Oh Captain, My Captain: On a Wing and a Prayer

So we arrive in Dallas from Bentonville and have very little wait. I get a whole grain bagel and fruit, still on my way to being a skinny b..... have to use vice grips and pliers to work my way through the whole grains in my bagel, they just go to the field and pluck a handful to scatter over the bagel in route to the oven. While I'm sucking it down, Sach is telling me to hurry so he can throw away the trash. He, at 28, has obviously never tried to chew up Kansas without water to wash it down. I have water in my bag but only 2 hands and I was against asking the bald man next to me to unscrew the cap and pour water down my throat.
Our plane is outside the window and looks large and competent. Looks can be deceiving. As we roll out to take off, our plane sounds like an old woman getting up from the floor, pops and cracks and just ancient welding spots speaking to each other.
It was, of course, totally full. We had left about 20 people on standby back in the airport. Take-off, 5 mins. out, all good, 10 min. out all good, reach cruising altitude and not good. It first feels like that moment when you shrug your shoulders if a fly lands on them. Then that total body shudder that ripples through the plane. I look around with my eyes big and Sach makes fun of me. "What, Mom, you always think somethings wrong if we just hit an air pocket the size of a pea."
At that moment, the pilot takes the plane into an impressive geometric right turn, then left turn. Jiggle the wings a little like we are waving at the earth for the last time. By this time, I think somethings wrong, but I'm not about to question my son, the seasoned traveler. For a fraction of a second, I think that my imagination has just flown away with me, when the pilot comes on to say, "Ladies and Gentleman, this is your pilot." Well, someone could have said, " Yo, people, this is your hijacker" So I'm going with the glass half full then. He preceded to tell us that some part on our wing was broken. No wait, he said "malfunctioning". We would be returning immediately to Dallas and land with no holding. The fix-it crews on the ground would determine if it could be repaired or get another plane for us. Now you know there aren't spare planes sitting around in the neighborhood garage waiting for the call.
The whole plane is silent, and the guy in front of me says, "I thought you needed the things to land that are on the wings. He asks the stewardess and she artlessly replies,"The pilot didn't want to risk not being able to land correctly in Philly." Well, you know what went through my head....won't we have to land correctly back in Dallas?
We did land, trudged back into the airport where there is no where to sit because these 100 people were supposed to be in the air over Tennessee by this time. After, 15 minutes, they just calmly pick up the phone and say out loud, "Flight 1776 to Philadelphia has been cancelled" Beautiful. Make your own arrangements, and try to figure it so Sach and I are on the same plane. NO problemo, it is 10 in the morning and the next American flight that way is at 5 pm. Wanta switch airlines, sure. Can get you out at 2pm. So go get on the Skyrail and zoom like the Jetsons around the top of the airport to new boarding gates. United Airways can get you both on a plane and beside each other.
Lots of time now. Eat in the bar and grill. Sach conducts the business of the firm and I people watch which is a whole other blog!
Wait, wait, wait.......

Finally, to the new gate and no planes outside, oh well. Then a little gnat of a plane zips around out in the parking lot, and as I idly watch deftly parks at our spot. A plane that you could park in your own garage, a plane that a hot air balloon could lift off the ground. My worst nightmare. I have lots of faith in big airplanes and the dynamics of physics. Small little crop dusters are not my first choice for a flight halfway across our great nation. Okay. no choice.

We end up in Philly at 5:20, we were supposed to land at 12:20. Hey it's nothing but time.