Here’s the thing, I’m usually very lucky on flights. I’m the epitome of the “arrives late to the airport; makes it on the plane anyway” person. 01 Is that a type of person? I don't actually know...

Like, seriously. Here’s the string of live-texts I put in my sorority slack for my last flight:

This is how it always goes for me. Something about a “young lady” in the airport looking distressed makes things eventually go my way. 02 I’ve been spending some time thinking about privilege, and I would write a long post about customer service and privilege, but we’ll save the big moral statements for some other time. For now, I want to write a funny post about this flight.

Before 1st Flight

The morning of my flight, I had already packed. My family and I got to the airport significantly earlier than I normally do because my parents had an earlier flight, so my sister, her boyfriend, and I went to get tamales near the airport and waited. The tamales were delicious and would keep me full for the seven hours of flight I was anticipating.

I got the first notification in the car.

Buzz. Your flight has been delayed until 2:04pm.

And then the next one at the restaurant.

Buzz. Your flight has been delayed until 2:34pm.

And the next one on our way back to the airport.

Buzz. Your flight time has been changed to 2:24pm.

In retrospect, this could have been my first warning — my flights never get delayed. But there were national delays, I thought, surely my flight wouldn’t be the only one to not get delayed.

I got to the airport approximately an hour and a half early with plenty of time to cross security. I got through security smoothly, sat down in front of my gate, and pulled out my phone to listen to the encanto soundtrack. I texted the friend who was picking me up from the airport, Ruth, to update her on my flight changes.

Jan 3rd, 2022, 1:57 PM

​Flights been delayed by an hour and a half 😔😔
Imma try to change it when I get in to see if there’s anything else but I’ll keep u updated

Ruth
the first one or the one out of detroit?

First one
I might see if they have any direct flights

Ruth
oh dang. how long was your layover?

Two hours
So like it’s definitely not the worst thing

Ruth
Oof
but if it gets delayed any further it will be
okay yeah, keep me updated

Ya
I mean I’d have to find another flight in Detroit i suppose

Ruth
yeah
let me see when the next detroit-boston is
there’s an 11pm delta flight, lands in boston around 1am
that could work, you’d just be in detroit for like three hours
or… four? anyway

Jan 3, 2022, 2:24 PM

Oof

Ruth
that’s the best option i could find with a quick search

Imma see if I can maybe switch to the Southwest one that’s at this airport
Cause that’s a direct flight

Jan 3, 2022, 2:38 PM

Okay well Delta offered me the 11pm flight but i would prefer to see if I can make it first

Ruth
:////
or do you mean the first like, your original one stop itinerary?

No they just didn’t offer the Southwest ones

Ruth
oh i see
that makes sense, delta can’t really get you on someone else’s flight i think…
but okay, lmk

I’ve done it before but like

Ruth
looks like your delay is still only an hour and half so perhaps

Ya i’m hoping
And I’m closeish to the front

Ruth
i have both flightaware tabs open lmao
i think if you have a tight connection you can let the flight attendants know in advance and they maybe can help you deplane faster
or move you to a seat further forward or smth

Ya i might try that
God i hope this isn’t a mistake 03 spoilers.
Cause they offered to change my flight to tomorrow
If i have to stay overnight somewhere I’d prefer for it to be Chicago but we’ll see if my flight luck will balance it

Ruth
it’s okay, there will inevitably also be a set of first time parents behind you, don’t worry 04 there have been, miraculously, a set of first time parents behind me in boarding at a lot of my flights. I message Ruth about it whenever it happens because I find it funny. Something something, 'If I had a nickel for every time this happened, I would have 25 cents, which is not a lot of money but it's surprising it's happened 5 times.'

Damn right there will be

Jan 3, 2022, 2:46 PM

Ruth
wait
dude you straight up have to change terminals in detroit

Wdym

Ruth
how big is that airport

Idk probably big cause it’s the only one

Ruth
your landing gate into DTW is B21 and you depart for boston from A68
you’re not gonna make that

Hold on imma go ask if they can change my flight at the Southwest gate i guess

Ruth
yeah okay, looks like DTW has a shuttle between terminals so that’s. far
either southwest or if delta can move you to their 11pm flight out of detroit

Like i don’t doubt they could move me to the 11pm but like
That’s a long time with a whole pandemic

Ruth
yeah that’s fair
southwest is preferable, if they can do that

Okay ill go ask

Jan 3, 2022, 3:01 PM

Oof all the direct flights to Boston were full

Ruth
oof
are you just going to take your chances and see if they can move you to the 11pm if need be or are you just going to move to the 11pm?

I think the first
Cause I’m like pretty sure they’ll be able to move me
I just don’t wanna like
Like if the other one gets delayed and i could have taken it imma be mad u know

Ruth
might be worth it to google a map of DTW and see which way is the fastest to get there

Okay well i googled and like
Is it gonna be a run instead of a jog ? 05 spoilers.
Yes
Could i make it
If it gets a little delayed
And there’s the one new pair of parents
Tbh i think i can just run
I’ve gone thru worse

Ruth
definitely see if the flight attendants can call ahead for you
you didn’t check luggage right?

Nah
Just my personal items

Ruth
at some point during the flight, flag down a flight attendant and be like hello here is the situation, can you help me deplane really fast and maybe possibly call the other gate?

Yeah okie

Ruth
i’ve circled your gates

Hm i have to admit i don’t know how feet work but also
We’re giving in the nihilism
Tbh the move might just be praying for the flight to be delayed

Ruth
just like, know that that’s about a mile, i think

Really ???

Ruth
well cause you’re all the way at the end of B and you have to get all the way to the end of A almost and B/C is like 0.5 miles long so….
you used to do cross country⁠06 I was on varsity >:) (because there were only six girls on the team and six slots on varsity lol) it’s fine

Like I’ll go as fast as I can but like
It’s not rlly like i can do that much

Ruth
yeah
well i guess we’ll just have to see

Like i checked w the Delta people and the Southwest people and imma talk to the flight attendants so like
If it seems possible like
Ya i will run as fast as i humanly can but like
No point worrying

Ruth
mm valid

Also if i end up getting to Boston super late i can take an Uber no worries!

Ruth
it’s fine i’ll come get you
dwdw

And so, unaware of all the perfectly dramatically ironic statements I had just made, I got on the plane to Detroit without changing my flight at all.

As I lined up to board the plane, one of the flight attendants stopped me to check my carry-on because there wasn’t room on the plane. He handed me a pink baggage claim ticket, and though I had already told Ruth that I have no checked bags, I didn’t protest much. They’d previously always dropped it off at the final destination.

Everything always works out in the end, I thought. I had never had a problem with flights before.

Before 2nd Flight

I landed in Detroit approximately ten minutes earlier than they had initially anticipated.

Jan 3rd, 2022, 5:06 PM

Just landed at Detroit

Ruth
!! Speed speed

As soon as I can get off
Imma yeet off this plane

Ruth
You’re 10 minutes earlier than they thought you would be
Your connecting flight still says departing in 38 min though

Yes but
If i can get off this plane soon
And they call
And i run

Ruth
Yeeee
It’ll be
Okay

Taxiing
Plane is fairly empty tho so good things ?
I got a whole row
Me, seeing the A gates: can y’all just drop me off here actually ?
UGH THERES ANOTHER PLANE IN OUR SPOT

Ruth
OH NO

😡😡🤬🤬🤬😱👿👿😤🙄😬😤🧐😳😳😤😤🤬

Ruth
can they just drop you off on the tarmac

LET ME LEAVE

Ruth
Just yeet

that’s what emergency exists are for 😊

Jan 3, 2022, 5:40 PM

Ruth
Lmk if you make it!

As soon as the light was off, I got up and out of my seat. I lined up next to first class to leave. What happened next was a series of mistakes:

1. When I got off the plane, I frantically asked the lady at the gate if she could please call ahead to my Boston flight and tell them I’m on my way. She typed at her computer and said, “Oh sweetie, you’re not gonna make that.” She told me that it’s at Gate A58 and that she would call but they don’t wait for people. I memorized that number in my head.
2. I took off in a sprint to the opposite site of the Detroit airport. I was knocking into people thinking, this is taking precious seconds off my time.
3. Gate A58, Gate A58, Gate A58, Gate A58… I was running and running… there’s A52… A54… A56… A- A60?
4. I stopped at gate A57, panting, and asked the man at the desk where A58 is. He asked for my ID to check my boarding pass; I handed my California State ID to him. He looked up my name and my flight. At that time, I stop to look at my phone, where I have my boarding pass open.
5. Gate A68, I saw in stupid blocky letters.
6. “I realized my mistake,” I said, slamming my hand on to grab my ID and started sprinting away in the direction of Gate A68.
7. I got to Gate A68 at 5:43pm. VICTORY!!!!!!!!, I thought. I’d just run (likely) over a mile through the Detroit airport, with two minutes left to spare! I’m the best runner in the world! I used to do high school varsity cross country! I’m panting in a facemask, my bangs plastered to my face, but I’—
8. “I’m sorry, they called saying you were coming, but they just left.”
9. I—
10. I started crying.

There’s something about crying to someone who doesn’t know anything about you, or has any more sympathy for you than anyone else. It’s a weird place of vulnerability, particularly in a space like an airport. Everything about that moment felt too open; I felt exposed, like a raw nerve.

I saw someone run up behind me, a man wearing a dark gray hoodie and sweatpants. The gate attendant said the same thing, and he threw up his arms in a fit of distress. Mood, I thought, regressing back to my high school self.

The woman started typing at her computer, her nails clicking every time they hit her keyboard. “Okay, so y’all will need to go to Gate A70 and talk to the people there to get you on a plane. It’s a connecting flight, but it’s boarding now so you both need to hurry.”

With those instructions, I was off again, trying to get two gates down with my backpack still jumping aggressively on my back.

I made it to the boarding line before the man asking about flights, who I’ve nicknamed Boston Man in my head, since he’s flying alone and also going to Boston. As I lined up for boarding, he lined up at the help desk.

I was still sniffling awkwardly in a facemask; my face was probably bright and blotchy from running. The person in front of me turned around, presumably at the sound of my uncontrolled gasping.

“Are you okay?”

A lot of my friends are bad when people cry, but typically, I tell them, when it comes to me there’s really only one rule: don’t ask if I’m okay. Best case scenario, I start crying. Worst case scenario, I start crying and feel bad about it.

I choked down a sob and tried to smile with my eyes. “Oh, yeah, haha, I just missed my flight, no worries.”

When I made it closer to the front of the line, I could hear pieces of Boston Man arguing with three people at the gate.

“I got sent here from A68”

“Why would you take this flight?”

“— no, I don’t know why she wanted to send me here, something about a connecting flight?”

There’s another man standing to the right of the desk, younger than Boston Man, his hands in his hair. He’s talking quickly and angrily on the phone. Nervously, I wring my hands, hoping, praying, that they’ll let me into this flight. I explained, when I’m ushered forward, that I have the same problem as Boston Man.

One of the men at the gate typed quickly on his computer, asked for all of our IDs and muttered angrily under his breath. It was strange to be surrounded by people who are all in the same position as me, despite not knowing any of their names.

Eventually, after delaying the flight by half an hour, I’m handed a receipt with a seat and flight number and guided into the plane. It’s only then that the panic settled in, and I looked up to see the destination of this flight. LaGuardia airport? Is that in New Jersey? I thought, before taking my seat and opening my phone to message Ruth.

Jan 3, 2022, 6:01 PM

So i technically made it but they’d closed the doors anyway
I got there at 43 😔

Ruth
Oh noo
Okay so
11pm flight?
That’s so rude too they left two minutes early

No theyre sending me to New York ?
Not sure why

Ruth
What?
Another layover?
Do you have an arrival time?

It’s dl1018
Rn
Arrives in ny at 8ish

Ruth
And then presumably they have a flight to boston for you??

I guess ??
I’m not entirely sure what happened i was rushed all over the place after sprinting to a68 😔

Ruth
Oh no :((
Well take a breath, take a second, go pee or w/e

I am
On a plane rn
So

Ruth
WHAT

Like i guess I’m just flying to NY now
Like i got to the gate
And she was like
Go to new york rn rn rn go go go
And i was like
Ahhhhh

Ruth
whomst
Oh my goodness
Okay 1. Wild

Yes
I agree

Ruth
2. Hopefully someone on this flight can tell you… where to go… after?

There’s another man tryna get to Boston lmfao
Also
Apparently i looked so out of it that a person in line in front of me asked if i was okay
Like damn
Thanks
But damn

Ruth
Oh goodness

Can you do me a favor and look up flights to Boston from NY for me ?

Ruth
Yeah

I have lost all track of time but
Thank you thank you
Out of la guardia not jfk
Articles forming in my brain at least
Ah where were the new parents 😔😔

Ruth
they didn’t give you anything else?

No
God knows where my luggage is too

Ruth
wait what
i thought you just had your personal item

Yeah they forced me to check it
Even tho I said i had a connection

Ruth
well damn okay
can you like. ask a flight attendant if they have a way to look it up or call someone or see if they have more info on what is going on?

I might just do it at the gate
Cause like
At this point I’m on the plane
It’ll be okay !
One nightmare flight for a lifetime of lucky incidents

Ruth
okay there’s an 8:25 (running 46 minutes late) to boston

Is that the only one ?
Also we’re departing now so i might not be able to respond soon but will do when I get off the plane

Ruth
that’s the last flight out, yeah
i’ll keep looking

Oh goodness
Look for other airlines too

Ruth
yeah no that’s
that’s it

Like I’ll pay for anything cheap enough

Ruth
but it leaves at like 9:10, and you’re landing at 7:55 so

Like at all ????
Okay okay

Ruth
for today, i think so
i’ll keep looking but my money’s on they’re putting you on that one
it’s DL2133

Okay
I might just take a bus too i guess
God it’s just like

Ruth
i’ll look for buses/trains

Feeling like an impersonation of an impersonation of a person
It’ll be okay

Ruth
oh dear
it will be
eventually, you’ll make it home

Yeah

Ruth
and if you need my card lmk i’ll call you and read you the number

I should be good but thank you
I did always say that i only needed my electronics and chargers
Dramatic irony

Ruth
it was bound to happen eventually

But i got a really nice coffee thing from my sister dang

Ruth
they’ll find your luggage even if it takes them a while

Yeah hopefully !
Imma just
Play outro ego
And read the fic I’ve been slowly working through

Ruth
yeah that sounds like it would be good

Okay actually flying this time !
Hopefully will see you soon

Ruth
see you soon!!

Jan 3, 2022, 7:08 PM

alright from what i can see your last bus is an 8:30 out of the port authority, there’s no way

Jan 3, 2022, 7:31 PM

Yeah there’s no way
But if i can get on this flight it’ll be okay i guess

Ruth
did they tell you they were checking your luggage to your final destination or will you have to get it at baggage claim?

Wdym ?
It’s always at baggage claim ?
I’m assuming to Boston

Ruth
right but. “to your final destination” or just
oh did they not tell you

Because that’s what they usually do
they also did not ask me
Even the standard like
Do you have important medication or electronics that could explode question
but i didn’t even get a boarding pass to ny
I doubt that it would be here

Ruth
when they check baggage they have to put the destination on it. so if you had checked it in chicago it would say chicago-detroit-boston
you didn’t even see it in detroit then?

No
No like its been gone
It’s
Okay

Ruth
okay okay then you’re good, just get on your next flight and you’ll have to call the airport or delta for it because it will not arrive with you tonight

Like I’ll do the things but worst case like
Nothing in that bag is necessary for my life so

Ruth
the important thing is when you checked it in chicago they checked it to boston so eventually it’ll get there

Ah all will be okay

I turned the screen of my phone off and tried to listen to the sounds of my “calming” playlist from high school. Still, it was difficult for me to concentrate with so many thoughts stuffed full in my brain.

At this point, I had realized just how stressful a flight can be, and I could feel my hold on the number of feelings I have in my body growing loose.

What was it I texted Ruth? An impersonation of an impersonation of a person. I knew that I was on the way to New York, but it’s cut off knowledge — the same way I know that graduation is this semester, and that I need to find a job, and that one day I won’t remember the inside jokes behind nicknames in my phone.

I realized — distantly — that eventually I’ll make a narrative out of this story, but the dots aren’t connecting in my head like they normally do.

Jan 3, 2022, 8:02 PM

God i want to get off this plane
And off this plane of existence too
God Sisyphus⁠07 This is a common philosophy joke. Sisyphus was a figure for existentialism, since his eternal punishment—rolling a boulder uphill only for it to fall down—was reminiscent of the struggles to live in a meaningless world.<br /> doesn’t even know true torture he should try taking a Delta flight

Ruth
did y’all land already?

Just landed but not unboarding

Ruth
looks like your departing gate (if, in fact they’re putting you on DL2133) is D95
you’re arriving to D10

Okay nice
At least they’re not different terminals again

Ruth
no inter-terminal running this time
are you deplaned or still waiting at the gate?
sorry i can stop, also

Waiting at help
Will text w any updates !

Ruth
okii sgsg

Before 3rd Flight

Immediately after leaving the plane — much slower this time since I was closer to the back of the plane and felt sluggish — I headed toward the new gate. Halfway through the airport, I saw Boston Man in line at the Delta help desk. I thought to myself, well, he’s heading to the same place as me, maybe I should get in line too?

There’s only one person, the man who’d been at the desk of my Detroit–LaGuardia flight, between me and Boston Man. I looked down at my phone. There was still an hour left until the Boston flight, since it’d been delayed. I shrugged. At least I wouldn’t be running this time.

There’s a short man sitting at the help desk talking to Boston Man. After calling some people, and typing at his computer for about five minutes, he managed to get Boston Man on the flight to Boston that Ruth had been telling me about. Relief, I thought finally.

The man in line in front of me stepped forward.

“They messed up my fucking flight,” he says angrily. Oh no, I thought.

They went back and forth, apparently trying to get him a flight to Maine by the end of the day.

“Your best shot is to go to Boston and then go to Maine,” the help desk person told him. Oh no, I thought again.

“I don’t think you fucking get it; I need to get to Boston tonight.” There’s something about his anger that made me uncomfortable, shifting in place as the help desk person looked at him with a bored expression.

“I’m sorry sir, but there are no outgoing flights to Boston tonight. You’ll have to get a hotel and take the 6 am flight for tomorrow.” OH NO, I thought, more aggressively.

Angry man looked even more upset, but I tried to collect myself anyway. There’s this phrase I say pretty often in my sorority: “done with feelings, time for action items.” I made a new list in my head entitled, “Things I need to figure out if I can’t get on this flight”

1. A place to stay
2. Call my parents
3. Update the various friends who’re expecting me in Boston
4. How to get to place to sleep
5. How to get back to the airport
6. ???
7. Profit

But we’re still on step one. Resolved, I took out my phone to text in various chats.

Jan 3, 2022, 7:46 PM
AEPhi⁠08 My sorority. MIT (w/ Alums)

vibe emanating object 🇲🇽
Hello! This is a bit of a stretch but does anyone know anyone living in New York ? Tldr flights have been a mess and hopefully i will be in Boston tonight but also just in case

krakens-at⁠09 The strangest friend group I'm in

Absentee kraparent⁠10 I included the names because they're absolutely insane. Mine is pictured, but the others in this chat are kraken0, kraken1, and you're a mean one mister grinchkraken. I was also instructed to include the reacts in the messenger chat for these texts, so, in order:</p> <p>Gender - 🤷<br /> Kraken - 🦑<br /> 14N - 💩<br /> Nonbinary - 🧜<br /> Math - 🥴<br /> Ship - 🛳<br /> Wolfe - 👁<br /> Robin - 🐺<br /> Merry Christmas - 🏳️‍🌈<br /> Happy Holidays - 🎇<br /> Moist - 💦<br /> Co. - 💼<br /> Krakengaged - 💍<br /> Kracket - 🧥<br /> He/hymm - 👨‍🎤<br /> Krakeffect - ✨<br /> Krackexcuse me - 🤧
u know how I’m usually rly lucky with flights and it makes everyone else mad bc i don’t deserve it lol ?
Well

Perioditors ’20-’23⁠11 The Tech's production editors chat for the past two years

crusty senior editor
So this is a bit of a funny story…

There are two main reasons that I don’t include the chats I got in response: they don’t particularly matter for the story and there were too many for me to include in one post. There’s a strange reassurance. There I was in LaGuardia airport, surrounded by strangers, with friends who were states away willing to help anyway.

By the time I got to the front of the help desk, though, I still wasn’t done with even the first action item. Panic was bubbling in the stomach; it was doing the flippy things that I usually associate with therapy and difficult conversations and being incredibly, frustratingly, overwhelmed.

“How can I help you sweetie,” the help desk man asked me.

“So… this is a funny story, but I also need to get to Boston.” He looked at me softly.

“I’m sorry, there are no flights to Boston tonight.”

I could barely contain tears. I kept thinking about where I would sleep, how I would avoid COVID, when I would get to Boston, if I had enough money in my wallet…

“Please, is there anything I can do?” I asked, desperately.

“What happened?”

I explained the story again, handed him my ID preemptively, and he nodded. “Okay, I’m going to make a call.”

On the phone, he makes noncommittal noises. At one point I overheard: “They did what in detroit?” and tried to keep my eyes from closing painfully.

After an unbearably long time, he hung up the phone and printed out a boarding pass for me. 12 I still don't know why they didn't give the other guy a ticket onto this plane. I can only imagine that it was because he was berating the person trying to help him. “Take this,” he said, “and run to D95 because they’re boarding now.”

I grabbed my phone, my ID, and earbuds, shoved them in my pockets, and sprinted across yet another airport with a boarding pass clutched in hand.

Jan 3, 2022, 8:44 PM

Ruth
Updates?
Can they get you on that flight tonight?

Idk
At gate rn

Ruth
Did they put you on standby for the boston flight that leaves at like 9:15
How are you feeling

Nervous
Messy

Ruth
That makes sense
It’s gonna be okay

Jan 3, 2022, 9:04 PM

On a flight
To Boston
Thank God

Ruth
Good! Good
Good
Almost there then

My face is full of snot lmfao
What a way to end an actually really relaxing break
Ah it’ll be a funny story later at least

Ruth
Later, yeah

For now it’s just very mushy in my brain but eventually eventually
It’ll be a neat cohesive story
Or maybe it won’t
But that’ll also be a neat cohesive story
For now imma just
Listen to my calming SoundCloud playlist from HS and close my eyes

Ruth
You do have a talent for neat cohesive stories
You’ve got at least an hour
Get some rest

Thanks ❤️
Soon: Boston

Conclusion

Ruth drove me back to New House and I felt surprised that I was only two hours later than I initially planned, before all of the flights. There was something heavy inside me, but I still greeted one of the sophomores in my sorority when I saw her in the hallway.

I slept an hour after arriving and collected my luggage⁠13 Where had my luggage ended up? La Guardia. You know, the flight where I didn't have a boarding pass. I nearly died when the help desk person told me. from the airport two days later when Delta called, taking the silver line all the way there and back.

I’ve been mulling this story for a while now, especially for the past couple of days, trying to find the right words for it. Without giving too much context, something surprising and stressful happened a week ago that wasn’t morally good or bad.⁠14 I'm a philosophy major please forgive me. It just was: sudden and jarring.

While it was happening, I kept thinking, God this is just like Delta Airlines, but didn’t understand why. One of my close friends suggested an explanation that went something like:

Well, it’s just because, normally, Ana is really lucky on flights. And this flight is the first one where she’s had a genuinely bad experience, so now she thinks that all her luck has run out entirely.

That felt correct, 15 I'm a bit overdramatic so I continued using it in my head and in my explanations. But then, at three in the morning, my brain connected the dots. I’d been thinking about everything that I’d done wrong in the airport, and how I could have fixed it.

But I realized. For the first time since I started taking flights alone — I hadn’t done anything wrong. I showed up early to the airport; I tried, really hard, to make it to each of my gates.

Usually, I’m late to the airport, my backpack is too large, my 42cm Koya plushie is in my hands to be taken across the country. There’s a lot of other flights that I’ve taken where I’ve done everything wrong and still reached my end destination okay.

So there it is. The conclusion to Delta Airlines, and what happened a week ago: things don’t always make sense. Sometimes, even with everyone trying their very, very best, life still sucks.

It was this conclusion that my friend and I reached last year after a series of stressful meetings about the pandemic that ended with both of us in tears: shit sucks. There’s nothing we could do about it.

But that isn’t true. I’m always a little too cheesy, in these blogs. But, as a result of writing this post, I’ve come to realize just how much I’ve grown since stepping foot at MIT. It’s messy, but all of this is proof of how I’ve learned to ask for help, self-soothe, and also allow myself to feel stressed. Those are all things to do, even if it doesn’t prevent all the “shit” from happening.

So here are the conclusions I’ve come to:

1. I have a lot of really fantastic friends. People who were willing to drop what they had going on to google trains, buses, and flights. People who messaged that friend of a friend⁠16 spoilers for the next blog post ;). that they didn’t know super well who lives in New York
2. My family loves me. There’s a whole subplot of this story, which has already gotten too long for me to include, with my parents and sister checking in, both on how I’m feeling and also trying to help. When I left the plane after the final flight, the first people I wanted to call were my parents; so I did.
3. Shit sucks. There’s not always a neat conclusion, even when you connect enough metaphors the way I always try to.
4. Fly JetBlue.