The Journey Home


Shortly after I sat down, the captain’s voice boomed over the speakers, “Hello, everyone! Welcome aboard! This is X Airlines, Flight ###, from Washington D.C. Ragan National Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport… Please be seated and we will take off shortly.”

My parents could not book a direct flight from D.C. to Portland, Oregon. So we had to make a stopover in Chicago.

Ten minutes passed, the captain’s voice rang out again, “We were informed the sky is cleared for Air Force One. Once it is over, we will take off shortly.”

I looked out of the window and didn’t see anything in the sky. I started playing games on my iPad.
Another half hour passed, the captain’s voice resounded again, “There is a big storm in Chicago. We are waiting for permission to take off.”

It was a surprise. Some passengers started worrying about their connective flights. My parents were also anxious because we had very short time for the transfer. The attendant reassured us that customer service will re-schedule the connective flight if we missed it.

Another hour passed. Meanwhile, we heard the captain’s messages intermittently, either “The weather has not changed.” or “We are waiting for the permission.” The cabin became hot. The attendants started giving out water bottles.

I also stopped playing games. Dad said, “It is evening now. Worst case scenario, the airlines will provide us with a hotel room.” I thought it might be a good thing to me - I might be able to see the Sears Tower.

Another half hour passed, a flight attendant came into the cabin and announced the plane could not fly because the crew had worked to the maximum hours for the day. All passengers had to switch to another plane. His message seemed to fire off everyone’s temper.

Some passengers couldn’t hold back any more. They started complaining loudly. The attendants tried to calm them down.

Most passengers started taking out their carry-on luggage from the overhead bin. The cabin became noisy. We quickly got off the plane and walked to the new boarding gate.

The passengers were in rush and so were the gate operators. They did not redo the check-in. Instead, they wrote down passengers’ names. We were told to use any open seat.

The door closed. The captain delivered the welcome message. The lights went off and the pre-recorded safety video was flashing on TV screens. It looked like the plane would take off soon.

Suddenly, the lights went back on. The captain announced, “The plane needs to be re-filled. Once it is done, we will take off shortly.” Another big surprise!

It was long past dinner time. I told Dad I was hungry. He got permission to get off the plane to buy some food. In a few minutes, Dad came back with a bag of muffins.

After wolfing down some muffins, I fell asleep. When I was awakened by Dad, we had landed at Chicago O’Hare airport. We ran to customer service and tried to get the earliest flight to Portland.

At customer service, Mom talked to a guy behind the counter. He checked our information in his computer and said, “Your next flight had been re-scheduled. You will fly to Washington D.C. first, than to Cleveland, OH, and then to Portland, OR.”

Mom stopped him immediately, “Sorry, we just came from D.C. and we want to go to Portland, Oregon.” He mumbled, checked in the computer again, and then said, “Something was messed up in your connective flight. I’ll fix it for you.”

He fiddled with his computer for a while and then told us that he had re-scheduled the flight for Mom and me to 8:30AM, but my dad had to take another flight at 12:00PM. Mom said, “Please book the tickets and put my husband in the stand-by list for the same flight.” The guy said, “Okay.”

Dad asked whether the airlines will offer us a hotel room. He said, “Yes, but you need to find the hotel and the company will pay sixty percent of the bill. However, it’s not worth doing it because it’s already the ‘next morning’. I’ll look for some blankets for you guys to stay at the airport.”

It was cold at the airport. Mom put two blankets on me. I wrapped up myself tightly and laid on a long seat. As soon as the food court opened, my parents woke me up and we took a simple breakfast. I lost the interest of watching the Sears Tower. We walked straight to the boarding gate.

Boarding started soon. Mom and I boarded. Dad stood next to the gate and waved to us. He did not get the ticket and had to wait for the next flight. We sat down and buckled up. Right before the door closed, Dad showed up in the cabin. We were all surprised. He walked to us and blurted out excitedly, “I got a ticket at the last second!” We all laughed.

Soon some muffled noise came from a back seat. It looked like there was an issue with the ticket – my dad’s seat was double-booked. The computer did not update the status correctly! The attendant told my dad, “Sir, you have to take the next flight.” Dad left the plane without saying anything. I knew he was very upset.

Finally, Mom and I arrived at the Portland airport. Mom said, “We’ll sit here and wait for Dad.” In the afternoon, the flight arrived. Dad showed up at the gate. Mom and I ran up to him. Dad was a little surprised at first and then smiled, “You didn’t go home?” I said, “Yes, we were waiting for you.” Mom quickly figured out something was wrong, “Where are your bags?” Dad replied distress-fully, “They were on your flight!”