I never knew this could happen to me, and although I had a dream back in Ibadan where I found myself running helter-skelter through an airport lobby trying not to miss my flight, I didn’t see it coming. Right now as I sit here in the lobby at Brown Inn, I look to my right to find the same black jacket that I saw myself holding as I ran in the dream breathlessly through an unidentified airport in pursuit of a closing flight, and I realize that I have been played by nature, again.
I wrote the above paragraph at 9.13am this morning, in Providence, when I discovered a few minutes earlier that contrary to my headstrong assumption, I would indeed be flying of out Boston Logan Airport to St Louis and not the TF Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island. Here is why that was a problem: I was running late, and the Brown University administration provided only one shuttle from the Inn to Boston which was free of charge. It had left at 8 o’clock, one hour earlier, taking with it all the other FLTAs whose flight left at 11.10am like me. The only reason why I was not on that shuttle was that I did not confirm my departure airport and I naively assumed all the while that I would be flying out from the airport at Providence which was just a 20mins drive from Brown University. Now, there was a problem. Boston was about two hours away, I didn’t have any cash to pay to a driver that must now be called to pick me up and take me to the airport as fast as possible. I sat down by my laptop in the lobby and started a blog post that was supposed to explain my dilemma. Truth was, I already had a dream in which I found myself running late for an important flight. Now, it was beginning to seem that today would be the manifestation of that nightmare. I had been up since 6am, and all I could have done was just to look at my ticket and confirm the departure airport. It wouldn’t have taken a minute. I didn’t, and I was about to suffer the consequences.
In a few minutes, while I was still trying to blog about my predicament – after all there was nothing else to do but hope that the taxi cab driver made it on time, or else – he came, and after agreeing on price and means of payment, ushered me into the beautiful black Cadillac, and we headed out to Boston, leaving Providence behind. It was a VIP ride, and we arrived on time, travelling at about 80miles/hour (128km/hour). We arrived at Logan at around 10.30am, and I had enough time to check in. I tried to blog again afterwards, and was punished by the now erratic airline Wifi server when all the page disappeared, leaving only my earlier paragraph from the morning. Thinking back, I realized how hard it could have been if I had discovered this error only after I had arrived at TF Green airport, and presented my flying ticket to the security. By then, it would be too late, and right now, I would still be sitting down in a cab, or an airport lobby waiting for another flight to St. Louis while upsetting the already planned programme of my host at Edwardsville who no doubt would have been waiting for me at the Airport Arrival point with my name on a large card. That is not counting the cash I would have had to pay for missing my flight. I didn’t get off easy on this one anyway. A good cut of my allowance in traveller’s check has now gone to pay for that trip, even though I wouldn’t say that it wasn’t worth it. It was my fault after all.
One good thing – a few of them actually – however happened on my way to Boston. Having all the back seat to myself while my (very friendly and courteous) driver/chauffeur called me “Sir” all the time and attended to my every need, I brought out the Season 5 of my favourite TV show, Boston Legal (which I bought some three days back at the Mall in Providence) and sat back to enjoy the series. In some little but profound way, it felt nice to be watching Boston Legal again. Only this time, it is while sitting comfortably at the back of a Cadillac, and travelling to Boston.
!)
