Terminal (the tom hanks kind) (learning experience)

We've all had moments when we swore we did something when in reality we forgot and don't want to accept blame for it. I've left food too long in the oven, forgot my backpack at the library, and even misplaced my cellphone a handful of times in my life. In each of those instances, I was confident that I had placed something in a certain spot or finished out a task and that I had no reason to second check. Last February, I learned the hard way what happens if you forgot to click the confirm button on the American Airlines website.

My parents and I go spring skiing to Vail, Colorado every year for our big family vacation. We love the mountains and the mild climate. This year was a little different because I would be occupied during spring break so we planned a weekend in late february to go skiing as replacement. I took the necessary precautions with my teachers, and my parents made sure to rent the equipment ahead of time and buy the airline tickets really cheep. This trip was planned to the T: We were to arrive on thursday, ski the afternoon, ski friday and saturday and travel back on monday.

We're all packed up and ready to go, with no stress bothering us. It was actually strange, because every year there is at least one meltdown taking place before we board our plane. Perhaps this would be the combo breaker! As we get to the kiosk to check in, my mom pulls out her email to get the confirmation code for out tickets. She finds it and gives it to our helper. The helper explains that this is the itinerary confirmation code which is separate from the ticket confirmation code. My mom brushes off her protest and continues to rustle through her inbox to find the proper credentials. One minute passes and this still feels routine. Three minutes pass and my dad makes a confused face. 5 minutes pass and the helper asks us to go to customer assistance.

In the interest of saving time I'll summarize our little predicament. My mom reserved the tickets but never actually purchased them. That means that as of now we have a condo in vail with pre fitted equipment but no means of getting there. My father has to purchase new tickets last minute for Southwest and we accept the delay. We were originally going to arrive in Denver at 9 and now it'll be more like 3. No big deal.

There is a layover in New Mexico that is scheduled to be about 30 minutes. Due to a malfunction in the plane the delay is for 6 hours. This means we won't arrive in Denver until 9 which means that we won't be in our condo until midnight.

I tried to kill time like any 21st century kid would, using my iPhone and laptop. About half  a season of True Detective later, both of my devices are dead. The seats are hard and uncomfortable so I gather a couple of winter jackets (from my parents) and lay out a pallet to sleep. This seemed like a great idea until a man trips on my and nearly kicks me in the face.

This reminded me of the Tom Hanks movie, Terminal. In it a Russian immigrant has no citizenship in America and can't return back to his home country due to a civil war. Tom Hanks is stuck within the NYC airport and is forced to live there for an extended period of time, a couple of months. I obviously and being over dramatic with my 6 hours but the general idea is still there. I was stuck in an airport with nothing to do and no where comfortable to be.

Eventually we persevered and enjoyed the rest of the vacation. But I definitely learned a valuable lesson from this whole ordeal. Always check and recheck to make sure you acted out on your task. There is no one to blame but yourself when you suddenly discover your ignorant mistake. Since the incident I am always sure to make sure I confirm the purchase!