced noisy commotion. I asked nice man at the desk to help me because my
confirmation number wasn’t producing the boarding pass. He took my name. What
appeared on the screen changed his attitude towards me. He read out loud all
documentation about this ticket purchase. This was
not good because it included how I’d used a voucher “fraudulently” and their
conversation with Evan to disprove its validity. It was all there in my
permanent record—their history of scolding me for using Evan’s voucher, etc.
After his lengthy recitation of this bad press, he judged and stated with pursed lips, “Your
flight’s been canceled. There is no
ticket for you.”
I remained calm
because clearly the last part of this ticket arrangement had not been
documented and I had come prepared. I handed the printed-out conversation where
Glen (Delta’s employee) had approved my using Dad’s voucher triggering this entire
debacle.
When nice man
became judgment man, he again read the meanie face screen and plotted to publicly
stone me. I interrupted him and showed Delta’s permission to use
the voucher. At this point he picked up the phone and dialed a very far-off
country for me to speak with someone else. I asked him if there was a 7 a.m.
flight to Las Vegas. He said there was, but not for me. He handed the phone to
me and the lady’s voice in the far-off country was inaudible to my ears. Could
not hear anyone over the conveyor belt and voices of passengers loading their
stuff. This was not going very smoothly I said to myself.
Lois realized I
was taking a very long time to check in and she came over to the counter. She
asked if we were having our “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” good time. Well,
it was clear that I was, but it didn’t feel funny and I kept that part to
myself. I asked her to bring my bag with laptop in it so I could see if my
credit card got charged for the trip, as they had cancelled me, without contacting me.
I was on hold
for at least 15 minutes, looking over my shoulder for the po-po holding tightly
to my evidence, while they tried to figure things out. Man customer service rep
tired of me and walked away. Customer service lady came over. I’d begun to sweat and asked if she could
help me. She avoided eye contact with me and said no one onsite could help me.
(Boy, you’re telling me.)
Lois was keeping
a lid on her wrath. Not that she was showing it, but her body language and this
situation held all the elements of a hairy outcome--canceled flight; no communication
of the cancellation; and no record of a flight ticket.
So, here I was. I dug deep.
In pitiable desperation. I said, “But, ma’am, I am meeting family in Las Vegas and the
rental car is in my name.” (Good one. That should work.)
The very nice
lady on the phone kept asking me a question. I couldn’t hear her. I apologized
and asked her to say it again. Finally, she raised her voice and asked, “I
wondered if you were having a good day.”
Well, I laughed
real good at that one. I think she heard it. And she gave me a ticket. (Thank you, most merciful God.)
Appendix A
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