Arrival Adventure: Part 1

So the day started out with waking up at 2:45am to head to Portland and catch my 5:45am flight to Washington DC. My mom, Nate, and Jonny dropped me off, and you could say I was in rough shape...I was crying all the way through security, especially when I would look back and see my loved ones heading back home while I was on my way to Mississippi. What am I doing?! I thought, but then I remembered that this is something that I chose to do and it is my chance to really make a difference. Anyway, that was the normal/mild part of the trip as it turned out! From there, I was sitting in the terminal, reading US Weekly about The Bachelorette finally (which I hope I get to watch tonight somehow!) and my  flight was called, so I got up to board the plane, feeling pretty good--not expecting what happened next. RIGHT before I stepped onto the plane, my left, black Old Navy flip flop did the worst thing of all--it broke! there was no escaping this obstacle, so I leaned over and took it off--now walking half-barefoot onto the plane and as I did this, my ticket flew out of my hand and outside where I will never see it again. So, in a panic, I blush and tell the flight attendant standing there what had just happened and needless to say, she was not impressed, she didnt respond at all, just watched me as I finally took the hint that she didnt care and walked to my seat, being stared at by everyone thinking why is that girl only wearing one flip flop!? After that eventful start to the trip, I thought it can only get better from here, but boyyyy was I wrong! The flight itself went well, and when we arrived all I could think about was finding a store to get some new footwear ASAP. So as I am walking around the Washington airport half barefoot, asking kiosks if they know where I can find some new flip flops, I get all teary thinking gosh, all these people think I am certified NUTS! Eventually I found a store that had one footwear option: thick, pink, bedazzled $15 flip flops that said Washington down the side in rhinestones....ohhh gosh....i have to get these eventhough they are totally tacky and do not match my purple shorts!  So I buy the flip flops, explaining my sad story to the nice cashier who took the tags off for me so I could immediately fix the half-barefoot problem on my hands (or feet, I guess!) when all of a sudden she asks the lady behind me if she is ready to cash out and the rude woman replies: "yes, I am just waiting for HER to MOVE!" All I could do was turn and cry some more, thinking, why can't anyone just be nice to me today?! THEN it gets worse...I get to my check-in desk and the woman replies, "I'm sorry, there are no seats available..." AHHHHHHHHH What do I do NOW?! Of course I called my mom, bawling my eyes out, really starting to wish that I could just go back home to Maine and my comfort zone--and drawing even more attention to myself with tears on top of my ridiculous new flip flops! After about 20 minutes of my mom reassuring me that it it would all be okay between my phone freaking out and keep cutting out/hanging up, I eventually stopped crying and called Nate to laugh about my series of unfortunate events with someone....I mean, it was a funny situation...but when you are alone you would look even crazier to start laughing, so I had to call someone to laugh at/with me about it all...that worked great until the phones kept cutting out, again....So the flight took off--without me and I went to the desk to figure out my plan B, and it turns out I was not alone in my misfortune, but there were 6 of us that got bumped off the flight (I was first on the list, and didnt even get on-AH!) So two of the men who I later found out worked for Microsoft and were going to a huge business meeting (so they didnt mind being late) became my best friends-seriously, they totally took me under their wings after I told them the obscure predicament I had gotten myself into and that I was from Maine and heading to Mississippi for AmeriCorps. We basically exchanged life stories over the time it took the lady at the desk to be nice enough, but absolutely NO help whatsoever to us for 2 hours (she said she got us flights on another airline, but it turns out she just took our tickets from us-by accident, but still-and left us out to dry with no tickets and no hope of leaving the airport anytime soon. Luckily the guys I was with knew their airport stuff and they got us some money back and let my mooch off of their airport knowledge and eventually venture into an airline clubhouse (which none of us were members of) to find the most amazing woman ever to help us get tickets onto an 11:30am flight to Dallas! Seriously, these people I had only met minutes/hours before were quickly becoming my life-savers! After a stressful half hour or waiting to see if we would actually get onto this flight or be bumped again, we all finally got on! And the best part was that I randomly got put in first class! yes! I am currently typing this using the internet on the plane, which is just awesome! Oh, and I am finally eating (delicious warm mixed nuts) and drinking water for the first time in this longggggg day I have had! So, even though my adventure/arrival is far from over, I can honestly say that everything happens for a reason...sometimes you just have to wait a bit to realize what that reason is. :)