Flying in America.

It is always ‘for Operational Reasons’ that has me bounding down endless corridors to get to a revised Gate in time. You book a flight, they cancel it – you run. I had 8 minutes today at Washington Dulles to get from check-in to Gate B73 – and that included passport, security, train ride and the 100 metre sprint… I guess Operational Reasons means they didn’t sell enough tickets. If I missed it, I had three hours to wait and I’d miss the start of tonight’s screening. Luckily I made it on board and it was fine though a shame I had to go via Dallas to get to Kansas. Makes for a long trip. But this country is huge and I do wonder if it really is worth having these screenings and doing these Q&As when I’ll only ever scratch the surface here. On the other hand, every day I get exciting emails with requests and offers so maybe there’s a rhyme to the reason. And the occasional jogs through airline terminals keep me a wee bit fitter…. LATER SAME DAY…OK, so I arrive in Dallas and wander through the very busy airport (lots of soldiers) and get to the gate only to be told the plane is undergoing a technical inspection…the delay is …three hours. Eventually we take off. The flight is note-worthy for being served the worst coffee ever. To cap things off, at Kansas airport, they tell me they have lost my bag! I have to wait (a short while) until the next plane. I finally get to the hotel and the electronics on the doors are bust so I can’t get into any of the rooms…Man-o-Man. One hour after the film has started, I arrive at the cinema. I’m very apologetic but the very nice manager is all smiles: ‘we are 100% full, not a spare seat. We’ve had some many phone calls we’re extending by five days’. Somehow that makes it all worthwhile….