On Friday, December 8, 2017, Atlanta-ans thought the world was coming to an end for the second time in four years. A very bizarre winter weather front passed deep into the south, stretching from New Orleans up into the Carolinas, dumping a mixture of rain and snow onto the towns and cities below; cities that never see snow and have no idea what to do when the icy flakes of terror fall upon them.

The last time Atlanta saw two inches of the chilly white stuff in the early winter of 2014, the city literally shut down. They called a state of emergency. Everything closed...at the exact same time...instantly clogging highways and interstates with thousands of travelers. The roads were gridlocked, traffic stood still, and people were trapped in their cars, many overnight. Back in the Midwest, we watched the insanity on our televisions and Facebook newsfeeds with disbelief and mockery at what we were seeing. Two inches? What's the big deal? Who exactly is running the asylum right now?

This time, nearly four years later, I was traveling on a work trip...and had the unfortunate privilege (I use that word loosely) of having a connecting flight in Atlanta...on December 8th... Perhaps this was karma coming back to bite me for laughing at the dog and pony show in 2014. Somehow we managed to make it from Palm Beach to Atlanta with only a two-hour delay. Once we landed in Atlanta, however, that was it. It was all over. No more planes would leave Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for St. Louis until noon the next day, and my co-worker and I wouldn't be able to get on a flight until 7:20 p.m., the following evening...28 hours after our plane landed in the city of snowy panic. Over the course of those 28 hours, these are some of the thoughts that crossed my mind:

1. What snow???

As our plane descended on the runway in Atlanta, I looked out my tiny porthole window onto the ground below. There was no snow. None. There was a light rain, drops of which streaked across my window and made dents as it patted against the concrete below. Flights were delayed, people were stuck, and there wasn't even snow at the airport.

2. This is the busiest airport in the world...shouldn't they be prepared for anything?

Evidently, the problem was not the snow, but the fact that the drizzle outside was freezing onto the planes, which then had to be deiced before they could take off. And Hartsfield-Jackson, the busiest airport in the ENTIRE WORLD, whose shut-down causes a ripple effect that is felt in airports worldwide, doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with deicing, no matter how rarely it may be needed?

3. I'm never flying again!

Know what's highly ironic about my incarceration at Hartsfield-Jackson? This is my first time...ever...flying, in my entire life. I drive when I travel. Why? Because flying always seemed like a MAJOR pain and inconvenience. Not the actual flying in a plane and reaching your destination in just a couple of hours part.

But the arriving at the airport two hours early to remove your shoes and belts and jewelry and be scanned and have your bags searched part. The major restrictions on what is allowed on a plane, the extra cost of checking luggage, and the risk of losing said luggage (witnessed that happen to a fellow flier on our flight to Atlanta) part. The sitting around and waiting and having flights delayed and ending up reaching your destination no faster than if you'd just driven it part. Add to that the outrageous price tag that comes along with all of this part...and I'll pass every time.

So there I sat, trapped in my layover city for 28 hours, remembering all of the reasons I avoided flying. The trip to Palm Beach for my work training was painless. The security was quick, the flights got in 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and I was thinking this flying thing wasn't as bad as I thought. And then Atlanta happened and I was suddenly extremely justified in my "this is why I don't fly" logic.

4. Exactly which of my life decisions pissed off the cosmic karma gods and led me to this point?

Once our flight was canceled, and then our alternate flight was canceled...we went to the gate counter and requested the first flight out after daylight. The front was hovering over and wouldn't pass until 9 a.m., so we figured at this point, stop trying to get flights out that night and just wait until morning. The man at the counter informed us that the 9 a.m. flight had also been canceled, and the noon and 2 p.m. flights were full. He couldn't get us on a plane until 7:20 p.m. the next evening. My coworker and I exchanged "over my dead body are we sitting here until tomorrow night" glances, took the boarding passes anyway, then went off to get a rental car.

...and they denied us. They were no longer giving out rental cars for a one-way trip because too many cars were leaving and none were coming in. Gee thanks, Atlanta airport people, for not having your ish together and thereby trapping all of us here, and then for doing your best to make sure no one can leave in any other way.

A friend of mine used to work for Enterprise and had a trick for getting us around the "no more one-way trips" rule they were placing us under. He got us a reservation for a three-day rental, so we just had to get to the Enterprise counter to pick it up. A few escalators, an elevator and a train ride later, we arrived at the Enterprise counter and the long winding line of people that came with it.

It was after 11 p.m. by this point, and everyone was exhausted and grouchy and ready to be home. I myself was supposed to have been home with my children lounging on the couch five hours ago. And then the man made an announcement...that any reservation booked after 6 p.m. they weren't going to honor. There went our rental car. There went our way out of our living nightmare. We were stuck...until 7:20 the next night.

5. Oh my God, I'm going to die an icy Atlanta death in this cab...

Have you ever ridden in a cab, in the snow, with a cab driver who doesn't ever drive in snow or have any idea how to drive in snow? Yeah...don't ever do that.

My coworker called Hilton and located a hotel for us to spend the night, since we weren't going anywhere for another 20 hours. The nearest hotel with a vacancy by this point was 45 miles north of the airport. By the grace of God he was able to flag us down a cab...which, I'm 100% sure was because he skipped out of the long line of people waiting for cabs that would've taken an hour to get through and stopped someone who had just dropped someone off. I decided not to feel guilty about skipping our place in line, didn't ask questions, and got in.

Once we got about 10 miles north we discovered that they did, in fact, get snow somewhere in Atlanta. The farther north we drove, the more snow there was, although still just a dusting and the highways were clear. By the time we made it to our last 10 miles of the cab ride, there was an inch or two of snow and patches of slush were starting to build up on the roads. Every time the cab hit one, it slid and fish-tailed on the highway, and the driver was in a visible panic. Yup, I'm going to die. Can I just drive? These road conditions are typical in Missouri winters so I'm used to it. Isn't it legal for me to drive your cab? Okay, we're definitely going to die then.

6. Okay, so maybe I'll fly again...just not in Atlanta

Once we got checked into our hotel rooms at 1 a.m., 21 hours after I woke up for the trip home, I was able to relax in a cozy bed and my fierce level of anger started to subside. I had traversed the five stages of grief and finally landed in acceptance. A friend of mine, who is a flight attendant, told me if he'd known I was going through "Hotlanta" for my layover he would've told me not to. He won't go through Atlanta when he travels because it's always a mess. A memo I had certainly received loud and clear by then!

So this situation sucks eggs, but it wasn't so bad up until this point. So maybe I won't put the ax to flying altogether. I'll just make sure to redline Atlanta!

7. "Y'all...28 hours later I am on the damn plane!"

"See you after 8, St. Louis, and be prepared for me to kiss the tarmac!"

This was my final Facebook update as I took my seat in first class, bumped up in compensation for the hassle, and awaited takeoff. One hour and fifteen minutes later, I was looking down at the beautiful lights of my wonderful city and the arch that stood between my window and the winding river that welcomed me home (as seen in cover photo above).