taking a trip...

... again on the Buddy Pass plan courtesy of my friend the Delta Airlines retiree who can get me a really good price on tickets. Just have to be willing to go to the airport with your toothbrush in hand, and get in line, hoping there will be an empty seat left when all the people who paid full price are buckled in. I had planned to go to VA next Monday, but after receiving a call on Tuesday evening, I decided: "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead."

(Previous quote attributed to Admiral David Farragut of the US Navy, reportedly spoken at the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. The torpedo reference is to floating mines/explosives in the water, designed to prevent ships from the northern forces from entering the Bay. This version of the quote is incomplete, according to Wikipedia, but provides the gist of the command issued by Farragut.)

If you are so determined to live a life filled with taking chances (traveling stand-by), you can also enjoy the benefit of 'people watching' at the greatest place in the world to see sights heretofore unseen. Making me want to ask many travelers: 'Does your mama know you left home looking like that?' Hours later, I am still astounded by that young woman in skimpy midriff-baring top and short-shorts prancing down the concourse, wiggling and jiggling her way to the boarding gate.

There is also the option of attempting to get the next flight out as 'standby' passenger indefinitely. If it was filled, I would have been directed to the next Delta flight headed to my chosen destination, and could have spent the day, or week waiting for space available. Trekking from one concourse/gate to another until met with success: an empty seat! My friend who made the travel arrangements reported that the ticket was valid for a year, allowing the owner to travel any time within the next twelve months should situations occur necessitating postponement. Assuming you could make your own movie like the Tom Hanks production from some years ago when he was stranded in an air terminal for weeks due to political unrest. This 'good-for-a-year' option also allows for the opportunity of arriving at your destination, and lingering 364 days before using the second half of the ticket for passage home.

I got on the flight I had hoped for, so out on the early morning flight, leaving ATL a bit before 8 a.m. arriving in RIC shortly after 9. Met with a pre-arranged ride, a Lyft guy who drives for hire in a nice big comfy SUV. Much more satisfactory than the last time I landed there and got in that taxi with a man who was not  fluent in English. This guy was, thankfully, a native. Not sure where he was raised, but he reported having relatives who live in GA, and a mom who lives in NYC. We commiserated about having people we love who reside in places with lunging, snarling, chaotic traffic problems, and agreed to enjoy living life in the relative peace and harmony of little burgs with minimal congestion.