The Day I Became THAT Person

I consider myself a seasoned traveller.

I have been on numerous plane trips, often with a baby, toddler or youngish child along.

I've been to Metro, LAX, Logan International, SFO, Orlando and Will Rogers Airports.  I've ridden the tram to get to my gate, and taken the shuttle to get to the car rental location.

I know to take my luggage to the gate because I will likely be invited to leave my bag at the boarding door and pick it up there when I deplane, thus avoiding the baggage pickup line.

I always get there EARLY so I have time to find the restroom meaning I will not have to get up when the plane is in the air, or find a quick snack so I don't die of starvation on my 1.5 hour flight.

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to attend a friend's annual Christmas Open House. The only catch was she lives in Sparta, IL.  Having been to her house once before (21 years ago for an online-moms'-group-finally-meet-each-other party), I knew that the best way to go was to fly to St. Louis, MO and drive to her house.

I planned my whole get-away weekend: flight, rental car, hotel, me-time book and journal, and directions to Rhonda's house.

And, I got to the airport (nicely decked out for Christmas)  EARLY.

So early in fact when I got to my gate there was another plane, going somewhere else, boarding before my flight.  No big deal.  I sat down and waited for the airport employee to change to the sign to my flight number after everyone else boarded and the plane took off.

While I waited, I watched all the passengers jump up to get in line when their zone was announced.

Once everyone who had been waiting was on the plane and a few minutes had passed, someone came strolling up to the gate, showed their boarding pass and walked on with no wait and no crowd.

Wow! I thought. They are brave!!  How can you just show up right before the plane takes off and board with no fuss and looking as calm as can be?  No running, no apology for showing up at the last second.  Just calm and composed and barely on time.

Then two more people showed up right before the door closed and they got on, again with no wait and no line.  Whew.  Never. I'm not that brave.

The plane took off and the sign changed to announce the next flight.  It departed at NOON and was not going to St. Louis.  Hmmmm.

I must have remembered the gate number incorrectly.  It was not on my boarding pass and I had had to find it on the monitor when I got to the airport.

I quickly checked on my phone (thanking God for technology) and realized that my actual gate was A-59 not A-56.

I knew I still had a few minutes so I strolled over to gate A-59 and lo and behold everyone else was already on the plane and the door was going to shut in 5 minutes.

Up I walked (no running, no panic).  There was no line so I flashed my boarding pass and walked up the ramp to the plane all by myself.  I thought to myself, after I found my seat and realized they had shut the door behind me, that I had just become THAT person.

Though it worked out just fine and I didn't miss my flight, I don't plan on going that route again!  I will still get to the airport early and still sit around for 45 minutes waiting for the boarding doors to open and I will again stand in line and check my bag at the door.  Once on the quick and easy was enough for me.