August 19th, 2008
I don’t want this narrative to begin with a failure to disclose any important, interesting, and relevant information. So I’ll begin with a disclosure:
I am a dense, foolish, forgetful dimwit.
Some of you reading this might agree. But why would I make such a statement? Well, in anticipation of my coming departure, I’ve been going around for months telling everyone that “I’m leaving for China on August 18th.” On the morning of August 18th, my bags packed and all prepared for this long-awaited adventure to start, I arrived at O’Hare airport. Only to find out that…
(I cringe in embarrassment at my own stupidity at this crucial oversight)…
I arrived a day early. The United Airlines self check-in computer told me, “Please come back tomorrow, August 19th.” I pulled out my printed itinerary to verify this information. Indeed, the computer was correct. And alas, I was—gasp—wrong.
So after my grandma, who kindly came to see me off at the airport, hobbled her way into the terminal with no small hardship; after my mom went to pay for a place to park the car; I had to emerge from the check-in area and admit my mistake. My brother, who also came along to the airport, was poking fun at me non-stop for it the rest of the day, and claims he still will for years to come.
Although I was really ready to go, admittedly it was nice to have that one extra day (that I thought I’d be losing in transit anyway) to say a proper farewell, to really prepare myself to leave my home and my family for the next 10 months. To my surprise, no one seemed angry at my mindless—and costly—mistake. My mom, bless her heart that I know aches to see me go, was glad to have me around for one more day. We enjoyed that last evening together on the beach, went for one final refreshing swim, and saw a spectacular sunset. Then, the following morning at 6 AM, it was off to the airport again. Yesterday was just practice. This was the real deal. Today, there weren’t any computers telling me to come back again another day.
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