Flying on Standby

Let’s say you’re planning a trip. It’s not a short trip to the grocery store or anything, it’s an extended trip where the first leg is something you have to pack for. Say 3-4 days of stuff you’ll need. You’ve got about 8 months before you really want to take the trip and lots of stuff to do in the meantime. So you call the airline and book a flight and they ask you what day you’d like to go…and you say Sept 23rd sounds great to me. And they say – well – we can put you on standby, and it might be as early as Sept 9 but it might be as late as Oct 2nd, before we have space available – and no matter what we can definitely get you in on October 2nd although it might be a longer flight. Since it’s so far off and you have no idea what you’re doing, as you’ve never taken a trip like this before – you agree to the terms and conditions. They also say – we will call you when we have room on a plane, and you’re not going to have much time, so go ahead and be packed by Sept 9 so when we call, you can come right over.

Right-O. So you go out and buy an extra toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant, and dig in your closet for your stolen hotel shampoo. And you pack your bag – sans a few items, which you know you’ll need between now and then, but make a list so that you’ll remember to grab them quickly on your way out. You have a few things in there you will need before the trip if you don’t leave by Sept 9 – and they’re not everyday things, so you don’t want to buy new ones, but you guess you can leave it packed and just dig in the bag when you need those things. You have to make some decisions about clothes, because of your current limited wardrobe, you choose things you think you won’t miss, but end up missing anyway. You have to do laundry mid week, because you had to pack underwear and had decided not to buy new ones and you only have so many that fit right now anyway. And everyday you walk into your bedroom and you see your packed bag…sitting there…taunting you.

Meanwhile, your boss wants to know exactly what day you’ll be leaving and keeps asking you at least twice a week – even though you give the same answer about working right up until you board the plane. Your vacation insurance people also would like to know exactly when you’re leaving – despite the fact that they deal with these kinds of trips regularly, and know you don’t have a concrete answer…and quite frankly you would actually like to know the date – for your own peace of mind. As you get closer to your original date of departure people at work start saying “I can’t believe you’re still here!” And you explain that you don’t have enough time off to just take off and sit at home and wait for the plane. People begin calling your house to ask if you’ve left yet – so you quit answering the phone, much to the chagrin of the person who lives with you who then has to field all phone calls. If you call someone the first question they ask is if you’ve left yet. It annoys you partly because you told them they would get a call when you were boarding the plane – or in some cases right after you landed in your destination city, but it also annoys you because it feels little like they’re rubbing it in that you haven’t left yet.

No one would go on a trip planned this way…NO ONE…it’s enough to make a person crazy – and they blame it on hormones – like a sane person could handle this part – much less a Girl Scout who needs an itinerary!