So I think we're doing stories or things interesting that people wouldn't normally guess about us this week. I'm so boring so prepare for it. I'm also not being original because I stole this story from my brother, but I'm telling it in my perspective.
Something about me is probably how much I hate taking leader positions or anything regarding responsibility if I can avoid it. I'm much better with responsibility now, but I didn't used to be. One of the first times I really had to deal with it was when I was going to Alabama for space camp and had to take my brother with me too. I was only thirteen years old and he was just ten, our parents couldn't come with us so we were unaccompanied minors flying with Delta Airlines.
Our parents left us at our gate in Boston and from there we sat on the plane to Atlanta, Georgia. I was really scared being thirteen and on my own traveling halfway across the country not to mention needing to take care of my little brother who has a really negative and painful reaction to altitude changes.
We arrived at Atlanta only to find out that we missed our next flight. We ended up sitting in this small room designated for unaccompanied minors waiting to find out what would happen next. We were given food tickets since we were in the care of Delta Airlines but we were never allowed to get any food at all. My brother and I had to go the entire day with nothing. We may have been babysat the entire time but Delta was so irresponsible in taking care of us and other kids that I felt like the only adult around for my brother.
Because we missed out first flight we were assigned to a second, we sat at the second gate for around five hours until it was canceled due to thunderstorms. For a second time we found ourselves sitting in the little room for children. Some hours later we were rushed off in a little bus to another plane headed from Atlanta to Huntsville, Alabama. That turn of events was a major relief, I kept worrying what would happen to us if we couldn't get a flight and what our parents would say or do.
The flight from Atlanta to Huntsville must have taken about half an hour, despite that it was almost midnight. A man met us somewhere near the gate and I recognized the uniform he had on to be that of the camp's and I wondered how long he had been waiting for us. We managed to survive the hectic flights with Delta and were driven to the camp. The man got us some sandwiches and sodas, the first bit of food we'd seen all day, there wasn't a crumb left by the time we'd finished them. We had made it to camp and were still alive, that's pretty much all that had mattered.
So I knew the whole time we were under someone else's watch, but none of those people were all that good at watching over kids so we were alone most of the time. I don't know how my brother felt on that trip but I was constantly worried about him. We were on our own and very far away from home for the first time. I felt like I had to protect him and make sure he was okay no matter what happened.
I also learned that, one day if I ever have kids, they will never fly without me on Delta. Those people have no idea how to take care of minors.
That's the story about me and having to deal with needing to have at least one drop of responsibility for the first time. It seems like no big deal to me now, but back then it was a lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment