Yesterday, I had to go to Dallas for some reasons related to my job at “the bank”. I’ll go into more detail on that another time, because it is an incredible story of God’s providence, but it will require some actual thought and I’m still trying to process all of it. Plus, I need to tell it in a way that won’t jeopardize my “banking” future, should anyone from the bank happen to stumble upon Big Mama.
I am nothing if not completely and totally paranoid.
Also, it just took me twenty minutes to figure out how to properly spell “jeopardize”, so obviously I’m working at full capacity.
Anyway, I booked my flight for Dallas a few days ago and had been told by my manager that the best airport to fly in to was D/FW. Since I know as much about Dallas geography as say, nuclear physics, I booked my flights according to her directions or so I thought.
I drove to the airport yesterday morning, got on my flight and everything went really well in spite of the fact that I was flying in one of those little death tube airplanes. Y’all know what I’m talking about; those planes that look like a good windstorm could blow them down, so you just take comfort in the fact that at least you probably won’t be a terrorist target because really, what kind of statement would it make to kill eight people who didn’t even get honey roasted peanuts or beverage service?
The tube ‘o death arrived safely at the airport and I got off the plane. Because I am so perceptive or maybe because of the enormous sign that said “Welcome to Love Field”, I realized immediately that I was not, in fact, at the D/FW Airport. And since I didn’t know anything about where I was going, this caused me to have a mild anxiety attack.
Or perhaps a full blown one.
I walked outside, found a cab, and showed the cabbie my sad, little post it note with the address of the “bank” home office and basically said, “Do you know where this is?”, which in cab language means “Will I have enough money left after this cab ride to buy a diet coke?”
He assured me that he knew where we were going and it wasn’t a big deal that I had flown into Love Field instead of D/FW. At least, I think that’s what he said because honestly, I couldn’t understand a word he said. To say that English was not his first language is an understatement along the lines of me saying I kind of like chocolate.
Nevertheless, he didn’t let the language barrier stop our conversation and he proceeded to talk throughout the entire trip. I have never been in such a huge need for subtitles in my life, but I just smiled, nodded and agreed with everything he said which could have been, “I’m going to drive you to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead. Is that okay?”
Smiling, nodding. Yes, sure, that would be great.
“I’m going to charge you $150 for this cab ride and drive you all over Dallas.”
Smiling, nodding. Oh really? That’s nice.
It all worked out and I arrived at my destination, had my meeting, and then found myself in yet another cab, this time headed to the D/FW airport. Apparently, the agency that booked my ticket found nothing wrong with flying me in to one airport and having me leave from the other.
In fact, I feel fairly certain that they did it because they were bored and liked the idea of making my brain short circuit.
“Hey Martha, watch this, I’m going to have this poor girl fly in to Love Field and leave out of D/FW.”
“Can we do that? Isn’t that kind of mean? Couldn’t that cause her some stress?”
“Well, yes. That’s the whole point.”
Anyway, I ended up having a change of plans on the way to the airport because I stopped off to meet Sarah from In the Midst of It and her kids, Caiden, Grayson and Addison at a coffee shop. We had exchanged emails the day before and decided that we would try to meet if time allowed.
Time, indeed, allowed. And I am so thankful.
If y’all are thinking you’re jealous that I got to meet Sarah, then let me tell you that you should be. She is cute, funny and sweet and I loved her instantly. I even got to hold Addison and let me tell y’all that she is a little bundle of pink heaven.
And I don’t mean to brag, but by the end of our two hour visit, both Grayson and Addison felt comfortable enough around me to have blowouts in their diapers…or maybe they just couldn’t hold it any longer. But still, it was a special moment and I like to think it was their way of saying they really liked me.
So after we talked and talked, Sarah sealed her place in my heart forever by sparing me yet another harrowing cab ride and driving me to D/FW to catch my flight. Let me tell y’all that the visit made a day that I had been dreading, totally worth it.
And if y’all could see the plane I flew home on, that is saying something.