Long Day's Journey Into Night
‘’I’m so in the mood for Chinese tonight!,’’ exclaimed my dad. There would be no dinner that night at all. My family and I had just concluded a two-week long vacation visiting Miami and Marco Island. It was a typical Tse vacation: chaotic, hectic but still fun. It was the conclusion of a long and eventful vacation; little did we know, it would be the start of a long day’s journey into night.
We pulled into the Fort Myers Airport at about 11 a.m., way too early for my brother and I who could barely open our eyes in the vibrant Florida sunlight. We returned our rental car and proceeded to the airport, which from there we would fly back home to JFK Airport. The struggle of waiting for airport security was like hunger to a third-world country. It was an utter disaster. We finally emerged like fat kids running toward an ice cream truck! However, there was one family member missing. My mom got pulled into the ominous security room and being the good family members that we were, we didn’t even notice. A furious and sunburnt mom stormed into the central waiting area; none of us wanted to deal with her. Little did we know that she would be the least of our problems that day.
We waited about an hour and a half for the plane to arrive. However, it started pouring. I hoped that it would be a regular Florida shower – strong yet short. However, it proceeded for the next hour or so, causing our flight to get delayed. We sat and sat, my brother and my parents napping while I listened to Rick Ross and Childish Gambino. The flight had finally been rescheduled for 4 p.m. I was ecstatic, as I wanted to get home as soon as possible. We had soon noticed that a lot of new people arrived in the sitting area that was designated for our flight. It turns out that there was a later flight to La Guardia that people transferred from. They told us that it was raining hard in New York as well and that there was a big storm spanning the whole east coast. As we finally boarded the plane, I knew that our journey would come to an end. However, it was just the start of the real journey.
As we began to depart Florida and head up into Georgia, we hit turbulence. I have discovered my recent fear in flying, as on the flight to Florida we had a drop that was worse than any roller coaster. As bad as things were already, the TV’s weren’t working and the seats were extremely uncomfortable. As I tried to zone out and take a nap, I couldn’t handle the constant shaking and bumping of the cabin. I blasted Steve Aoki’s ‘’Turbulence’’ throughout the whole ride. Things took a turn for the worse when we hit thunderstorms, which were frequent. Lighting in the clouds was a beautiful sight but just thinking about how bad things could turn if we ran into one of those storms scared the crap out of me. We were finally approaching the airport, however things were so bad there we had to circle around the airport until the storm stopped. At this point it was about 9 o’ clock and the whole plane was tired and cranky. Even my normally patient parents started to act uptight and nervous.
As we waited to make our descent, the announcer said that the plane was running out of fuel and that we would have to go to Baltimore to refuel. I was enraged, as well as the rest of the plane. As we left stormy New York City, I hoped that things would get better after we refueled in Baltimore. On the way to Baltimore, I saw M and T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens and the infamous Camden Yards. As much as this day was awful it was pretty cool to see those landmarks in the midst of a storm. We made our landing in Baltimore, where it took an eternity to refuel. It was about 10 P.M. when we would start for the runway to go home, but we never got the chance. The moment we hit the runway, it started raining cats and dogs. Crash! Flash! Bang! You couldn’t see anything because of the blinding streaks of rain came pouring down. I thought the world was ending; deafening booms of thunder and successive lighting strikes filled the runway. It was one of the scariest scenes I have ever seen. By this time we clearly couldn’t leave the airport, and that they would call into New York to receive further instruction. At about 11:45 P.M. they told us that they needed a ‘’mandatory’’ break and would find a replacement crew. However, the backup crew was somewhere safely snoozing in a nearby hotel. JFK then called in and said that all flights for the night were being canceled. ‘’We’re screwed,’’ I thought to myself. As we pulled back into the hangar we heard a huge ka-plunk. This night was already awful; what else could go wrong? It turns out a lot. The bridge from the terminal to the plane just snapped in half! We waited another half an hour and then finally got into the airport where they announced the options. There would be 3 buses coming at 1:30 A.M or we could take the 6 A.M flight the next morning. Not wanting to deal with planes anymore, we decided to get on the bus. It was like the Hunger Games; everyone was trying to get on the first bus. The bus driver required women and children to go first. We were the last ones to be selected on the first bus and I felt like something was finally going our way. However, there were only 3 seats on the bus, so we had to wait another hour to the second bus. It ended up coming at 3:30 in the morning, and we finally boarded the bus and headed home.
I passed out and woke up freezing and in dire need of a bathroom break at a rest stop in New Jersey. We were almost home! Except for a major accident on the turnpike left only one lane available. We didn’t get back to the airport until 11 in the morning. Exhausted, tired and angry we sulked home. It was a memorable experience, and one I won’t forget for a very long time.
‘’I’m so in the mood for Chinese tonight!,’’ exclaimed my dad. There would be no dinner that night at all. My family and I had just concluded a two-week long vacation visiting Miami and Marco Island. It was a typical Tse vacation: chaotic, hectic but still fun. It was the conclusion of a long and eventful vacation; little did we know, it would be the start of a long day’s journey into night.
We pulled into the Fort Myers Airport at about 11 a.m., way too early for my brother and I who could barely open our eyes in the vibrant Florida sunlight. We returned our rental car and proceeded to the airport, which from there we would fly back home to JFK Airport. The struggle of waiting for airport security was like hunger to a third-world country. It was an utter disaster. We finally emerged like fat kids running toward an ice cream truck! However, there was one family member missing. My mom got pulled into the ominous security room and being the good family members that we were, we didn’t even notice. A furious and sunburnt mom stormed into the central waiting area; none of us wanted to deal with her. Little did we know that she would be the least of our problems that day.
We waited about an hour and a half for the plane to arrive. However, it started pouring. I hoped that it would be a regular Florida shower – strong yet short. However, it proceeded for the next hour or so, causing our flight to get delayed. We sat and sat, my brother and my parents napping while I listened to Rick Ross and Childish Gambino. The flight had finally been rescheduled for 4 p.m. I was ecstatic, as I wanted to get home as soon as possible. We had soon noticed that a lot of new people arrived in the sitting area that was designated for our flight. It turns out that there was a later flight to La Guardia that people transferred from. They told us that it was raining hard in New York as well and that there was a big storm spanning the whole east coast. As we finally boarded the plane, I knew that our journey would come to an end. However, it was just the start of the real journey.
As we began to depart Florida and head up into Georgia, we hit turbulence. I have discovered my recent fear in flying, as on the flight to Florida we had a drop that was worse than any roller coaster. As bad as things were already, the TV’s weren’t working and the seats were extremely uncomfortable. As I tried to zone out and take a nap, I couldn’t handle the constant shaking and bumping of the cabin. I blasted Steve Aoki’s ‘’Turbulence’’ throughout the whole ride. Things took a turn for the worse when we hit thunderstorms, which were frequent. Lighting in the clouds was a beautiful sight but just thinking about how bad things could turn if we ran into one of those storms scared the crap out of me. We were finally approaching the airport, however things were so bad there we had to circle around the airport until the storm stopped. At this point it was about 9 o’ clock and the whole plane was tired and cranky. Even my normally patient parents started to act uptight and nervous.
As we waited to make our descent, the announcer said that the plane was running out of fuel and that we would have to go to Baltimore to refuel. I was enraged, as well as the rest of the plane. As we left stormy New York City, I hoped that things would get better after we refueled in Baltimore. On the way to Baltimore, I saw M and T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens and the infamous Camden Yards. As much as this day was awful it was pretty cool to see those landmarks in the midst of a storm. We made our landing in Baltimore, where it took an eternity to refuel. It was about 10 P.M. when we would start for the runway to go home, but we never got the chance. The moment we hit the runway, it started raining cats and dogs. Crash! Flash! Bang! You couldn’t see anything because of the blinding streaks of rain came pouring down. I thought the world was ending; deafening booms of thunder and successive lighting strikes filled the runway. It was one of the scariest scenes I have ever seen. By this time we clearly couldn’t leave the airport, and that they would call into New York to receive further instruction. At about 11:45 P.M. they told us that they needed a ‘’mandatory’’ break and would find a replacement crew. However, the backup crew was somewhere safely snoozing in a nearby hotel. JFK then called in and said that all flights for the night were being canceled. ‘’We’re screwed,’’ I thought to myself. As we pulled back into the hangar we heard a huge ka-plunk. This night was already awful; what else could go wrong? It turns out a lot. The bridge from the terminal to the plane just snapped in half! We waited another half an hour and then finally got into the airport where they announced the options. There would be 3 buses coming at 1:30 A.M or we could take the 6 A.M flight the next morning. Not wanting to deal with planes anymore, we decided to get on the bus. It was like the Hunger Games; everyone was trying to get on the first bus. The bus driver required women and children to go first. We were the last ones to be selected on the first bus and I felt like something was finally going our way. However, there were only 3 seats on the bus, so we had to wait another hour to the second bus. It ended up coming at 3:30 in the morning, and we finally boarded the bus and headed home.
I passed out and woke up freezing and in dire need of a bathroom break at a rest stop in New Jersey. We were almost home! Except for a major accident on the turnpike left only one lane available. We didn’t get back to the airport until 11 in the morning. Exhausted, tired and angry we sulked home. It was a memorable experience, and one I won’t forget for a very long time.