'I'm sorry, my heart belongs to eight actors who don't know I exist.' by Kara
Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 12:09 PM

What a weekend.

So Anime Mid-Atlantic was great, as always. Had a full house for karaoke, got to see a lot of old friends, and generally had a good time.

Saturday night at the masquerade, I got some pings from my friend Ginger. She was in D.C. visiting a friend for graduation, and she was having some trouble with her airline. Seems her flight was delayed, then cancelled, then she was jerked around and told she would be comped for a hotel, then she wasn't, then she got in at a hotel that didn't have a shuttle from the airport ... long story short, Saturday night I'm holed up in my room during a tornado warning talking to her who's holed up in a hotel wondering if she can get home even remotely close to when she'd planned to. After she spent three hours on hold with Southwest customer support, I told her that unless I heard otherwise, I was driving to Arlington to pick her up the next morning. (The perks of having a job at a con that's over Friday night at 11:59 PM.) My figuring is, since she can't seem to get a flight home out of that airport even remotely soon because of mix-ups, we'll get her a flight out of Norfolk International near me, and also she won't have to be alone or pay for a hotel.

Long drive home on I-95 in Sunday traffic, dinner with my uncle and aunt, and we got back to my place having obtained her a flight out Monday evening. She's out some money but at least she's getting home.

Monday morning rolls around, and they've cancelled her flight. We get her a flight the next morning on American Airlines and go to the mall to get food and hunt for some Doctor Who merch at Hot Topic (the fact that I can even say that is a topic for another time). Meanwhile, Southwest fails its social media hard, and I decide we're going to the Melting Pot for dinner on my nickel because she's had it bad.

By the end of all this, she's gotten home Tuesday afternoon (as opposed to Saturday night), is out over $600 in unexpected expenses and lost work hours, and Southwest has given her ... not a heck of a lot in return except unsatisfactory vouchers and condescending attitude. If you wanna read the whole ordeal, it here.

So that's how my last few days have been. Fortunately she's home safe. That's the main thing. Though if you'd like to help her defray costs on that ridiculous odyssey, she has an Etsy shop with all sorts of coolness.

Phew.

I need to eat.

If you have been, don't do that.