So my family and I decided to celebrate my Mum’s birthday (she does not age. Ever!!) by going on a cruise to a few places. There are so many facets to this story; I think I am going to have to break them up into different stories.
The first part will deal with the journey of life that was the trip to the airport. When I say airport, I mean Orlando international, not MMA. Even though there was an epic traffic saga going on in Lagos at the time, MMA was the simple part of the journey. Just in case you are wondering, the journey was supposed to go like this;
Home – Murtala Muhammed Airport – On Plane –Frankfurt International – Off Plane – Get Breakfast – On Plane – Heathrow Airport – Off Plane – Meet Sisters – On Plane – Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport – Off Plane – On Plane – Orlando International – Off Plane – In Cab – Enter Hotel – Reunited with family. All of these are with different airlines.
Now as a family, very rarely do we all travel together. Even if we fly on the same day, we tend to take different flights. Not because we don’t like each other, we all just have our loyalties to different airlines. I am not nearly as loyal as many other family members of mine, I go with whoever is better on my wallet, recently, that has been Lufthansa. My sisters flew British Airways and Qatar respectively.
Now obviously we would all get to London at different times, my sister with Qatar actually landed a day earlier, while my BA sister and I left on the same day. BA will always get to London before another airline by virtue of the fact it is a direct flight and not connecting. With that in mind, my sister would take the suit cases to London where she would wait two hours till I landed and then I would check in for the flight to Atlanta… And then on to Orlando, it would be seamless, and without incident. The Hope.
The Reality: Just getting to the airport, we had to factor in ridiculous traffic, but thankfully, we had been given a heads up and were at the airport by about 6pm. All checked in, we went in to watch some footy, eat some food, bond as siblings best do. Then we headed to the gate. My flight was actually scheduled to take off before BA, however, on boarding the plane, the lights went out. So we get off the plane. My sister gives me a quizzical look, I call her and explain, she says ‘ah ok’ and points to show people going back onto the plane. This time we are seated but the plane is boiling hot. It turns out; we can’t turn on the ACs because the pilot kindly explains ‘We are having faults with the engine.’ At this point I should say that I cannot recommend my next action, and faced with that information, people should make decisions based on their comfort level. If someone says their car is having car trouble and you still get in, well, whatever happens, happens. I on the other hand, trudged back out, to a more shocked, now bordering on concerned look on her face. She then gets on her plane, I see that plane taxi, and take off. I am still in the airport.
I am now facing the realisation that I may not make my flight in London. It is 1 am, I can’t make my original connecting flight anymore. Does that mean I’m not going to the US? Actually that is in no way the worst outcome I could think of. Anyone who knows me knows that there’s never a dull moment in London. We took off about 1:30am and I just slept, I knew that I could get myself home if I was actually stuck in London. Most of my close friends are still there, even if I can’t get home, I can go to one of their places. We got to Frankfurt and I was ushered off the plane with haste and almost dragged to the other side of the airport and thrown on a plane. We were back in the air, I have no idea what time it is, but we are touching down in London. I check my phone, local time 9:30, my flight is in an hour and a half. I end up sprinting from terminal two, to terminal three, round the outside, rather than through the tunnel, which as it turns out is far quicker, and much more dangerous. You know, cars and everything. I get into the terminal, my sisters are hurtling me towards the desk and the check in lady says to me, “oh there you are, you’ve been driving your sisters mad with panic” because obviously, I am the cause for my flights delay. We are checked in and the rest of the journey goes pretty seamlessly, without incident. We get to Orlando, via Atlanta, get in a cab and then to the hotel. At the hotel, my sisters are given their room key while I am asked to wait behind.
To be continued next week…
ADETOKUNBO ADESANYA
