Leave it to me to get sick on the last part of my vacation in beautiful Puerto Rico! Fortunately I wasn't sick during the entire trip, just on the last day of my trip TRYING to getting home (might I add it took me TWO days to get home, instead of one) First and foremost, NEVER EVER fly SPIRIT Airlines! As the cab driver would say "they are the idiots of the sky!" would have been nice to know before hand! We were suppose to take off from SJU airport at 4:24pm, get into fort Lauderdale at 6:47pm and have enough time to catch my connecting flight home to DFW at 7:20pm. That did not happen AT ALL! We were still sitting on the plane (with no a/c OR water) in San Jaun, Puerto Rico at 6:34pm. They had us board the plane at 5:20pm and we sat there for over an hour! We finally take off after what felt like hours of sitting on a hot plane surrounded by strangers. (We landed in Ft Lauderdale at around 8:30ish) Lets not forget that on this flight home, I was traveling ALL BY MYSELF! I don't travel often and when I do, I usually have a family member or a friend. But no, this time I was alllll by my lonesome. I was nervous to begin with to have to do this part of my journey by myself, but I told myself to suck it up and be a big girl about it. (side note: I flew American on the way TO Puerto Rico, straight flight and I was with a HUGE group of friends, so I was able to keep calm. American is awesome.) Not so much for the ride home. 45 other people missed their connecting flights, due to the delays. I happened to over hear a guy say that he was looking for his connecting flight to DFW, so I tagged along with him. None of the flight attendants or service agents seemed to know what was going on either so they were absolutely NO help. I had to run to the VERY front of the airport and back to the main front check in area of this airport that I know nothing about. So 45 of us are running around with our head cut off trying to make it to our next flight, obviously all of us have missed our flights. I'm one of the first ones to the ticket counter. I'm on the phone with Spirit customer service because like I said before the customer service people in the airport have no idea what's going on and are no help. So as I'm standing in line I decided I would just try to call while standing in line. Maybe I'll get someone that knows what's going. This person who claims her name is Cathy which I'm pretty sure her real name is something like Bastlamashaminghabuduathlisglahdaugha, says that my check in status shows me as a "no show" and that I never showed up for my return flight home. I proceed to tell her that I'm standing in the Fort Lauderdale airport, I've missed my connecting flight home from FORT LAUDERDALE because of mechanical problems from the airline and I need to know what and where I need to go next. She keeps telling me that I'm still in Puerto Rico! Im like "listen to me Cathy!! I was on the plane from SJU to Ft. Lauderdale. I. AM. STANDING. IN. THE. FORT LAUDERDALE. AIRPORT. SO, OBVIOUSLY, I WAS ON THE FLIGHT OR ELSE I WOULDN'T BE WHERE I'M STANDING RIGHT NOW"....She puts me on hold. You've got to be fucking kidding me!? It's finally my turn to the ticket counter. I tell them my situation. The ticket agent lady can't find me either! It's like I didn't even exist! With all the security measures they make everyone go thru at an airport, how does a person just disappear off a flight? I had my boarding pass, so nothing is making sense at this point. I'm alone in an airport where I know no one! When I get scared or flustered, I'm rendered useless. My mind goes blank, I can barely remember my own name and I just want my mom. Mind you, there are other people in the same boat as me but none of them are traveling alone. Everyone else has a buddy, a friend, a companion, a safety net. I'm looking around I'm starting to get more scared. Come to find out, I was never "checked in". So if the flight had gone down over the ocean, I wouldn't have been accounted for and I would have just been missing. NOT COOL! The fear and tears are starting to boil and I can't hold back anymore. The ticket agent lady tells me that I'm stuck in Fort Lauderdale till Monday or Tuesday! Here goes....I become a blubber baby standing at the ticket counter. I'm calling my mother telling her whats happening and no one can understand me. My phone is going dead and the only way I can charge my phone is for me to plug my computer into an outlet and charge my phone thru my computer. So now I'm panicked even more! The ticket agent lady had to come over the counter, stand in front of me and talk to me like I was a 5 year old. She calmed me down, told me that people travel alone alllll the time and that I'm safe. They put me up in a hotel for the night, gave me dinner and breakfast vouchers and found me a 5:00am flight to Charlotte North Carolina with a connecting flight to DFW on US Airways. (these damn connecting flight are going to be the death of me) There happened to be another solo flyer (he was 17 and did not cry) We were the only two that made it onto the Monday 5am flight to Charlotte NC/DFW...everyone else was on stand by or stuck there till Tuesday. So I stuffed my face with 3 pieces of over sized greasy pizza, got my phone charged via computer. And eventually found the RIGHT shuttle (yes, i got lost finding the shuttle) to take me to the hotel so I could sleep for three hours and then have to be back at the airport at 3:30am to make my 5am flight. So I had three hours to clean myself up and nap at Fairmount Hotel. Not a bad hotel. I had a nice king sized bed all to myself. Somewhere from stepping off the plane in Fort Lauderdale and the ride to the hotel is where I got sick because when I woke up to go back to the airport is when my sickness hit. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, itching eyes, running/stuffed up nose...the works. I was a mess. But all I wanted to do was get home! The flight to Charlotte was comfy because the middle seat was open so I wasn't crammed in. I slept the entire flight to Charlotte, NC. So, I land in Charlotte, NC. 7:30am! I have plenty of time to make it to my connecting flight. I head to the ladies room. Do my thing and head to complete other side of the airport. SCORE! Arrive at gate B10 for the departing flight to DFW! I'm almost home!................ URGH!!! NOT!! My boarding pass and ID are no where to be found!! Since I was half asleep when I got off the plane I ended up leaving my boarding pass and ID in the bathroom...on the other side of the airport. I keep thinking to myself, there's no way I'm missing this flight! I have to be on this flight! I ran up to the ticket man as he's calling out zone numbers to board the plane.....ME-"Sir I don't have my boarding pass" Ticket man- "That's okay we can print you another one" ME- "NO! I CANT EVEN FIND MY ID, I THINK I LEFT IT ON THE BATHROOM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT!' Ticket man- "Well then, I suggest you run!" ME "FUCK!" So I take off through the crowd and haul ass!! I'm in a dress and flip flops and hoping I don't take anyone down with my carry on bag! What if my boarding pass and ID aren't in the bathroom? What if I left it on the plane? What if someone else picked it up? I'm going to be stuck in Charlotte NC!!! More tears are running down my face just thinking about it. Running wildly through another airport, I managed to call my mother and tell her what happened...of course this would happen to me. I get to the bathroom that I was in.. LOW AND BEHOLD there's all my paper work and my ID! I grab it and sprint back towards my gate..... LAST CALL!!! OMG I fucking made it! I was literally the LAST person on the plane! I couldn't breathe my nose was running, I was coughing, I felt and looked like I was on the brink of death. I found my seat... Between two men. Nice. I cant catch my breath and now I have to sit between two strange men. Whatever. I've made it this far, I just need to survive this flight and then I'll be home. Needless to say, I passed out due to pure exhaustion even before the plane took off.... Pretty sure I might have used the shoulder of the strange man sitting next to me as a head rest a couple of times. Oops! I slept uncomfortably for most of the flight into DFW. I have never been so happy to see the DFW airport. My mom was waiting for me with benadryl in hand. We also made a pit stop into Burger King for a sausage biscuit with cheese! (so yummy) ..... I slept for two days. I. Am. STILL. Sick. :-( I will never leave my bedroom EVER again.
Maintaining relationships demands effort; it's a mutual journey. Each party contributes, and amidst this exchange, bonds form—be it friendships or deeper connections. Some relationships necessitate more investment; sometimes, it feels like you're carrying the weight alone, striving to sustain the connection. Personally, I've struggled with nurturing friendships; perhaps due to youthful ignorance, where life felt boundless, consequences seemed distant, and self-centeredness prevailed. As age brings maturity, many friendships naturally drift away amid life's chaos and the challenges of adulthood. Reflecting on my past interactions often astonishes me; how did I manage any healthy relationships back then? Truthfully, I didn't. Those who I once considered friends, or who considered me as such, have vanished, leaving behind only fragmented memories—thanks, memory loss. Although forgetfulness might seem a blessing, the impressions we leave behind persist. This notion unne...