Airport Boozin' and Cruisin'

People thinks it's funny for a retiree like myself to go on vacation. But in all honesty I still need a little R&R once in a while. So I decided to tag along with my family for a weekend in Maine. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but the trip back to New York was definitely the most interesting part of the trip. I took the Acela from New York to Boston, rented a car to drive to Maine but stupidly on the way home I decided to fly. Whoppsie Daisy!! Big mistake. Supposedly there were thunderstorms somewhere along the east coast which screwed up the air traffic big time because once the night was over my flight was delayed seven hours for a 43 minute flight. (side note: destination was changed from JFK to Newark....I'll get to that later.)

Secretly, part of me actually kind of likes delays. Obviously not seven hour delays but an hour or so isn't bad because I LOVE airport bars. It's fun to bullshit with the other solo passengers at the bar and everyone is friendly and nice because people want to pass the time. And when the whole JetBlue wing at Logan is delayed the bar scene becomes a total "meet market". So when you have a few vodka tonics and you see your flight getting pushed back another hour every hour people become very chatty. I got into an argument with one woman about Miami sports fans, or rather the lack of sports fans in South Florida. I was asked by another woman if I knew the price of a bushel of hay in New York versus the price in Tampa. I told her I didn't even know hay existed anymore. That didn't go over too well with her. The Miami woman was passed out at gate 31 by 1130pm.

So I finally boarded my Boston to Newark flight at 1230am. Now my biggest concern was how the hell was I going to get home from Jersey. NJ transit was closed for the night and a cab would cost more than the actual flight. I was in a total bind. I guess I was gonna have to bite the bullet and take a cab. The whole procedure of getting a cab at Newark is insane. You have to wait in line, tell the line operator where you are going and they give you a slip with the price to give to the cabbie. But if you want to pay with credit card you need to then go to another line to pay at a kiosk. Of course the kiosk machines were all out of order and I only had fifty bucks in my wallet. The cab was going to cost 65 bucks plus tolls and tip. Hmmm. Then pure genius came over me. I overheard this Spanish woman behind me telling the line operator she was going to Third and 60th, a mere seven blocks from my apartment. I turned around and quietly asked her if she wanted to split a cab. She kind of looked at me a little confused but before we really had a chance to talk I was already at the front of the line. I ripped up my slip and took hers and told the cabbie there were two of us. I told the Spaniard to just go with it and we could each save 40 bucks. She kind of laughed and said "ok". Bingo. I made some jokes about getting some cervezas but she didn't think that was funny. Oh well, my ego was shot but at least I saved 40 bucks. "Hey, I'm Retired at 28!"