Debbie and my insane travel adventure starts at 11am in Boston, ends at 6:30am in Lansing the next morning. In between:
Taxi
Train
Gut-busting laughter with two other writer ladies; convince train conductor Mr. Dickerson to find us a New York Times when we tell him how cute he is
Train to Newark
Airtrain to Terminal
Wildly understaffed pub-burgers, salad, and fries hit the spot
Flight delayed for totally unknown reasons-sky is a beautiful, clear blue
Sit at counter and argue/coddle/flatter Delta staff until they get us on a flight to Chicago on American; I learn the ways of the Siegel slip (rules do not apply to this woman); team up with Mary Ellen, our friend from Jersey who is also doomed in trying to get to Lansing
Go back to baggage claim to get bags
Convince grumpy American staff to give us tickets
Go through security again, this time we are marked as possible terrorists and asked to go through a special screening; we set off the special alarm and it says EXPLOSIVES in huge red letters; machine is broken; we are not terrorists
American flight is delayed
Receive call from Orbitz TLC that flight from Cincinnati to Lansing was also delayed so we could have just taken that
Fly with the violent taste of warm chocolate chip cookies wafting back from first class
Get to Chicago, see every other hotel shuttle but ours
Get to hotel, go to bed
Get up at 4:45 am, Debbie and I put on the exact same outfit (black dress, tights, black boots)
Barely make the shuttle, airport is mobbed; commence Siegel slip again
United staff spends twenty minutes trying to find us a staple for our tickets
Go through rigorous security again; this time the woman asks us if we would like a private room to be patted down; we consider it, but decide she’s not our type
Get on tiny plane; passengers are rearranged to balance out the aircraft (that tiny)
Get to Lansing and meet Kevin who drives us the hour to Mt. Pleasant
8 moving vehicles, 2 rigorous pat downs, 5 grumpy airline workers, and almost 24 hours later, we arrive
3 comments:
SO glad you went through all that crap to come to Mount Pleasant! However, I am not sure my boyfriend was so happy about it. I commute a half hour to CMU and all the way home all he heard was about feminism! He is so supportive and willing to learn.
"Now, does this mean that you have to live alone and hate men?" he asked me in all seriousness. I was happy to tell him that feminism wasn't all about hating men, (except for the one that stood up and asked the hairbrained questions in Plachta Auditorium) ;)
ANYWAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH for making me realize that I am not the only feminist in this state, because that is sometimes how I feel. I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate you coming and speaking. You are inspiring and give me food for thought. I had to move closer in the auditorium because I didn't want to miss one word that anyone was saying!
Love ya girls! GOOD LUCK!
-The short haired blonde who had everyone sign her book...
"Ain't I a woman?"
Leslie,
Just to let you know you're not the only feminist on this campus. :) Voices for Planned Parenthood (the group that was tabling outside of the panel) is always looking for more feminists to join us. We'll be tabling in the UC down under next week if you want to stop by and get meeting info.
-Amy
It can't truly work, I believe like this.
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