Airport Calling

John’s alarm clock beams loud like a firecracker in his ear. “What, I can’t hear, where am I? I am deaf like an old lady on roller skates who passes through a crossing as the policeman blows his whistle at her”. There she goes you just missed her.

“Oh no my flight from Charlotte is an hour away (10 AM) and I have 30 miles to get there. I could fly like a bird, darn that won’t work because I lost my wings as a pilot and can’t fly for 6 months because of my suspension.

John frantically ran out the door with his clothes, keys, coffee, and gum to hide his bad breath.

“Well, I guess I smell like hell beneath my feet in the sewer below”. Johnny lunged at the cologne and grabbed it while going out the door. He started slapping the cologne solution all over his body right as he started his driving. Johnny now has 30 minutes or 30 miles to get to Charlotte International Airport.

Since the time frame is in the mid 1990’s there has been limited security at the airport. Johnny can just run through the gate like a deer flying over a fence. What grace. The sweat pours from his face in the car as the stress of making the flight from Charlotte, NC to Houston, TX weighs on him. Johnny needs to make the flight because he has a mandatory training session in Houston, TX in the morning at 9 AM. The training session is in leu of him being relieved of his suspension.

He is now relying on his trusty 1967 light- blue stingray corvette with a white convertible top and baby blue body. He weaves in and out of traffic passing cars on the street. One yellow traffic light was followed by two green lights which give him entrance to I-52 east, 20 miles or 20 minutes away to the airport. “Pedal to the metal while flying like a shooting star”. Johnny gets the speed up past 75 mph up to 85 mph and the corvette flies in and out of the lanes passing numerous cars and trucks.

“Look at that truck who just lost his trailer 2 lanes over. The chain between the truck and trailer has broken with that stress. Let’s avoid that issue”. Johnny speeds past cars on the adjacent lane going North while the trailer crashed into 2 vehicles going north 3 and 4 lanes over. “Look at that metal and debris flying all over the highway. Fortunately, I saw that in my rear-view mirror. You must think quickly in a split second”.

Johnny was now 5 miles away with 10 minutes left. The corvette is keeping a crisp speed of 85 mph weaving in and out of the lanes. “Thank God for a clear sunny day because now I can make it to the airport barely on time”.

Johnny pulled into the long-term parking on level 5 approximately 3 minutes from the front counter. Johnny ran to the door sweating like water from the falls. “Ouch watch out where you’re going”? said a strange lady. “Sorry Ms., I am in a rush to my flight” as Johnny moved to the ticket counter with a few minutes left. With tickets in hand, he ran to gate B35 and when he got to the gate, the airline counter receptionist was in the process of closing the gate.

The airline counter receptionist at the gate waved at Johnny. “Mr. Morris, hurry up you just made it in time for the flight”. Johnny went to his seat on the plane at seat B33 and made his flight. “I feel so much better that I made my flight”.