Our Journey Part Five
Sunday Oct. 8th
..and of course nothing goes smoothly. We took the 1 am flight from San Jose, Costa Rica yesterday no problem and slept the entire flight. Get to Fort Lauderdale with a 90 minute turn around time to catch our other flights, Customs and baggage has been told that the flight is filled with folks that got stranded in Costa Rica due to Hurricane Nate and they wave us on through so that there's plenty of time to make the connecting flights.
We get to TSA security and it all goes haywire. I discover with some horror that my ticket does not have that usual security designation we always have - TSA Precheck designation and started going right into a panic attack, no one from that particular Costa Rican flight has it and we get held up at security, I am starting to cry and panic now because it's been four days of crazy travel and almost no sleep. I get one person from the front of the line and beg the supervisor to have mercy and let us through. He looks right at me and says 'No, Go to the back of the line. I'm going to teach you a lesson for thinking you can cut the line' All I did was beg for help since I'm about to miss my flight, I was polite even if I was emotionally agitated.
Even going to the back of the line I'm still way ahead of Jim because we have to go to two different terminals so we kissed at baggage and he ran to his terminal.
So I go to the back of the line where I really start crying because I have to go two terminals over and the Fort Lauderdale airport is huge. When the slow moving line finally gets up to the scanner I get in and get scanned and hear a 'Step over here! We think you have something in your pockets and/or underwear and have to pat you down!' Now, I'm wearing a thin cotton beach dress with no pockets and underwear, that is it. I pointed out that I had no pockets on my dress and then they searched me in front of everyone! The last time this happened almost ten years ago they took me into a private room. This time I was out in the open, dress being flipped up and felt. They searched me up under my dress, one agent putting his hand in my underwear to feel my threatening national security pubes. I start crying even harder and don't stop them because I've read too many stories about what happens if you object you usually end up in jail, which is the last thing I need. I just need to get past this and get to the damn plane. Then they started wiping down my hands and various body parts with gel that is supposed to supposed to test for plastic explosives, this crap goes on and on.
Ten minutes later after thoroughly searching my bag and my person they let me go. I get to the gate and see that the plane is pushing away from the gate. Missed the flight because of the idiot TSA officers. I'm going to file a complaint over this, but I'm going to wait till I'm in Costa Rica to do it. (I found out that filing a complaint does nothing, so I've hired an attorney and we are suing TSA)
I sat down in one of the airport lounges and had a good cry afterward I was still so upset. I texted Jim to make sure he'd gotten on his plane, found out he'd missed his so we went to breakfast and spent much of the day napping on the floor of the airport.
Jim missed his flight because of the gridlock at TSA and I would say about half the others did too. People were freaking going off on Spirit, but the problem was TSA, not Spirit for a change. So since we both missed our 7 am flights we had to get new tickets. They rebooked me for the 3:30 into DC and Jim for a 5 pm into San Antonio. We'd just gotten through this mess when Jim's brother calls to tell him yet again he'd better get a taxi or an Uber to get to where they are and he'd better book a hotel.
Jim's flight was supposed to land at there at 9 pm and asshole brother is refusing to do anything to help him get to see their dying mother?? Jim ended up rescheduling his flight to 6 am and arranged to get a rental car for the week. Rental cars agencies would have been closed by that time in San Antonio. I suspect the phone call and warning of no help is really the doings of Mrs. Satan - sis in law from hell.
I get to DC and find my daughter Laura is so panicked over all this with her grandmother and worried because the bro in law is going to a supposedly unavoidable work meeting in Boston on Wednesday, leaving her daddy and Cuntzilla alone together in her grandma's room that she's gone ahead and booked her, her brother and me tickets for a flight down to San Antonio on the Tuesday night red-eye flight.
This afternoon and tomorrow morning is the only time I'll have to knock out my long list of errands I have to run.
I need more than a valium
So we had another full day at yet another airport. Jim slept there last night and I finally got to DC around 6 pm.
..and of course nothing goes smoothly. We took the 1 am flight from San Jose, Costa Rica yesterday no problem and slept the entire flight. Get to Fort Lauderdale with a 90 minute turn around time to catch our other flights, Customs and baggage has been told that the flight is filled with folks that got stranded in Costa Rica due to Hurricane Nate and they wave us on through so that there's plenty of time to make the connecting flights.
We get to TSA security and it all goes haywire. I discover with some horror that my ticket does not have that usual security designation we always have - TSA Precheck designation and started going right into a panic attack, no one from that particular Costa Rican flight has it and we get held up at security, I am starting to cry and panic now because it's been four days of crazy travel and almost no sleep. I get one person from the front of the line and beg the supervisor to have mercy and let us through. He looks right at me and says 'No, Go to the back of the line. I'm going to teach you a lesson for thinking you can cut the line' All I did was beg for help since I'm about to miss my flight, I was polite even if I was emotionally agitated.
Even going to the back of the line I'm still way ahead of Jim because we have to go to two different terminals so we kissed at baggage and he ran to his terminal.
So I go to the back of the line where I really start crying because I have to go two terminals over and the Fort Lauderdale airport is huge. When the slow moving line finally gets up to the scanner I get in and get scanned and hear a 'Step over here! We think you have something in your pockets and/or underwear and have to pat you down!' Now, I'm wearing a thin cotton beach dress with no pockets and underwear, that is it. I pointed out that I had no pockets on my dress and then they searched me in front of everyone! The last time this happened almost ten years ago they took me into a private room. This time I was out in the open, dress being flipped up and felt. They searched me up under my dress, one agent putting his hand in my underwear to feel my threatening national security pubes. I start crying even harder and don't stop them because I've read too many stories about what happens if you object you usually end up in jail, which is the last thing I need. I just need to get past this and get to the damn plane. Then they started wiping down my hands and various body parts with gel that is supposed to supposed to test for plastic explosives, this crap goes on and on.
Ten minutes later after thoroughly searching my bag and my person they let me go. I get to the gate and see that the plane is pushing away from the gate. Missed the flight because of the idiot TSA officers. I'm going to file a complaint over this, but I'm going to wait till I'm in Costa Rica to do it. (I found out that filing a complaint does nothing, so I've hired an attorney and we are suing TSA)
I sat down in one of the airport lounges and had a good cry afterward I was still so upset. I texted Jim to make sure he'd gotten on his plane, found out he'd missed his so we went to breakfast and spent much of the day napping on the floor of the airport.
Jim missed his flight because of the gridlock at TSA and I would say about half the others did too. People were freaking going off on Spirit, but the problem was TSA, not Spirit for a change. So since we both missed our 7 am flights we had to get new tickets. They rebooked me for the 3:30 into DC and Jim for a 5 pm into San Antonio. We'd just gotten through this mess when Jim's brother calls to tell him yet again he'd better get a taxi or an Uber to get to where they are and he'd better book a hotel.
Jim's flight was supposed to land at there at 9 pm and asshole brother is refusing to do anything to help him get to see their dying mother?? Jim ended up rescheduling his flight to 6 am and arranged to get a rental car for the week. Rental cars agencies would have been closed by that time in San Antonio. I suspect the phone call and warning of no help is really the doings of Mrs. Satan - sis in law from hell.
I get to DC and find my daughter Laura is so panicked over all this with her grandmother and worried because the bro in law is going to a supposedly unavoidable work meeting in Boston on Wednesday, leaving her daddy and Cuntzilla alone together in her grandma's room that she's gone ahead and booked her, her brother and me tickets for a flight down to San Antonio on the Tuesday night red-eye flight.
This afternoon and tomorrow morning is the only time I'll have to knock out my long list of errands I have to run.
I need more than a valium
So we had another full day at yet another airport. Jim slept there last night and I finally got to DC around 6 pm.
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