An Auspicious Beginning to the New School Year
By SEK is departing from an undisclosed location in the Pacific Northwest. He saunters up to the Alaska Airlines counter.
SEK: Hi! I’m four-and-a-half hours early for my flight to Orange County.
TICKET AGENT: Can I see your ID? (SEK hands it to her.) Here you go sir, enjoy your time in Seattle.
SEK: Seattle?
TICKET AGENT: You better hurry up, sir. Your flight’s already started boarding.
SEK: But I’m not going to Seattle. (Checks his boarding pass.) Why am I going to Seattle?
TICKET AGENT: Your flight was overbooked, sir.
SEK: So you’re sending me to Seattle?
TICKET AGENT: Yes sir.
SEK: You realize that’s in the opposite direction of Orange County, don’t you?
TICKET AGENT: I’m sorry, sir, but you need to hurry or you’ll miss your flight.
SEK stands there, dazed, in front of the Alaska Airlines counter. Right there, completely flabbergasted, in front of the Alaska Airlines counter.
SEK: Will I be able to find a flight to Orange County from Seattle?
TICKET AGENT: It will cost $100 to transfer the ticket, but you can take care of that when you get there.
SEK: You can’t just send someone somewhere and then charge them a transfer fee. What kind of airline is Alaska Airlines anyway?
TICKET AGENT: Sir, if you miss your flight, you’ll need to transfer two tickets.
SEK considers his options. The flight to Orange County from his undisclosed location is overbooked four-and-a-half hours before check-in. Seattle has a more robust airport … so he rushes to and through security and boards a tin-can-of-death to Seattle, where he currently sits typing this on free Google wifi. Will he make it home? Only time will tell.