11 feb

The travel industry is a kind of legalized crime. Maybe it’s not the whole travel industry, but airline companies are intrinsically criminal. I’ve always thought that from the first moment I was stranded in a far away city, in the US of course, because the bastards overbooked a flight.
Today there was plenty of reason to revive my anger. Julie’s mother was planning to fly back to Omaha from Bordeaux. Turns out there is a snowstorm expected in Atlanta Georgia. Those people do not know how to deal with snow, of course, so they started with cancelling the more obscure flights, including the one Mom had to take from Atlanta to Omaha.
Mom saw the dreaded message this morning, just when she wanted to pack her iPad in order to leave for Bordeaux. There was no good way for us to contact Delta Airlines (one of the crime gangs that operate those airlines) because they only give 1-800 numbers that only work in the US itself.
Luckily Mom has created a whole army of brave soldiers that can be called on in times of despair. First we called Rex (son 2). It was after 11 pm in Omaha, a time when a decent lawyer who wakes up way before dawn should be in bed. And he was, we supposed. He didn’t answer the phone. Couldn’t hear it of course, with his level of snoring. Nobody else in his Omaha subdivision can hear their phones when Rex’s snoring climaxes.
Then Tim (son 4). He was at a Justin Timberlake concert, we were informed. Poor guy.
Wayne (husband of daughter 1) was asleep but answered as a good fireman should. He listened to Julie (daughter 3) explaining him the disaster that was developing. Julie gave him the Delta 1-800 number. He would give them a call.
Fifteen minutes later, Shelly (daughter 1) called back that Wayne (her husband) had heard from Delta that he was in waiting on the phone for a service representative. The expected waiting time was 21 hours, he was told. Honestly, the criminals at Delta allow computer recordings to blur out this kind of nonsense. This alone should be ample reason to never buy any shares in this company, and if one has been stupid enough to be fooled into doing just that in the past, sell those shares immediately. Please wait 21 hours, it would be funny if it would not be so sad.
It never got much better. After arriving in Bordeaux, a good two hour drive, we found out that Mom’s tickets had been cancelled and changed to the exact same schedule for the next day. The snowstorms in Atlanta were expected to last till thursday, so it wasn’t too hard to predict what would happen next, more cancellations.
First Brandie (wife of son 4) arranged a rescheduling of mom’s itinerary through Chicago, but then we heard the transatlantic Air France flight Paris-Atlanta for wednesday also had been cancelled. The apologies from the Air France team were a little more sincere than from the Delta team, according to Mom, which makes them a rank a little lower on the Interpol-list. The letter was not the only thing that’s better about Air France. The stewards and stewardesses had been from an altogether different level on her flight here and were so much more handsome. There english was funny though. Mom’s imitation of the delightful french english that these air hostesses speak is worthwhile listening to.
But here we are again in Chassenat, after the long drive back from Bordeaux. Visited Plassac, a delightful Romanesq church, and passed the charming village called Charmant.
Julie had asked mom yesterday what she would like to eat with her farewell meal. Souffle it was, a goat cheese with spinach souffle. And it was lovely. Julie asked Mom what she wanted to have as her next farewell meal. Apple pie was the answer. Comfort food is what the situation asks for. Not the kind of food that airlines serve on their transatlantic flights. How distasteful that might be, Mom can for now only dream of it.