Homeward Bound
Written by: Tony Harris, January 26, 2016
So the plan is LHR-IAD-ROC 24th of January on United. I have a good friend Rose Bompardre who is a flight attendant for UA. Her comment was “Yep that’s not happening.” Another good friend and mentor of mine, John Stratakos, keeps sending me helpful tidbits of news to the effect that DC is going to be paralyzed until at least Monday. It is presently Saturday 23rd and I am listening to some music – courtesy of United Mileage Plus club. I have been on hold for 17 minutes and so far the music has been interrupted about 5 times to tell me that my wait time will be greater than 30 minutes.
24 inches of snow are forecast to be dumped on Washington DC between Friday afternoon and Saturday. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.
In Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, he writes:
“But helpless pieces in the game He plays
Upon this chequer-board of Nights and Days
He hither and thither moves, and checks … and slays
Then one by one, back in the Closet lays”
There is a sense of predetermination that in some aspects is almost comforting, as I rest my hopes, well being and fate in the hands of others. There is little one can do even: “If” as Kipling would say: you can force your heart and nerve and sinew, to serve your turn long after they are gone. We are basically at the behest of others.
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Four flight cancelations later, I finally arrived in Rochester at 23.30 on Monday 25th. Not bad considering the turmoil that the airline industry had been thrown into.
Makes you see how fragile our technologies are when set about by the Chione, the god of snow. Not one to irk the gods – but I hate snow…