I got put on the flight alert list.
You got it. Sweet old me is on a list as a flight alert.
Didn't expect this did you? And if you are a friend of mine, you already know this story well. But of all my journeys and trips, this one even to this day, cracks me up.
So the story. It was May 2010. My divorce had been finally finalised after a few months (thank GOD!). I had been talking for hours on end to a friend from high school that lived in Texas. We had reconnected in March after I had moved into my own apartment. He inboxed everyone on his fb page (we had become fb friends a couple years prior from memory) that a friend had hit a rough patch and was asking for anyone to send a message of hope, prayer, etc for her to lift her spirits. Of course I did and with the message just said hi to him and hoped all was well in Texas. He replied and asked for my phone number, which I gave and within 10 minutes he called. We talked for hours, about where life had taken us since our High School Graduation in 1998 when we had last seen each other and spoken. He confided a lot of personal things and we laughed about a lot of experiences we had together in High School. We were both in the Marching Band. I was color guard and he was percussion. So we had heaps of mutual friends as well.
This conversation started a crazy journey for me. It was a crazy time of my life, and it really was a nice distraction to everything going on with my divorce and my crazy ex husband. A few weeks later, he asked me to come for a visit in Texas.
This was my first trip of my life flying alone. Going to Texas was not when I got myself in trouble. It was coming back....
The trip went relatively well. I could easily see within a short period after getting back home to Kentucky it was not a relationship that should happen or would last. At the time though, I was gutted. The night before I left he told me that he didn't want a relationship. At the airport, he dropped me off at the "drop and run" lane, which I thought was hurtful. I got in to the airport and once checked in, I went and found my gate and confirmed on the TV screen that it was my flight. I look at my watch and see I have about 60 minutes to kill. I look directly behind me.... a bar. Lovely. I have time to get a quick drink, use the bathroom, and board the plane. What could go wrong?
Ohhh........ a lot. First off, emotions hit me as I sat at the bar and I started crying....before I even was served a damn drink. I had come to terms the night before that the relationship wasn't gonna happen, but the drop and run had really hurt my feelings. I was also dealing with a lot of emotions that I discovered from the trip. You see, before the trip I was at a place in my life where I was questioning a lot. Do I want to attempt a relationship and risk getting hurt... yet again? Do I want kids someday, or am I just risking myself for more pain if I can't conceive, or if I pick another "winner" and end up a single mom with baby daddy drama? He had a little girl who I had spent a lot of time with on the trip, and basically left Texas with this confirmation that yes, I wanted a relationship and that yes, I wanted my own children some day.
As I'm drinking, some older gentleman bought a drink and sent over to my way. Who knew crying would score ya a drink at a bar? I thought that was frowned upon? But hey, with the price of airport Makers and Coke, I didn't wanna be rude and turn it down. And after that, I think I have time for ONE more.
I look at my watch and see that I have about 15 minutes until I "board". I make my way to the bathroom. As I am doing my "business", I hear "Last call for Passenger April (insert married name)". LAST CALL???? You've got to be kidding me. I grab my things and RUN to the gate I had checked before my three Maker's and Coke's. There is a cue with people boarding. "Shew", I think "made it....." I get up to the front and they look at my ticket, "Oh, there was a last minute gate change.. you are down on gate 15". I am currently at gate 10. So I take off running towards my gate. Nobody is there. I can see the gate pulling back away from MY plane. MY plane is still there.
So, I do what any slightly intoxicated, emotional person would do. I start banging on the door. If they can hear me, they'll know to come and open the door, right? Wrong. Banging on a door only gets the attention of airport security. Next thing I know, a 6'3'' ish big man in uniform has come over and grabbed my arm. "Mam, what's going on over here?" "I need to get on THAT plane (as I point in case he isn't sure which plane I am wanting to board....) and they have locked the door". He looks me up and down and says "Mam, since 9-11 you can't beat on airplane doors. I need you to come with me". The first thing that enters my mind is "so, before 9-11 it was perfectly ok to beat on airport doors?" and even though I am slightly intoxicated, I do have enough sense to keep quiet.
He walks me to a room and asks me a few questions and asks for my passport. Questions about who I am, why I was in Texas, what I do for a living. In regards to the passport, I, however, did not have an active passport. Once I married, I never got my passport name changed. Since this flight was booked before I had changed my name back to my maiden name, I also hadn't changed my drivers license so I would have a form of I.D. for the Texas trip. I did not mention this though, and just said "I don't have a passport". "Your ID will suffice". He fills out some paperwork and I start crying again, realizing I had to work the next day.... I couldn't call in. I HAD to be home. He explains to me something about a flight risk and a list and all I heard was "blah blah blah". I blurted out, "but can I fly home today?" He said to me "I don't work for the airline, I work for the department of (insert word here that intoxicated April can't recall)". From here he lead me out of the room to the airline and explained the situation. I was put on another plane that day.
When I got home, my suitcase was a mess. My nice neatly packed suitcase looked like a bomb had gone off, but I still didn't think about it. It wasn't until I shared my experience with some friends that I realised exactly what had happened. As soon as my married name was changed to my maiden name, I used my passport for every travel experience and the flight risk hasn't followed me....... yet........
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