As usual, I tried to smash more into my final days and hours in Philly than would really fit. But it was worth it. In the last few days I got to see most of my philly friends to say "see ya later," then cleaned out my apartment, and got out of here.
Leaving was hard. Partially because of saying goodbye to my close friends, my apartment, and yes, my land lord. But it was mostly hard because of traffic and long lines. I was stuck on 38th street for far too long due to Penn's packing. So, I only had an hour 'til my flight was to take off when I got to the airport. When I finally got to the airport I spent forty minutes in the line for security. There, I met two very nice people, a grandmother visiting Philly for her grandson's graduation, and a doctor who advised me of the best So-Cal airports based on security speed (LAX is fast, Ontario faster, and John Glenn fastest).
When I finally made it through I raced to my gate because I could hear them paging me. But I couldn't run properly because I hadn't latched my sandals, my bag's handle was too short, and I REALLY had to pee. So, when I reached the gate I was at the wrong one. They directed me to the next one... but my gate had been transferred. By the time I got to the correct (third) gate I was so frazzled the airport employee thought I was crazy. She gave me my boarding passes and assured me that my plane hadn't even landed and had plenty of time. Good thing too because airport bathrooms are much better than airplane bathrooms.
So, I went to find a seat, which had to be at another gate because mine was overcrowded. Then I heard the loud speaker say something about a laptop. And I think to myself, "Did I put my laptop away? No, I didn't even latch my sandals. Weird. Oh shit! They've got my laptop!" So, the poor employee sees me coming over and says, "I paged you, I thought it was yours." And I took it, very chagrined, and said thank you.
I was the last person on the flight but have a seat. So, on to Saint Louis then to Santa Fe! Here's hoping my time in the airport was more eventful than my time in the air.
