So my little chickie flew to Wisconsin right before Thanksgiving. I hate her flying alone. It just kills me. They called her name to board early so she gave me a quick hug and then skipped down the aisle with her piggy tails flying and her two dolls hanging out of her book bag - so stinking cute. As soon as she got to the gate agent she gave the lady her the ticket, grabbed her hand, looked back and waved to me - at which point I said "Call as soon as you get there". She shook her head, blew me a kiss and off she went.
I drove home, waited the nerve wracking 2 hours until I expected a call - had a glass of wine, watched some TV and paced my living room. The landing time came and went, the time I figured it took to get everyone else off the plane before they escorted unaccompanied minors off came and went, the estimated time I thought it would take to get her bag came and went and Dave still was not answering his freakin phone. Finally AN HOUR AND A HALF after her plane landed she answered. She said her flight was awesome and they were almost home - as in Eau Claire... I wanted to kill him.
So I asked to speak to her dad and proceeded to scream at him. I was SOOOO mad. It didn't help that he made it seem as if I was over reacting. I mean is it really too much to ask for him to just call and say "Hey I got our kid"?
She stayed a week and flew back on Tuesday. I checked her flight about a half an hour before I planned to leave the office and noticed it was early so I jumped in my car. Of course now I was fighting rush hour and was running late. The airport garages were all full because of the holiday but I didnt have time to park and take a shuttle in. I went into the garage even though it was closed and luckily I found a spot. Then I had to wait in line at the ticket counter for a pass to get to the gate and finally go through security. I got out there just as her plane got there (Thank goodness). First thing I realized was that I left my phone in the car. I screamed at him for not calling me and now I had no way to call him.
She came skipping off the plane and we found a pay phone. I didn't have many quarters but the phone had a visa slot so I inserted my card and she dialed the number. We were laughing because she had never used a pay phone before and didn't even know what to do. He didn't answer so we left a message, got her bag and drove up to my mom's for Thanksgiving.
Yesterday I was looking at my account balance and I notice a charge on there that I didn't recognize in Palo Alto CA. I called the number and they told me it was for a pay phone call - a 30 second pay phone call. It was $27.44. I told the dude it was a 30 second call and all he would say is
"Ma'am, the rates have gone up recently"
"For 30 seconds!!!!"
"Ma'am, the rates have gone up recently"
"Does it say on the pay phone $27.00 for a 30 second call"
"Ma'am, that depends on where you are calling but the rates have gone up recently"
Never leave your phone in the car.
