1 - Happy 80th Birthday, Pop !! - Departure

It wasn't long after my return from my California visit this past February/March  (see all 31 California Dreamin'  blogs by clicking here)  when I got a call from my sister Jeanette (whom from this point on I will now call Jay) and she asked, "Hey Bro (that's me), Dad's birthday is coming up and I am thinking of doing a party.  Do you think there is a chance you could come back so soon?"   To which I replied, "I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

....and so the trouble begins.  Jay has 100's of brilliant ideas.  One is to make a birthday greeting video.  All guests who come and who can't come are asked to send in a 45 second selfie camera phone video clip and send it to Jay who will have it put together into one long b-day greeting.   I wanted to make a special greeting from the top tourist destinations of Copenhagen but decided to do something easy and have Jens join in.  A major Danish birthday tradition is the Danish birthday song. So, I decided to send a little Danish culture to my Pop. Here are the 45 seconds I sent in. 

I dag er det Mike's fødselsdag,

Hurra, Hurra, Hurra!

Han sikkeret sig en gave får 

som han har ønsket sig i år

og dejlig chokolad med kager til.

Today is Mike's birthday,

Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

He will surely get a present

that he has wished for this year

and yummy chocolate with cookies.

I pretty much chopped it up.  No wonder Jens couldn't keep up.

But that's not the troubling part.  It's my standard travel trauma that I have told about so many times before.  However, this time, there was a new spin on it.  Normally my struggle is to get back home from my destinations.  Here before I even got off of the ground, actually already at the start of check-in, my anxiety had already stepped up a few notches.  No seat confirmation = Business Class is full.  No bag tag = ?  No idea.  I've never experienced NOT getting a bag tag.  Self check-in panel said:  See an SAS agent.  No worries, the young man assured me.  We'll get you a tag.  I asked if I didn't get a tag because the flight was full.  He said the flight was not full - but Business Class was.  I walked to gate E 20-something.  I handed over my boarding pass to the woman behind the counter.  She said: Don't expect to get on board.  The flight is over booked.  We are actually going to have to bump off full paying passengers.   She was looking at the computer as she was saying this.  At the same time, another colleague was walking up behind the counter to start her shift.  She overheard our conversation.  She turned to the woman I was talking to and said: The flight's not full.  There's space.  WTF? 2 different women working at the same gate on the same flight, and they are saying something totally opposite of each other.  I had to assume the women looking at the computer and actually seeing that the flight was overbooked was the one to listen to.  Which of course, really bummed me out.  But one thing I have learned is: don't leave and give up hope before the gates are closed.

Being employed at the airport, I would see "stand-by" baggage almost daily.  An employee flying on company discount tickets get a red tag that says "stand-by" on it.  The bag is placed nearby the flight but separately from all the other "normal" baggage.  The baggage handlers don't put the stand-by bag on board until they get the message from the ticket controllers that there is space for the stand-by passenger (me).   So, I walked over to the window and spotted my bag with the red tag.  That's it there in the photo.  I kept an eye on it.  Would they put it on the baggage belt, or would they put it on the baggage wagon and drive it back to the arrival terminal?

As I look out of the window, my eyes are totally glued to my bag.  I am totally oblivious to what it going on behind me.  However, I am aware that people are starting to disappear because the boarding process has begun.  I almost passed out with shock when I see the baggage handler walk to my bag, he grabs it, and walks away from the baggage belt.

In the circle you can see the baggage handler walking away from the baggage belt with my bag.  You can also see the baggage belt in the foreground has been pulled away from the aircraft because all the bags have been loaded onto the flight.  Notice all the baggage wagons are empty.  My heart sinks as I see the baggage handler walking away from the flight with my bag and walking towards the last baggage wagon to put it on and bring my bag back to the passenger terminal.

But take a look and see what happens next.

And then over the speakers I could hear that I was being paged to come to the desk.  I ran up to the woman at the gate and she handed me a boarding card with a seat number. Praise Jesus !!   Next thing I know, I am on my way to Boston.