I don't even know where to begin i have a cluster fuck of emotions that needs to be expressed in some form preferrably, kicking and and screaming at anything that moves.
Life has a funny way of kicking you in the ass at times, especially when you have been extremely caring and patient with others. You don't have to agree with me on this, it's been my experience.
I wasn't too ecstatic about coming home for the holidays, usually I am. Love my family to death, guess I have been torn about a particular Love interest of mine. Needless to say because of her and other events, I'm beginning to loose my faith in good will. Allow me to explain, I've fucked up many times in my life I'm 25 years old, I'm sure there will be more, difference now is I'm much wiser in the choices I make, and much more patient with people. Things seem to be going in the right direction and then out of no where a ton of bricks land on my chest, 1,000 lbs of insecurity and what I'm now beginning to believe is deception, which is projected on to me from a past of ups and downs.
In addition let me explain my last few days. I spent the past couple days in an airport (United Terminal LAX). A flaw in their computers screwed up my flight which was supposed to leave thursday morning, a completely paid off ticket, was registered as reserved but not paid for.....How that is possible? I don't know. My guess is that the prick servicing my situation was too lazy to deal with me prior to his shift break or whatever the hell he had to do. Im told to call Expedia.com to clear the matter, Expedia tells me to call United because the transaction went through and the tickets should be cleared. At this point, im still very kind and patient and I'm asked to step to the back of the baggage check in line (which is about as long as the amount of unemployed workers in the U.S. right now). Great I'm thinking, I have to do this whole process over again, and I'm going to miss my flight. I cause no confrontation or no trouble to anyone as I'm being treated like a used up ragedy ann doll that a child has outgrown and has no interest in.
After an hour of waiting in the line, I get back to the service counter again for check in. This time, a woman is helping me and she pulls up my information with no issue at all, unfortunately she tells me that I miss the flight, and that I have to be moved to another flight in the afternoon. Now that wouldn't of been so bad had I saw the next part coming. She grabs my check in bag, charges me $15 bucks hands me my boarding pass, I thank her. I look down it's a standby ticket. Great I had a reserved ticket, an asshole tells me its not in the computer, as a result I miss my flight. I wait in a line again, for a standby ticket in the middle of Holiday travel season.
Whatever, I walk over to security check. I get through. "Excuse Me Sir, Step Aside".......I have been selected for a special security screening. In other words you have been through enough shit today lets go ahead and give you more shit. This is sort of humiliating as I am the only guy in socks, with jeans falling off my ass cause I had to take my belt off, and standing off to the side awaiting my frisk search and carrying search. I appreciate the tighten security in the airports it makes me feel safer, I just don't understand the logic behind "special security screening".......The irony of it, is they almost always pick minorites that look middle eastern. An arabic family with kids, joins me in the containment area for special screening lottery winners. I feel sorry for them, they are pleading that they have missed a flight and are scrambling to make the next, Their kids are crying, and the husband has the obvious look on his face "This is because we are Middle Eastern" and his wife trying to maintain order with her belongings and her crying children. I sit in amazement, as more people enter the screening area. I have now been waiting 15 mins and still have not even begun my screening, The Arabic family misses their flight, AGAIN, and I am now rapidly missing out on the boarding of the next flight out. Theres way more observance of this situation but I'll spare.
I get through security finally, get to the gate, check the standby list, Im number 14 with 16 seats available and 10 mins before departure. Nice, I'm going to at least get out of here finally. 3 mins prior as they are calling out standby's I check the list again, anxious for a seat. I have moved from 14 to 44 on the standby list in less than 5 mins, I feel like im in the Truman show, with an audience laughing hysterically at my life.
Patience and kindness still in tact, I walk over to the lady working the desk, and ask her very nicely, could she help me find the next gate leaving to my destination, and how exactly there standby list works. She looks at me with a disgusting look, and rudely explains everything to me. My apologies that your 40 and you work in a fucking airport, If it annoy's you, you shouldn't work in a fucking CUSTOMER SERVICE position. Nothing annoy's me more than people not doing there job, and expecting everyone to just know everything that they know.
I have now been at the airport from 8:00am to 5pm, still trying to hop flights as a standby when I should have a regular ticket that was paid for. Between all this I have been in constant communication with my mom since she was picking me up. She calls me and tells me, I talked to united, they have booked you for a 9am flight tomorrow with a REAL ticket. So maybe just check into a hotel or get someone to pick you up and deal with it tomorrow. GREAT, all this for nothing. After deciding I didn't want to spend the money on a Hotel nearby. I call up a few people to see if someone could pick me up, no one wants to or is working, I forgive the latter.
I call my love interest, who is working and also has issues as to if she loves me or not. She says she will pick me up as soon as she gets off at 6. I repeatedly say, if it's going to be an issue then please don't worry about it, I will find another way, She insists. Cool, now I just have to hangout till she gets here and I'll be able to relax from all this chaos, get some food, rest and try it again in the morning. Patience and Kindness still in tact.
It's now 7:45ish, I don't notice cause my face is burried in a book that has been keeping me pretty occupied and Im sitting with my carry on bags and my back against a wall in baggage claim, where I had been sitting since 5pm. My phone rings, it's her, she is irritated and tired, inching her way towards LAX in stop and go traffic. I thank her, and restate that she does not have to do this, but I am thankful. Patience and kindness still in tact.
Its 8:30ish she arrives and calls me on my cell, "Hi its me, Your at terminal 7 right?" - "Yes, thank you so much." Then she carries on,"Are you in the inner or outter ring." - "What do you mean?" -"The inner or outter driving area"
Seeing as though Im inside the airport, and assuming that this is the main point of reference, I tell her that I am in the inner ring. She verifies by saying "so your on the part by the shuttles?" I reply " No, im on the inner part by the doors of the airport." She then rejects "Thats not the inner ring, that is the Outter ring!"
The fact that there is so much confussion just about where to pick me up, leads me to believe, she wants to start a fight. I try to avoid it. Patience and kindness still in tact.
I get in the car, immediately she begins complaining, asks me to drive. She begins complaining, I'm there for her. The next few mins, I'm not sure what happened, but she begins making me wrong for a bunch of things. I proceed to tell her, I am sorry for ruining your night, I mentioned several times you didn't have to. She wants to go tan, she begins telling me where to go. Nothing I'm doing or saying is going well with her, She begins complaining about my driving, one minute im driving too slow, the next minute im driving too fast......let me also add that this is a new car that she has wanted for so long after being stuck driving a granny wagon for the last 2 years.
Everythng at this point according to her, is my fault. PATIENCE is still in tact, kindness fades and emotions go numb as to not feel the painstaking jabs she is taking at me after the long ridiculous day I have had at the airport, which by the way she is well aware of, but does not care.
We get to the tanning place, we begin to have a long drawn out conversation about feelings and etc. She continues making me wrong. I decide it's too much for me to deal with AGAIN even though I still love her, I know this is bad for me. I begin to grab my bags, to walk into the street and find another way home and to the airport in the a.m. - she begins crying and basically calling me a coward for trying to run off. I get back in the car. She calms down. Begins being very sweet to me. She no longer wants to tan, instead she wants food. This pretty much ends my night.
The next morning, she is my ride to the airport, I failed to mention earlier that she has been the sole person that has driven me back and forth from the airport. I would have gone another route if I could have, but most people I know in LA are self absorbed and don't really do much for others. In other words, I don't have very many people I can count on, which explains why if you know me, I'm always talking about how much I love NYC and Texas, people come through all the time and with no debt. I do not take advantage of people and I'm always very generous, especially when I'm available and people need help.
Back to the source. I'm dropped off at the airport on time, no bags to check this time, because they were checked the day before on the standby flight and already in Houston. I go to the self check line, Patience and Kindness return, I actually have a smile on my face - things are going to go well today I'm thinking.
I get to the self check in kiosk and to my surprise, NONE of the kiosks printers are working, and I need my boarding pass to get past security. I'm asked to wait in Baggage check in line. I know that if I go there, I will miss my flight because the line is so long.
There is no one to help me or the other self check in patrons. Patience wears thin, Eeeking Kindness out. I walk over to a United airline employee on foot, along with a couple other lost kiosks patrons. We ask for help, she tells us to wait in the customer service line. There has to be another way, the customer service line is long as well, I am now within 8 mins of the 45 min flight cut off.
I begin pacing, not knowing where to look, frustrated there is no one available at the kiosks to help. I walk up to an employee at baggage, and ask for help. The employee yells at me to get in the back of the line. Whatever happend to the customer is always right, or Service with a smile?
I walk up to a skycap, I'm ignored. How is it that myself and 20 others for self check in are about to be screwed on a flight, just because of the incompetence of this airline.
4 mins left. I stop pacing, I put my face into the palms of my hands, begin crying. I am emotionally overwhelmed from everything in the past 2 days, and I can't believe this is about to happen to me again at the airport. I'm hustling around asking for help, I'm obviously distressed, yet I have airline employees treating me as if Im no-one, I'm running from one to the other, all of them looking at me as if they take pleasure in seeing my pain. I need to let my self be heard. My tears stop, I begin rubbing my head, my breathing becomes furious. PATIENCE IS GONE.
A flash of anger over takes me, and I make a scene at the airport, throwing a sign on the ground that advertising how wonderful their airline service is, I walk over to a nearby elevator, punch and kick the wall, and scream -"THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS, DO ANY OF YOU FLY FUCKS CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU ARE SERVICING, IVE BEEN STUCK AT THIS AIRPORT FOR TWO DAYS!!!" The irony of fly fucks, lol.
As a result, I end up getting service right away, and escorted directly to my flight.
UNITED AIRLINE's SUCK TREMENDOUSLY
I'll fill in more later... gotta run