A survey such as this cannot possibly express the satisfaction and happiness I felt on boarding my plane at Atlanta. Only this comment part gives me a real opportunity to to express how I feel.
I was to make an early afternoon flight at 1:05 PM on Monday, 13 February. I used my rental car which I had originally rented in Alpharetta with the idea of dropping it off on the weekend before the 13th. But Enterprise Car Rental was closed on Sunday. So I thought I had adequate time to pack my things, take my granddaughter to school and fly down Highway 400 to the airport.
1st of all I had absolutely no cash. At the toll plaza I thought they would take a check or I could use a credit card. The cashier informed me that that would cost me $25. But rather than delaying me she said okay you can go through. God bless her! I didn't have to fill out a bunch of forms. I got down to Virginia Avenue and dropped into my regular gas station to fill the tank and then raced down to the airport but missed the sign for return of rental cars and had to go all the way around again to come back to return the car.
Fortunately turning in the car was very fast so I raced up to get the sky−train, connecting the car rental center with the airport, raced to the Delta counter to check in my one bag, having already gotten my boarding pass online. The Delta people there were very friendly but one of the ladies said there is no way you're going to make the 1:05 because I was supposed to be there 45 minutes before the flight was to leave. I got there 38 minutes before the flight was to leave. So the lady told me I would have to go over to another Delta counter nearby to schedule another flight so that I could catch my flight from LAX (Los Angeles) to Honolulu on time; I had a 2 and one half hour layover in LAX.
When I got to the other Delta counter, the lady there told me all the flights were booked solid and the only way I could get my flight connection in LAX was to go immediately through security with my bag and check it at the gate, but I had to first pull out a couple of cream filled items, which would not pass security checks of the bag, while the lady was urging me to hurry up because I was going to miss my flight. I got the items out and hurried to security.
The gentleman at security told me not to worry − I had time to make the flight. I was held up at security by 2 or 3 people ahead of me who had to have special searches. And by the way, so did I. At least my luggage bag got through okay. I was losing heart and feeling I was never going to make this plane but I rushed anyway to get on the train to the B gates all the time thinking to myself - this is ridiculous, I am not going to make this flight. Real positive thinking!
I rushed to the gate and lo and behold these lovely ladies were waiting for me and 2 other people to get on board; it was probably 1:03 PM. I went up to the counter. There were other people waiting in line probably hoping to get on board as standbys but I asked the lady "can I get on board?" and she looked at my papers and said "you're all set, go right ahead". So I dashed in front of the people in line, got to the airplane entry and they quickly checked in my bag, which by the way, got all the way through to HNL (Honolulu), no mishaps.
I got on board the plane and I was supposed to be in 39D but the stewardess said someone was already occupying the seat so she seated me in 37D. I should complain? A better seat and I was on board; she was smart enough not to play musical chairs but just seat poeple in the same relative seating. I just sat down and just couldn't believe that I had actually made the flight! But everybody was so helpful and so friendly that while it was the most adventurous catching of a flight, in these harrowing times, it was by far the most enjoyable. Good show Delta Airlines!
So there we are. Keep positive thoughts, but if not, just never give up! This was Winston Churchill's cry during the war years of WWII. "Never give up"
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