.they.call.that.karma.

you know when things seem to go wrong over and over and over again? it's karma. i've been hit with it big time this past month. i must have done something horrible to continually be attacked by the karma gods. or maybe i'm just too self-involved and think the world revolves around me...who knows...anyways, here are my examples?

1. my 7:14PM-detroit-to-chicago flight on july 17th started out delayed. this is was also the day before my vacation started. we were all waiting in the gate area, and i had finally gotten settled in with my laptop and was about to finish up some work, when the AA gate woman got on the PA and said that our flight was cancelled due to the weather. i couldn't run to the table to get rebooked because my laptop was on top of me and papers were on either side of me. since no one i knew was on this flight, i had to try to pack up my stuff as much as i could and hurry over to the already enormous line. well, the karma gods didn't really punish me that much, because i was able to catch this united flight which didn't end up leaving until 10:45PM. and the ride in wasn't too great. very turbulent...however, it could have been much worse. length of time to get home(from origin to destination)? 7 hours. normal time? 4 hours.

2. my 2:45PM-detroit-to-chicago flight on august 1st started out delayed also. this was my first week back to chicago after my week of vacation. they boarded our plane, and the pilot warned us before we pushed off that we were going to be delayed because ohare put a ground stop on all flights. archie told me that it was a brief storm, so we should be ok, but isn't that weather in detroit yet? no, it wasn't. so we sat on the plane for an hour and 15 minutes, until the next announcement. the next announcement? well, we have to wait another 40 minutes until the next announcement. after 40 minutes? well, the ground stop at ohare has been lifted, so we will depart in 5 minutes...we start taxi-ing to our runway, and then...stop. engine off. pilot gets on the PA "well, folks, thanks for your patience, but we were just ordered to stop right here and turn off our engines because detroit has just put a ground stop on all flights...we will give you the next update in 30 minutes, and at that time will decide if we will stay here on the tarmac, or go back to the gate." ... well, 30 minutes turned into 50 minutes... mind you, during this whole time, i was trying to sleep, since i had such a lack of it the entire week. after working until 2AM for 2 nights and until midnight for the other 2 nights, i was exhausted. so the pilot gets back on and says he has made a decision to turn the plane around and go back to the gate. those passengers who would like to deplane, can do so, and wait in the terminal for the next announcement which would be in another 30 minutes. can you feel how this story is going? so i wait in the terminal with my other co-worker/friend who was scheduled on the chicago flight after mine, which was also delayed. obviously, my mood is not good, and i just wanna get the hell outta dodge, so i use my persuasive skills (of which i have almost zero) and convince my friend to drive back with me, since we were destined to never get on a flight tonight. he only agreed with the condition that we wait for the next announcement. i wait a little while, and after 30 minutes, i decide to go up to the counter (which has a huge ass line with people rebooking their flights) and see whats up. i stand to the side of the counter, behind this pilot-looking guy who is looking up flights on the side computer. "excuse me, sir, would you be able to tell me the status of flight 1404?" i explain my predicament, including the fact that i was told there would be a status update in 30 minutes, and it was now 45 minutes later. the first thing he says, "ma'am, on behalf of american, i am very sorry you've had to wait this long. let me look on the computer to see if there are any updates." normally, i would object to being called ma'am, but this man was so polite. who knew there were kind people like that working for an airline?! they are usually all jaded by now. back to the story. he proceeds to tell me that my flight is still scheduled for departure at 7:45PM, which was 1/2 an hour away. i looked outside and saw lightening and heard thunder. do i really want to fly tonight? so i thanked the kind pilot (whose 7:30PM flight to chicago was cancelled due to weather), walked over to my coworker, and said "we're driving". we proceed to the ticket counter to get our refunds. by the time we get to the front, the AA employee tells me, my bag will be at baggage claim, since my flight was cancelled. (thank god i didn't wait to get that announcement!) let me just say, i could have eaten dinner in the time it took to process my refund. and i am a slow eater. american airlines, if you're reading this, get a new application! so i get my refund, and my coworker, whose flight is still scheduled to depart at 8:45PM, says he'll just pull his bag from the plane and all am ex travel to process his refund. the AA ticket counter woman, says "well, i can put a request through, but they can't pull your bag until the lightening stops." we rationalize that if we wait until then, then his plane will depart, and he may as well fly. my cw (co-worker), being the gentleman he is, couldn't decide if he was going to drive back with me, since he didn't want me to drive alone, or take his flight. for 10 minutes we stood there deciding. i finally say "lets go down to baggage claim, get my bag, and then you can decide what you want to do." we get down there and what do we find? his bag is on the conveyor belt, and my bags are no where to be found since they had to wait until the lightening stopped to pull my flight's bags. are there no gods on my side today? by this time, it was 8PM. we decided that i would go to hertz, pick up the car, and pick up my cw, who would wait for my bag. and for once, that goes smoothly, and we proceed to drive the 4 1/2 hours home in the stormy weather. thank god we didn't fly. length of time to get home? 12 hours. regular time? 4.

3. my monday night chicago-to-detroit flight was scheduled for 6:15PM. i rushed to the airport and wasn't even able to complete my tivo set-up. i get to the airport, and wait an extra 30 minutes to get my luggage tagged and checked in. wha? yes, i waited 30 minutes even though i saw my luggage tag on the counter...apparently the process is for the AA employees to tag the bags. the tsa people can't do it, the passengers can't even do it. again, American Airlines, if you're reading this: get a new process! or more employees! it's summer...you KNOW there are clueless people out there flying, staff your counters and gates accordingly please! i get to my gate, and what flight is listed on the screen? tuscon, AZ. i look up at the monitors, and my flight is still scheduled for this gate. a couple of minutes later, i check the monitors again. what do i see next to my flight? DELAYED now 7:50PM. so you're telling me that i rushed all the way here an extra hour and a half, when i could have been home and finished setting up my tivo? i could have taken a nap. eaten a good dinner. anything else, but putz around the airport. i get some dinner and make some phone calls, catching up with people i haven't talked to in a while. i go back to my gate, look at the monitor, and my gate has changed to K1 from K4. i walk to k1 and settle down for the next 45 minutes. the time was inching closer to 7:30PM, and no announcement had been made for my flight. no "we'll be boarding soon", "we'll be a bit more delayed", "thanks for you patience, and sorry we have no customer service skills". nothing. so i get up, look at my gate screen, and do you think i saw detroit? no. so i find another monitor and it now says my gate is K23. excuse me? how are you gonna change the gate from K1 to K23 and not make some sort of announcement? this woman who was sitting next to me at the K1 gate, sprints past me. i take my sweet ass time. they will just have to wait for me to get there. and besides, we have 20 minutes to get to the gate. it's not like they're actually going to take off on time. so i finally get to K23. and wait. we get on the plane around 7:50. and then wait another hour while ohare gets their schedules together and recovers from the horrendous weather. length of time to detroit? 7 hours. normal time? 4 hours.

i think the karma gods are getting back at me for my impatience when i have to wait for anything, and for my ugly road rage.

karma's a bitch, man.