Sunday, October 19, 2008

And I get to do it again soon!

So I took both kids on a red-eye flight to Grandma and Grandpa's in Florida. OH MY GOSH! Let's just say that the ONLY way I got through THAT was with butt-loads of help (what is a butt load?). So we're going to talk about the people that made our endless night possible. Person(s) #1: We'll call these people "The Jumpstart". Jake and Mandy let me hang at their house all weekend in SLC and then at 10pm Monday, Jake gave me a ride in 'his' Porsche to the airport. He then unloaded my bags and helped me wheel EVERYTHING in. Let me define 'everything'. 2 kids in PJ's, 1 double stroller, 2 50 lb suitcases, 1 loaded purse, 1 child's backpack, 1 enormous diaper bag, 2 carseats, and a dvd player. Obviously we will be labeling "the Jumpstart" folk: Good. On to "The Checker". So this lady sees me struggle bringing everything up to the desk and she cooly refers me to the auto-check machine. So I load the kids up and go there. It, of course, does not have my ticket listed since we changed the dates. She grudgingly walks over to help. I have to then load everything back to her counter. She finds my ticket (could have done that in the first place) and makes me lift the bags for weigh in. She watches impatiently while I switch the luggage lbs and chase very excited running children. Gives me my ticket with NO directions to speak of and sends me off. She's getting a Bad label. I had no idea where to go, but being a smart girl, I figure it out. Then we meet "Gate Checker." Not only does she pull me aside to help out, she offers to find us a row to ourselves even though Quincy was a lap infant with no assigned seat. Definitely Good. Then there's "Angel Attendant." As I struggle before the plane door to collapse the double stroller and placate my children, a gem of a lady comes to hold Quincy and help me carry my truckload. She brought me my carseat when Quincy fell asleep. She ignored the seatbelt rules when Avery was sleeping on my lap. She did not make me set on the outside despite regulation. She tried to get me a cart after the flight AND she carried half my stuff through the airport as far as she could. Very Very Good. As I left the plane with the AA, she asked if we could page a golf-carty thing for me. The "Dumb Gate Attendant" said not at this time in the morning. But not two minutes later I see a couple from my flight cruising by on one. She's Bad. As I struggled through the HUGE Atlanta airport, I of course got lost and an older black man, "Janitor Dave", helped my find my way AND helped me carry my stuff. Then as I sat waiting at my gate for the hour and a half before the next flight with my two sleeping children on my chest, he revisited me with blankets and said he likes to do one good deed a day. He's very Good too. I sat there paralyzed by my children, desperate to adjust when a sweet older "Lonely Lady" came by to chat. She had been stuck at the airport for 12 hours and had 12 to go! Poor thing missed her flight because she thought she had to recheck her bags during the layover. But she helped me put Quincy in her car seat so I could move and we chatted away some of her long wait. She's a "Good" lil' lady. But soon enough I had to pee. As I looked at Avery sleeping on the chair and Quincy in her seat next to the stroller, as well as the other car seat, stroller, and bags, I had no idea how to pull this off. So I went to the gate desk and met "Pompous B". I don't need to interpret. She didn't look up until it was obvious I wasn't going away. Then she said she couldn't help me for 5 minutes. Definitely Bad. So I waited and went back. Here's where we meet our first Undecided. I go back to the desk and "Big Black Bear" asks what I need. I ask him if I can leave my things (and kids) in someone's care to use the restroom. He says it's not allowed. I ask what I'm to do. He repeats that its not allowed. I repeat my side. He snaps, "Well don't tell ME anything." Later as I'm boarding he looks at my load and knowing I'd have to carry it down stairs and outside to the puddle jumper, he halfheartedly suggests getting me an elevator or something. See? Undecided. Back to bathroom situation, I ask "Nice Old Couple" if they can keep an eye on the kids, and they agree. No big. They're Good. Then another Dave, "White Dave" helps me carry my stuff onto the plane, down some stairs, outside, and in the rain. He also helped me after the flight all the way to baggage claim. Another Good Dave. The hopper plane was so small that the seating was 2 by 2. Quincy was sleeping in her carseat, so I put her opposite of me. Avery was in my arms in and out of sleep. "Conflicted Attendant" comes along. "Face her carseat the other direction." "Is that seat approved?" "She can't sit by herself. You'll have to leave your son there buckled and sit by the baby." There would be no take off until I complied so I left a sobbing Avery buckled in a row all by himself while I sat next to an oblivious Quincy. In a moment of reconsideration, she asked the pilot for an exception and allowed Avery to sit on my lap next to Quincy. She later said, "if I could" put Avery in his seat for landing that would be good. I didn't. We have met our second "Undecided." Then comes the last life savers of the day. We'll call them "Mom and Dad." Dad picks me up and lets me promptly go to sleep while he skips work and watches the kids. He didn't bother me until I woke up. Then Mom came home and let me sleep some more! I couldn't have asked for anything better! Hallelujah for all those "Goods!" I think I dealt with more Goods than Bad or Un's. So that's a little boost for humanity. Like the Titanic (except not), my day became a test of characters and the Goods pulled through! Although the trip was LONG and ROUGH, it was doable only because of the little helpers. A fabulous reminder for me to be a "Good". But the moral is to avoid suicidal situatioins in the future. Or double the birth control efforts.

11 comments:

Kim L. said...

Ahhhhh... not much worse than flights with out a spouse. I am glad you had SOME people that were considerate and helpful.

Lisa Merkley said...

I did something quite like that a couple of years ago and I vowed to never do it again! Glad you had SOME people to help.

Amy S. said...

In the words of Elaine, "More sympathetic, I could not be."

Oh friend, husbandless flights are of the devil. I'm glad you had a few helpers. I'll be praying for even more help on your flight home.

Brynne, Aaron and Cade said...

What a nightmare!!! You sure do crack me up though. I hope to NEVER have to go through a situation like that (but probably will) so until then, I'll try to be a "Good" so I'll get some good paid back to me!

SpinIt! said...

Yes...yes..you will do it one more time...THEN NEVER LEAVE AGAIN!!! What were you thinking?:) Just remember, lots of funny stories come from crazy hellish experiences..who'd know better? You can do it, you can do it!

Symber said...

Niiiiiiiiiiiice! Sounds like a trip! oh, and a buttload? It is about 2 liters. :) Thanks to Chauncey and anatomy class.

SpinIt! said...

Hey summer, have to tell you...I was just looking at your halloween pictures and Sam said "Hey, Michael has hair!!!" He was very impressed. Thought you might like that.

Helpingstine's said...

Summer I cannot believe the experiences you have. You always have some crazy story to tell. I don't know how you survive most of them.

david said...

summer-- how do all those things happen to one person in one trip. This is why you were meant to write. Write-worthy things happen to you. Plus..big sarcastic thanks for your post since jenny told me she would rather not fly to houston by herself at christmas time even though the tickets were an amazing 99 bucks. now i know why. she read your post! :)

Brimaca said...

LOL. I don't know if you read my flight experience back a few months ago but it was similar but not. It was just a rough travel as in it took three days instead of one to get home with two babies. Yay. Great. Anyway glad you made it and parents saved the day!

Emily said...

I'm glad you met some nice people to help you--those usually seem to outway the mean. And, I'm sure you'll do it again. It's like childbirth, you forget the bad and do it again (though I can't say that because you know I LOVE labor day!)

About Me

My photo
Logan, UT
So I used to think... I used to think it was my world. Maybe Michael thought it was his. But we have been re-educated. By a 4 year old and a 2 year old. It's their world. We live in it.

A peek into our window

Birth of Child #1

Birth of Child #1
He looked like a blue alien. Luckily it didn't stick. And thank goodness we didn't go with Michael's idea to name him based on what he looked like.

Birth of Child #2

Birth of Child #2
Much less eventful, thank goodness! She was born with red hair and 2 teeth... and skin colored skin!

Quincalicious!

  • Quincy says "Where's Avy? I dunno." She talks sooo much and she's so small (5th percentile) that is seems like she shouldn't be talking at all.
  • She roams wildly during church and has become quite the scavenger approaching anyone with food. Its embarrasingly adorable!
  • Quincy's vocab has exploded to include the words, "please, thank you, outside, sucker, candy, Avery, Grandpa, slide, ride, hold you, ni-night, water, bird, doggie, airplane, etc.....! She seems so little!
  • One of the most "wow" things she has done is climb one of those HUGE blow-up slides and slide down REPEATEDLY, ALL BY HERSELF!!!
  • Quincy (with great effort) threw the upper couch cushions on the floor and then proceeded to dive off couch, climb back up, repeat.
  • She says"I want: cookie, go, this, that, drink, wa-wa, play." She also says no, baby, hello, bye-bye, and peek-a-boo. And of course she says "Mom and Da."
  • Quincy talks a lot now. But first thing in the day and then 100 more times: "I want coo-kie." Very telling about her love affair with food.

AVERYISMS

  • A day after being educated, Avery pulled down his pants and touched his boyhood saying, "Hey Grandma, these are my private parts." HA-larious!
  • (After using the bathroom) "I made a waterfall. Then I made it stop."
  • "Hey Dad. This is my [invisible] friend Caillou. Will you be a monster and scare us?"
  • "Grandpa, what's in your belly?" says Avery. Mom says, "What do you think is in there?" "A baby?" guesses Avery. "Nope. Just lots of cherries," says Grandpa Schaefer. HAH!
  • Quincy was crying in the middle of the night and Avery said, "Take a deep breath, Quincy." It was sweet.
  • Quincy was screaming like a pterodactyl for Avery's food, so he snapped "Chill Out Quincy!"
  • In Avery's first attempt at being a smart-a, he was playing with his friend Jaden Knight and we were asking the boys their full names. Avery responded that his name was Avery James Day. Might have had to be there.
  • Avery still tries to stick his hand down my shirt. When I won't let him, he occasionally asks if he can stick his foot down my shirt instead.
  • I told Avery that Heavenly Father lived in heaven. He thought I said he lived 'with Kevin', so in alarm he asked, "With Kevin and Melissa?!!!"
  • Avery was out cold and we had to go. It was odd how I couldn't wake him, so I threw him over my shoulder and started heading out. All of the sudden with startling gusto, he yelled "I see Jesus." I thought he was a visionary, but turns out he woke up just as I walked past a picture of Christ.