Empathy

As soon as the snow begins to fly each year, I listen to news reports of preseason consumer spending and daily updates on snow levels at ski resorts across the nation.  Following these come reports of stranded travelers stuck in airports, sometimes for days.  Before last night, I felt for them, but never joined them.  

Before leaving Salt Lake, Steve and I were prepared for a nine hour layover in Los Angeles. We even looked forward to it, with a planned trip into LA.  But after returning to LAX, picking up boarding passes, making our way through security and settling in at our gate, we were informed that our plane had been delayed -- five hours. China Southern pulled out bags of Fritos and Dansani water bottles, and travelers from across the globe settled in for a night on the floor in Terminal B.   Steve and I looked around and decided that almost anything was acceptable.  We had a discussion over which was cleaner, the carpet under the seats which possibly had never seen a vacuum, or the space in the aisle, separating the rows of hard airport chairs, which had cushioned millions of dirty feet over time.  Moments later, Steve was snuggled under the seats and I was above him, bunk-bed style, with my legs carefully wrapped around the armrest zigzagging my body from one connected chair to the next. Several hours later we awoke to commotion.  The word was that our flight had been delayed another six hours.  According to the man fielding the questions, a volcano eruption in Alaska was to blame.  Soot could fill the engine, he said. Clearly a dangerous situation. I imagined fights around the country were grounded. We were all assigned a room at the Hacienda Hotel. As we filed out, I glanced at the monitors that indicated that all other flights were leaving on time, even to Asia. One half day of our vacation was already swallowed up and more was at risk. Steve and I stopped at the counter and received more bad news.  Due to the delay, we would miss the last flight to Bangkok and have to stay overnight in China. And with no visa, this meant another night on an airport floor. In addition, we would miss our flight to Cambodia. With a little assertiveness, which Steve labeled as aggression, I made it clear that something must be done to get us to Bangkok the next day. Minutes later, we were booked on Cathay Pacific, connecting in Hong Kong and arriving in Bangkok twelve hours after our original arrival time.  We showered and napped at the Hacienda and returned to LAX.  We boarded our plane at the same time our original flight would have been landing -- sound familiar? With thirteen hours ahead of us, we pulled out our books and travel pillows. We were finally on our way across the Pacific.  

On a side note, I am now a huge fan of Cathay Pacific -- personal monitors with over 30 movies to choose from, complimentary unlimited Haagen Dazs ice-cream, and when we settled in our seats, the flight attendant brought us a pouch that contained fuzzy socks, mints, a toothbrush and toothpaste and other pleasantries.  Another highlight was that Colin and Jeanetta Robinson, friends from high school, were on the same flight and I was able to visit with them and learn of their adventurous life living with their five children in Hong Kong.  

The bright spot of our twenty-seven hour layover was an excursion to The Grove, the outdoor mall in L.A. that I discovered a few weeks ago with the mothers and daughters in Steve's family. Unfortunately, Steve and I left our camera in our bags which we checked into the Marriott hotel. What we would have photographed was Kobo, the little authentic Japanese restaurant perched atop one of the shops at which we ate sushi, gyoza, and katzu, the water show that was the backdrop for the gospel singers that we listened to while resting on the grass, the theater, which premieres many of Hollywood's movies and where we watched Mamma Mia, and the Farmer's Market, which is a maze of stalls and small shops in which we enjoyed French crepes for lunch and homemade ice-cream for a late evening snack.  

Better luck in Thailand with remembering our camera. We can't wait for our adventure to begin!