12/1/14
New York, New York
There is a reason that I do not Officially close my trip until after I
have cleared Customs. It is called
Murphy’s Law. I lost my passport. I am also a firm believer that all’s well that
ends well. The New York, New York
dateline signifies that all did in fact end well, but, first, The Journey
Home.
After I closed in Delhi, I went
through the secondary screening point for US flights, which meants I had to
clear out my water bottle. The good news
was that no one said anything about me bring four bags on the plane with
me. I saw the person in front of me
wearing a familiar Livestrong backpack with an unmistakable United Airlines
USOC pin. It was the person who sat next
to me on the flight in. I don’t talk to
strangers, not if I can avoid it. That
was why I shocked myself by stating, “You sat next to me on the flight
in.” We made about four more lines of
small talk.
My plan was to pass out as
soon as I got on the plane and not wake up until we landed. That, did not work. I took an entire overhead bin for my bags and
my coat, a major asshole move, but I was too tired and exhausted to care. The flight itself was rather unadventurous,
and the time I have to write this entry during my lunch hour is limited, so I
will not go into great detail. I picked
at whatever food was offered, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I slept intermittently, never being able to
get any deep and long sleep, the kind that I would need for today.
At one point, I felt something graze across
my chest and a dip in my armrest. I did
not need to take my eyemask off to know that the woman sitting next to me had
just climbed over me to go to the bathroom.
I then heard a voice say, “I don’t want to wake him. Maybe we can just climb over him.” At that point, I took off my eyemask, and
they (the two women from my row) asked if I would mind if they climbed over me
to get back to their seats. Grateful for
not having to stand up, I groggily agreed.
Before I knew it, we were landing, and we had landed 30 minutes
early. That changed my whole
schedule. My original plan was to take
the bus to the office, muddle through my day at work, go home at 5 PM, drop my
bags off, clean up, change, and meet my girlfriend for dinner at 6 PM. It was not the best plan, and it was 50/50 if
I would fall asleep by the end of dinner.
This changed everything. I could
take a taxi home, get a little bit of a nap, clean up, change, get to the
office at 9 AM, work until 5:30 PM, and then head to dinner together. It was a much better plan. Barring any problem with passport or baggage
control, it would work perfectly.
I went
through the Global Entry kiosk, headed down the escalator, and patted myself
down when I got to the bottom of the escalator, checking for my water bottle,
cell phone, wallet, etc. Where the fuck
was my passport?!? I checked all of my
pockets. No dice. I started to panic. Had it fallen on the floor somewhere? The escalators were crowded, but I grabbed
all four of my bags and started running up the escalator, people giving me
crazy looks as I did so.
I was
immediately approached by a CBP Officer who asked what was wrong. I told him that I thought I had lost my
passport. The officer from the Global
Entry section came to my rescue. He
handed it to me, and said, “Good luck.”
What did that mean? I thanked him
profusely and headed to baggage control. Wait, this wasn’t good. I was out
of breath, and my heart was racing.
Surely, I would come across as nervous and be subjected to extra
screening. I took a minute to have some
water and compose myself. I proceeded to
passport control, and he let me through without question.
I took a taxi and headed home. It was 5:15 AM when I got home, meaning I
would have almost 3 hours for my nap.
Perfect. I changed into my
t-shirt, set up my sleep machine, crashed, and woke up a little before 8 AM. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, shaved, and put on some more casual clothes. I felt refreshed and ready to take on the
world. I got to work a little late,
explaining the need to shower off the curry smell, heated up some breakfast,
and got to work. At 11 AM, I went to Hop
Won for lunch and proceeded to write this entry, which I will
now close so that I can publish and get back to the office before my lunch
break is over. Next stop: Orlando with
Aliyah.
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