AIRPLANES

AIRPLANES

My craziest airplane experience occurred in 1995. I had told a vendor that we did business with from upstate New York, that I would attend his golf outing on a Saturday in August. The course was the one that they play the BC Open on and the format was a scramble, so I was all for it. I didn't want to go up the night before because I had a softball game so I made early morning flight reservations that would get me in there about 10 am. The start time for the outing was 1 pm. I was going to stay the night and return Sunday afternoon.

I was flying out of Cincinnati on US Air which flew through Pittsburgh to Binghamton on a big plane. I was booked first class for an 8 am flight. I overslept. At a quarter to eight, I left home with an overnight bag and my golf clubs. I raced to the airport and parked in short term parking and raced to the counter and was told I was too late. The counter people were helpful. They credited my ticket and hooked me up with Northwest who said they could get me there in time. They were flying a big plane to Detroit where I would transfer to a commuter to Binghamton. It all sounded ok to me. I bought a first class ticket.

The flight to Detroit was packed. I settled in with a little breakfast that they used to give you. We got into Detroit without any trouble and I started making my way to the commuter terminal. On the way, I bought a disposable razor and tried to clean up and shave in a rest room. My razor was packed in my bag which I checked and I hadn't had time for anything before I left home.

I made a good connection and we took off for Binghamton with a full plane of about 20 people. When we got to the area, the pilot told us it was very foggy and he was going to circle to wait for an opening. So we circled. And we circled. Finally, the pilot came on and said we just couldn't land safely and we were getting low on fuel so we were on our way to Buffalo. In Buffalo, we would get on another plane and come back later. I told the attendant that I didn't want to go to Buffalo if I couldn't get back to Binghamton by 11 am. There's not much to do in that area on a Saturday afternoon if you don't have golf to play. Anyway, the pilot came on again and said he had now been told to go back to Detroit. A new plane there would take us back to New York.

We landed in Detroit and they ushered us to a holding room and were told that a new plane would be ready shortly to take us back to Binghamton. They were transferring our luggage. "No way" I yelled at the rep. "I want to go back to Cincinnati if its all the same." "But sir, you bought a ticket to Binghamton." I explained my situation. He went to talk to a higher authority, I suppose. They consented. I was reticketed to Cincinnati.

When I walked into our house at about four in the afternoon, my wife, who didn't expect me until the following afternoon, just looked at me quizzically and said, "How did you play?"