One word to open this open letter:
Really?
I think that's something we all say when we find out our flight is delayed or that something has gone wrong with the flight we are currently on. This letter has been inspired by recent events in my life.
Let me tell you a story.
Imagine, it's the beginning of spring break. You and your study abroad class are excited to finally be going to Ireland. You've been waiting for this moment for months. You get on the first flight and everything goes smooth; as it should. Now, the second flight is where everything just hits the ceiling. It begins before your flight even takes off. The pilot comes over the intercom and says there's something wrong with the navigation system. The navigation system? Of all things to go wrong, really?
So, you wait on the plane for 45 minutes and after trouble shooting and everything, you finally take off. You start to settle in and prepare for a night of sleeping on the plane because that's what you were told to do. You get the horrible airplane food, pop a Benadryl to sleep and then, tragedy strikes.
For story telling purposes, I shall give you a word-by-word play. (Please keep in mind that most of us are drugged up on sleeping aids and are very confused. It's quite funny when I look back on it now.)
Captain pilot: "Uh, yeah this is your captain speaking. Unfortunately, uh, the instrument I said was working, um, isn't. So, uh, we're gonna have to, uh, turn around and go back to Washington Dulles Airport."
At this point, we are already flying over Maine and about to cross the ocean. Literally half way there. And we turn around...and go back to Dulles.
For the rest of the flight, I angrily slept and tried to imagine that all of this was a dream. All I wanted to do was to go to Ireland, is that too much to ask for? And if the pilot had any sort of notification that the instrument wasn't going to work, then why did he even take off?
Fortunately though, we were put up in a resort for a few hours and eventually got on another plane to Ireland and finally arrived. It was a crazy, hectic time, but probably one of the funniest stories I have from the trip.
This whole experience has taught me a lot about flying internationally and how many things could go wrong. (Because let me tell you, almost everything went wrong.) It also taught me what airlines to never use again. (You know who you are.)
But in the end, it brought all 22 of us closer than have had been before. We all somehow functioned on our first day of our trip on five hours of sleep in 48 hours and still had a blast. So, if you ever find yourself in a situation like mine (hopefully not as bad though), try and find the light in it because trust me, you will laugh at it later.
