I've had my first taste of the horrors accompanying a canceled flight a week ago. I went home to Mati for my Nic's 8th birthday (which was a blast even if I had quite a scare when more children came than expected. I had visions of them wailing, kicking, and screaming because they didn't have balloons and loot bags. Fortunately for me, I had just the exact number.) and I was scheduled to go back to work by Sept 13 at 7pm. What was supposed to be an uneventful flight turned out to be a series of looong waits and then finally, my first cancellation. I was halfway through Ribblestrop when I started waiting for my flight and by the time I was done, they still haven't confirmed that it would be canceled . When they finally did, my head's pounding because of too much reading and my stomach's rumbling because the last food intake was during lunch. To top everything off, my new LG FM phone went dead on me because I forgot to recharge the blasted thing, just when I needed it most.
The immediate concerns were who'll work on my behalf and where I will stay for the night. Despite the short notice, GI Joe agreed to work for me so the only problem left was a place to stay while I wait for the new schedule. Cebu Pac offered no free lodging for their stranded passengers because as what I heard from another passenger "it wasn't their fault." Mati is 3 hours north of Davao so going home is not an option. I briefly considered doing a "Tom Hanks" in the movie The Terminal. I ended up being the Luy family's "house pest" for the night. As is expected, they were very welcoming; Xtie's dad offered me everything he could find in the fridge ("Jon naay durian sa ref", "Jon naay ice cream sa ref", "Jon naay biskwit sa ref", "Jon naay hotdog sa ref", "Jon pag-inom ug Milo"), and her mom entertained me with amusing tales of her stint as a realtor. The entire family made me feel as if my stay was planned and I cannot be thankful enough. I've resolved to treat them for dinner the next time they're in Cebu.
Flights were canceled due to NAIA blackout. Dada, my manager, said "it makes you feel ashamed you were born in the Philippines". Strong words but I didn't argue because, really, airports should have power all the time. I was at NB yesterday and I came across Ted Lerner's Hey,Joe. I read briefly the part where his mom visited the country for the first time. He wrote that in the Philippines the unexpected happens. (To quote Ribblestrop: Anything could happen and anything does.) But it's part of the charm, he said, and I quite agree with him.
Image courtesy of http://www.allposters.com/.
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