My Nashville Airport Story

I was supposed to fly to Oregon yesterday. Right now, I should be sleeping in my bed in Salem snugly tucked in, getting well rested before teaching this week. Instead, I am sitting in the Nashville airport having slept less than 3 hours. . .

We should have made it to the airport on time yesterday - we left three hours early - at 3pm, allowing an hour to an hour 1/2 to drive, allowing me plenty of time to check in for my flight, which was scheduled to leave at 6pm. Instead, we crawled along a two-mile-stretch of highway for 4 hours, because (from what I understand so far) a semi-truck overturned on the highway and spilled ethanol. Four hours along a strip of road with no snacks or drinks for two little mouths. (Note to self: always fill diaper bag with 2 full meals, a change of clothes each, and various toys in case major environmental disaster occurs.)

At one point, Maya became so fussy I unstrapped her, and walked along the edge to pick flowers and look at the fall colors - this proved to be a very effective (although fleeting) distraction. Shortly after, Jasmine began earnestly screeching, “Potty! Potty!” Although she had a pullup on, she refused to utilize the convenience, so I opened both passenger side doors and held her legs in a sitting-potty position (no, that’s not a yoga move) while she peed in the road. Fun times . . .

It was very unfortunate, not only for ourselves, but also for the young man behind us. Because it was time to return our rental car, and we do not have a vehicle of our own yet, we roped one of the DTS students into following us so he could Ethan and the girls home after dropping me off. Poor guy . . . at least he got a chance to catch up on a lot of reading as he crawled behind us.

When I walked into the airport, I was greeted by rows of empty kiosks. Hmmm . . . my next move? I asked a passing security officer where I could get help. I was redirected downstairs, where I was given a phone number to contact Reservations . . . Long story short, I had to pay $267 more for a one way ticket to get to Portland - this seems ridiculous, especially since our original round trip fare was $275. Arg.

After this disheartening conversation, I freshened up and found a place to sit and relax while I ate a late dinner - chef salad, anyone? It was a filling meal, but I was later disappointed to discover the place I bought my dinner from was under investigation for credit card fraud. Over 30 airport employees had reported their accounts being tampered with - some accounts were completely cleared, one found a charge of over $500 at a Toys-R-Us in Connecticut. Not to mention all the poor passengers who happened to buy refreshments on the way through. Now I suppose this category includes myself. (We called our credit card company to alert them about the situation, so it is now on alert.) No worries . . . .

I did have a highlight, though. I found a piano positioned right outside the welcome gate. After getting permission from the guard on duty, I serenaded passengers as they arrived. Some sweet man actually gave me a dollar for playing, while two teenage guys stood awkwardly to the side and waited for him. I continued to play long after everyone had cleared and they had closed the entry area. Afterwards, I tried to sleep, but found myself a bit too uncomfortable and cold to have a good rest, so I eventually meandered over to the piano to play some more.

I could go on, because - believe it or not - even more cool things happened on my flight to Salem. But I think I've given enough of a snapshot for you to get the picture. I'll share more later!