Leaving Perth

If you know me, then please ask for this story in person because it’s more detailed and funnier with hand gestures and half-acting on my part.

All of us, Deb, Greg, Mom, Dad, and I, went to the airport on Friday so that I could catch my plane to Sydney and start the long journey back to West Lafayette.  The family and I walk in while Deb and Greg find a parking place.  We tried to self-check me in, but that didn’t work and we were told to go to one of the counters.

We’re at the counter and the guy behind the counter looks up my itinerary and it turns out I was 24 hours late for my flight!!  I was so embarrassed and mortified!  I was also terrified to look at my mother for fear her angry eyes would sear through my face.

We made our way to the Qantas sales desk where everything was perfectly rectified!  And it didn’t cost anything!  Qantas is my new favorite airline.  They even still serve you meals in the air and the wine and beer is free.  Favorite airline.

This was, as you may have guessed, a rather traumatic experience for me, since it was so blatantly obvious that I dropped the ball off a cliff.  Mom was kind enough to take care of the change in schedule for my shuttle from Chicago and for someone to pick me up from the Purdue Airport at the new time.  While Mom was doing this, I was sitting in the kitchen with Dad.  Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: I sure hope Mom still loves me at the end of all of this.
Dad: Yeah, me too.
Me: WHAT?!?

In the end, I think Deb and Greg got to me, subconsciously, with all of their talk of staying an extra day and calling Qantas to get my flight changed.  I just forgot to call Qantas and tell them.  Fortunately for me, I was able to cajole my way into two extra days in Australia with my parents!