Illustration 32 of Divine Comedy:Inferno by Paul Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
It's good to be home, but getting here sure was a nightmare. What should have been a 14-hour flight took 24 1/2 hours, thanks to US Airways canceling our flight at the last minute in order to combine it with a later flight. Hannah and Olivia handled the marathon day like champs, but Micah was beside himself. I was in tears by the time we got to Phoenix. I hadn't slept more than 30 minutes during the whole 24 hours, and was bone tired from the ordeal of trying to control Micah while warding off the fiery darts of my fellow passengers who either (a) have never had children of their own; or (b) cannot remember what it's like to have young children. Either way, I was in
Dante's Inferno, 10th Circle (if one existed). The 9th Circle involved incapsulation in ice up to progressively greater depths. Well this was worse.
One choice 20-something, male passenger who sat in the seat in front of me on the flight from Barcelona to Philadelphia had the gall to recline his seat into my lap, and then buck the seat back or whip his head around anytime Micah made a noise or even touched his seat. About 1 hour into the 8 hour flight, he swung around with a grimace, spitting out: "Do you mind?! I can't sleep!" I was already in quite the mood, and (although normally quite conciliatory), I spat back: "At least you GET to sleep." I then reminded Micah throughout the rest of the flight not to touch the seat, using words Micah likes and gets these days: "the man will get mad" "mean man." Okay, I didn't say it very loudly, but I did say it.
And when an irate male flight attendant (who almost certainly is not married and doesn't have children) on the flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix came to my seat demanding with thinly-veiled disdain, "is there anything we can do to 'help' him stop screaming (like shoot him with a tranquilizer dart)," I couldn't control myself and retorted: "Sir, we've been traveling for over 20 hours today, due to US Airways delay and cancellation of our flights. My child is beside himself and wants to get off the plane. I don't think you can accommodate that request." He grunted and stomped away. At the end of the flight (Micah did fall asleep after his fit and slept for the last 3 hours of that 4 1/2 hour flight leg), I apologized to that flight attendant as I exited the plane, and he didn't respond. Not a word.
It's home sweet home now, thank goodness. We got home at about 11 p.m. on Thursday night, and I slept from midnight until 6 a.m. I forced myself to stay up yesterday until 10 p.m. despite exhaustion, hoping that would cure the jet lag. But I woke up at 1:42 a.m. and have not been able to go back to sleep. I stayed in bed with my eyes forced shut until 2:40 a.m. and then gave up and came downstairs to at least be productive. I'll pay for it later today no doubt.
On Monday we head a couple of hours north to a family reunion. It should be fun to see family members again!
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