A Travel Hitch

On the way home from Mexico, we missed our connecting flight.  We landed in Dallas (DFW) and went to U.S. Customs at a peak time.  There were at least 2000 people milling around trying to locate their suitcases, and after finding their luggage, they dragged and wheeled luggage around the gigantic room.  We found all our bags.  A female employee was directing people, ‘the line ends at baggage carousel 4.’  We got in line; it snaked and looped around the outer wall of the baggage claim area.  We walked and waited—it seemed like forever.   In reality, it was 45 minutes. 

Feeling stressed about catching our flight but hanging onto our good attitudes, we made our way to U.S. Customs.  We were greeted by a very nice U.S. Customs employee who welcomed us ‘home.’  I must say it felt like home.  We were safe and in the USA.  We understood every word that was spoken. 

After Customs, we dropped our bags at the airline drop site.  We had to ride the airport ski-rail to Gate C and we were running up to our gate at 514pm for our 515 pm flight when an airline employee greeted us by saying, “are you the --- and the Hohlers?  We’ve got you on the next plane to St Louis.  You leave at 0655.”  I said, ‘you’re kidding, right?’  Not kidding. 

It was distressing at the time.  How disappointing.  We felt the stress. We called our travel agent; she verified that we had seats on the next flight and was there anything they could do for us?  No, we were ok.
RJ reminded us, ‘you know what?  We’re safe, we’re in the USA and we can eat supper before that flight.”  We all agreed.  We notified our loved ones and relaxed for a tasty supper.  We were a couple hours later than our plan, but we got home safely. 

  We say travel days can be tiring and stressful.  If you choose to travel, take along three tools: good manners and courtesy for people you encounter, a positive attitude, and a book, kindle, or game to pass time during the waits.