R3

Provisions.

I got up extra early and checked in online this morning at 6:00 to print my boarding pass for my flight to Chicago tonight. I was assigned to the "A" boarding group, which meant I would be one of the first 45 or so passengers to board the plane. Boarding groups are assigned on a first come, first serve basis and getting an "A" is extremely important. This means there will definitely be room for your carryon to fit in the overhead bins, you can definitely get a window seat and you get to watch the majority of the passengers enter the plane and make eye contact only with the ones you somehow decide you would rather have sit down beside you than others. All of these things are extremely important, especially when flights get full. So I printed out my "A" boarding pass, feeling pretty lucky, and then I checked the weather. The midwest was currently getting slammed by a nasty winter storm. Fantastic.
My flight was supposed to leave Raleigh at 8:10pm. When I checked flight status at 4:00pm, it was delayed until 12:45am. Wonderful. I was in for a long night. So Josh went out and bought me a new toy to pass the time. I got to the airport at around 9:00pm, just in time for all of the restuarants and gift shops to close. I was hungry and thirsty and they don't let you bring drinks through security these days. I walked the entire aiport looking for something to drink. I was unsuccessful. I asked the southwest ticket counter lady for help.

Me: Excuse me, do you know of any place that I can get a drink? They took my water at security and now everything is closed.

Southwest Ticket Counter Lady(STCL): Oh dear, well, everything is closed now. They will be serving drinks on your flight, what flight are you on?

Me: 2160 to Chicago.

STCL: Oh my, that plane is extremely delayed. It isn't leaving here until about 1 in the morning. In fact, it hasn't even left Hartford yet. Then it goes to Philly, then here.

Me: They took my water.

STCL: I'm sorry. I can go check the provisionals room and see if they have some water or applejuice or something when I get a break here.

Me: Thank you, I would really appreciate it.

At about midnight the STCL brought be this warm can of water. My new DVD player and a can of water were my keys to survival tonight. My plane finally landed in Chicago at 4:00am (Eastern time) after stopping in Nashville and picking up 9 people. Total passengers on both flights, maybe 30. Good thing I got up early this morning to print out an "A" boarding pass. There was hardly any room for my suitcase and people were sleepfighting for window seats.