Semaj Booker vs. My passport and confirmed reservation

I read recently a number of stories about a young man (nine years old) who managed to steal a car, drive himself to SeaTac and get all the way to Texas without any ID or a ticket.



Aside from the understandable 'wha?' feeling that you get reading those articles, my experience has been intensified by a particularly unpleasant event: the last 20 hours of my life.



It seems that my trip to Mexico with Chloe has to happen one day later due to the following bizzare scenario:



1) We buy airline tickets online

2) We ask for e-tickets

3) They send us a receipt for e-tickets

4) Then they decide at the last minute to FedEx some paper tickets to us the day before we are supposed to leave (5:30 am flight, mind you)

5) They opt for a signature requirement. Naturally, not being retired or unemployed, nobody is home during the day to receive the tickets.

6) We call the airline. "Come on in ... talk to the reservation agent," they say.

7) We go to the airport at 3:00AM

8) Passports? Check. Confirmed reservations? Check. Confirmation code? Check. Paper tickets? Uh... No.

9) The next nine hours:

Tears / shouting / lengthy phone call / a fitfull nap / working from home / more phone calls / a call to Mexico / a call to DC / more working from home / a delivery from FedEx

10) Back to the airport (at 2:00 PM)

11) 1 hour of wrangling at the gate

12) An angelic gate agent takes pity on us and makes things better

13) A nap / me being hypontized by an HD broadcast of an episode of Everbody Loves Raymond that was so staticy

14) Me writing this blog.