I departed from Atlanta with no major
issues but Los Angles was another story. After landing we were stuck
on the tarmac for 20 minutes because all gates were full. This did
not help my tight transfer window of an hour and 40 minutes. On top
of that I was no longer flying with Delta. My flight was now with Air
Tahiti so I had to leave the terminal, get my ticket, and go back
though security.
As I exited the plane the gate agent
told me all I had to do to get to my next flight was leave the
building and go left. Alright... Sounds vague but maybe it will be
clear once I am actually there. I made my way out of the terminal and
as I turned left there was an escalator with a sign that said
'departures'. Maybe it was as simple as that. Nope. No one apparently
knows much about Air Tahiti. Delta representatives sent to almost
every terminal looking for my flight. If you know LAX this is a lot
of panic walking.
To top it off they were doing
construction on the sidewalk so I had to keep cutting into the
parking garage and fight my way out to the street. After my fourth
terminal I finally found someone who knew what the hell was going on
and sent me in the right direction. My flight was to leave in 55
minutes so I had zero time. I started running and decided to ignore
the closed walkway signs and I darted through the construction zone.
One worker tried to stop me but he didn't do so well.
It was at this time I learned that if I
run with my backpack all of the zippers get loose and my shit starts
to fall out. Yippee. Almost all of my electronics were scattered
across the construction site. I manged to find my phone, camera, and
charger but the rest is lost to LAX. I had to get to the gate.
I finally got to the counter and they
simply said you are late. I told them I was a good runner and they
phoned the pilot to see if there was a chance I would make the
flight. He said if I hurried he would wait. So they printed my ticket
and then escorted me to the front of the security line. Fun Fact: if
you are really sweaty it sets off the full body scanners and it looks
like you have a bomb strapped to your chest. After the guy frisked me
and said 'Eeew' I was off running again. I managed to catch the door
before it closed and made the flight.
I think the guy next to me thought I
was a meth addict because I was shaking and really really sweaty.
Dehydration does not even start to explain how I was feeling. I
suffered the entire flight to Tahiti. The airline thought it would
be a cool idea to have drink cups half the size of most other
carriers so I was never able to accurately hydrate. On top of that we
had turbulence the whole flight so every time I did manage to fall
asleep I either dreamt about being in a plan crash or was simply woke
up by the shaking. If you know how much I like flying this is just
icing on the cake.
If it wasn't blatantly obvious I don’t really have any photos to go
with this horrible affair other than this gem from ATL
Its probably for the best, the internet here (when I can get it) is not very usable for things of this nature. They did have a decent welcoming crew
for me in Tahiti at least.
Now I just need to hydrate.
