Comin’ into Los Angeles by Arlo Guthrie

Coming in from London from over the pond
Flyin’ in a big airliner
Chickens flyin’ everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?
Comin’ into Los Angeles
Bringin’ in a couple of keys
Don’t touch my bags if you please mister customs man

There’s a guy with a ticket to Mexico
No, he couldn’t look much stranger
Walkin’ in the hall with his things and all
Smilin, said he was the lone ranger

Yesterday was my commute day to LA from St. Louis. One might guess from my choice of lyrics that the day didn’t go exactly as planned. I have had worse but it wasn’t the way that on wants to start an epic journey.

I had the day all scripted out and for the first time, I found a direct flight to LA from St. Louis except that I needed to get up around 3:00 in order to be there on time. (I am a little paranoid about missing flights. Si I had a direct flight to LA that left at 7. My plan was to get there early have a little coffee and do some writing. A few days before I had called the cab company and requested a taxi to arrive at my place at 5:00 am. The other few hours were spent getting ready to leave and taking care of last minute items.

Around 4:30, I get a call from the airline, “So Sorry Charlie – direct flight to LA cancelled . They did give me an option of a flight that left 30 minutes later (7:30) with a very short layover in Phoenix. Well not too bad, get off plane, stretch legs, get something to eat – no big deal.

5:00 am comes around no taxi, no big deal, I have an extra 30 minutes. At 5:15 call taxi company, “The driver is almost there.”Twenty minutes later no taxi but driver calls me “Where is your place?” At 5:4 driver arrives and we head to airport.

Get in terminal and it looks like mayhem. Looks like half the city of St. Louis is taking a vacation and need to get out of town on early Thursday morning. Lines are long but I had priority check-in. TSA determines that I needed a little special treatment but at least they didn’t make me take all my stiff out of theban like the two ladies heading to Hawaii on the same flight. They just made me jump up and down and flap my arms.

No big deal and boarding was very timely. Full flight and everyone is seated expeditiously. So we sit a while and then we sit awhile longer. So pretty soon the pilot comes over the PA and says they are waiting for an engineer in Dallas to sign off on an overnight repair. That didn’t sound bad but what sounded bad was that retold us we could deplane at our own risk. The airline staff was nice and cordial and brought out extra snacks / drinks. I hope that I don’t get anyone in trouble with that…

To make a long story short, the overnight crew noticed a scratch in the paint on the airplane luggage door. They repainted it over night, but declaring the plane safe for flight required the signatures of multiple folks whereabouts unknown. It seemed to also require special dispensation from the Pope and any number of other folks. Meanwhile most of us are missing connecting flights so some of the folks are frantically attempting to rebook these. I on the other hand to to take an Alfred E. Newman approach to the situation – :What? Me worry?” The crew sys that the airline will automatically book us onto a connecting flight.

So, when we deplane. (Did I mention it was a little bumpy white knuckle style landing). We had a lot of turbulence and the pilot nailed the landing but I tend to love flying except for takeoffs, landings and everything that occurs in between.

So I decide to use the facilities before I confirm my connecting flight. Besides the fact that I alone went to the wrong place and when I finally located the long to the services desk snaked a long ways. I had some good conversations with total strangers and one gentleman in particular who was Portland bound (I think it was Oregon) had sat in the wrong area for his flight. I don’t quite remember the story but he might have had aviation problem and Pogo Pogo looked like Portland or he went to B 18 and should’ve been in D 18. Anyway they were no more flights to Portland that day and what can I say misery loves company!

The airline staff was pretty good and probably excellent when compared to decades past. They seem to have the process down and put extra folks make the long line go fast. Maybe if I was quicker to line, I could have gotten on the earlier flight but I got on one. That’s to leave after I should have already been in LA for a couple of hours.

New plane arrives and we get to sit some more. First some guy gets plane whose passport didn’t match his ticket and they were careful to get him off ands luggage. I actually think they took off everyone’s luggage who sat close to him just to be on the safe side. I wasn’t supposed to hear this but much of it unfolded really close to me and country to popular opinion, I am not as dumb as I look.

Next we have e medical emergency on another flight so have we have sit some more. When that was resolved, we finally take off. Flight is uneventful except for the lady who is snoring next to me. Her husband was sitting in the seat directly in front of means i would offer to move except they were having words and exchanging unpleasantries so I decide to I won’t switch seats….

Land in LA and get bags with no issues.So I go out to wait for the courtesy van. Except it doesn’t show up. Every other hotel in a hundred mile radius has vans there but I don’t see mine. After 1/2 hour I decide to call. When I get through, I ca hardly hear word the lady says but do make out “Yes, by request”, so I say “”I am requesting” and then I hear nothing. I think I take a taxi.The hotel is only a couple of miles away but since this is rush hour in LA that is a 3 hour commute. The taxi driver was’t real happy when i told him my destination since it was only a few miles. He suggested that I take the courtesy van. I did give him a very nice tip though. Told him to buy Starbucks ( that’s poor attempt t humor.)

Anyway, get to hotel many hours late and see some of my old friends. All is good.

Thanks for reading

~Chuck