What a Horrible Day for My Husband

My husband is taking 6 college classes this semester, and he has a mid-term coming this Wednesday. He was studying all night last night until 3 AM. Then he (and I, too) had to get up at 6 AM this morning because he was flying to San Diego for a one-week training class (for work).

He was trying to save the government some money (What a great guy he is! When both candidates talk about reducing government spending, look who's actually doing that?) so he had me dropping him off at the airport (to avoid the parking or shuttle fees). He also didn't get a rental car at the destination because another guy already booked one and he was supposed to pick up my husband.

So I dropped him off at the Southwest Airlines gate at the airport, because he said he was flying Southwest.

I didn't hear from him until the afternoon. He told me almost everything went wrong. He went in the gate and didn't see Southwest. So he continued to walk all the way to the other end of the airport. He finally asked someone where Southwest was. (Guys, just a friendly reminder - It is NOT shameful to ask for directions.) The guy told him it was at the other end of the airport where I dropped him off originally. My husband protested and said he just came from there and didn't see Southwest but only Delta. The airport guy (who knows what kind of guy he was) told my husband that he could just check-in at the Delta's counter. (C'mon, common sense would tell you this is WRONG.)

So he walked all the way back to the other end of the airport, and tried to check-in at the Delta's kiosk. Of course, no record of his reservation was found. The Delta employee came to help him, and he said he was flying Southwest. So the Delta employee directed him to the Southwest counter, which was just around the corner. (If he had just asked...)

He then tried to check in at the Southwest counter but his reservation was still not found. He showed the Southwest employee his e-ticket, and the Southwest employee found out that my husband was flying United on the way out. Southwest was his returning flight! (When he was telling me this, I felt really sorry for my guy, but at the same time, it's really hard to feel sympathetic for him. He always relies on me to put everything together. I didn't review his itinerary this time, so he couldn't even figure out his flight on his own.)

So he ran back to the other hand of the airport. He finally got in line at the United Airlines counter, but the line was twice as long as when he was there the first time. His shoulders were also extremely tired because he had carried all his textbooks with him so he could study for the mid-term exam. By the time he reached the check-in counter, it was less than 45 minutes to the departure time, so he couldn't check-in via the kiosk. He thought he would miss the flight, but the counter employee let him through, with the requirement that he had to carry on and not check in the bags. So he had to throw away all the toiletry items like toothpaste and so on. (And because he had no idea where I put the travel-sized toothpastes, he grabbed a brand new full-size tube last night. Sigh.)

When he finally got in line at the security checkpoint, the security guards kept telling him to go to the next line. He went to the farthest line, and got behind a slow guy. That guy was pulling everything out of his luggage, and not putting anything through the belt. So people from other lines actually cut in and jumped ahead, and my husband had to wait even longer.

After he went through that, he hopped on the shuttle to the terminals. The display said the shuttle would leave in 2 minutes, but the shuttle driver kept on waiting for more people to come on board, and didn't start driving on time. It was only about 10 minutes from departure. Then of course, when my husband arrived at the terminal (2 minutes from departure), the flight gate was the last one at the end of the terminal, so he had to run all the way over. When he got there, no one was there. He thought he missed the flight, but the gate agent said he could still get on. (Thank Goodness.) When the gate agent swiped his boarding pass, it wouldn't scan! (Oh my!) The gate agent tried a couple of times and the boarding pass still wouldn't scan, so she finally hand-typed the numbers and let my husband on the flight.

But that's not the end of the lousy day. When he got to San Diego, the other guy who had the rental car was supposed to pick him up. He called and left a message, and waited for the guy to call back. In the meantime, my husband was really tired and wanted to get some rest. He saw a USO sign, so he followed. He kept walking and walking, and suddenly the sign disappeared. He walked back a little and found the sign, but the sign directed him back to where he came from. So again he walked back and forth for a long time, and finally found the USO.

Then he got a phone call from the guy with the rental car. The guy said he had already checked in at the hotel. (What the h*ck?) He wouldn't come to pick up my husband, so my husband had to take a taxi to the base. The taxi driver seemed to be nice and dropped him off at a building that was supposed to be where my husband needed to check-in at. But after my husband went in, the people there told him that he needed to go to the other end of the base to check in.

So my poor husband continued his journey on foot. After he walked across the base, the guy over there told him that they didn't have a room for him. My husband showed them his reservation, and then those guys reluctantly told him that he could stay in one of the rooms, guess where? All the way across the base where he just came from. (You know, sometimes I really wish they could be more organized.)

My husband finally settled in after another long walk. It was already 6 PM EST when I just talked to him, and he still has to figure out where to register for tomorrow's class. I am sure it will involve a lot of asking and walking because the first person he asked will not give him the right answer.

I am really upset on his behalf. He wasted so much time today getting misdirected, waiting around, or just walking for no purpose (some of that being his own fault). He could have used the time to study for his mid-term. I am also upset at the guy with the rental car. I had told my husband to get a rental car, but he didn't want to because he was trying to save the government money. And the other guy just scr*wed him up. So what if he's already checked in at the hotel? He should come back to the airport because he was supposed to pick up my husband to begin with.

What I really don't want to see is my husband missing his mid-term exam deadline (Wednesday midnight). If he fails this class, we will be out of the pocket for over $1,000, and he has to take it over again next semester.