THE AIRPORT LIMO DIS-SERVICE

In spite of the sadness of MMB (My Man Bill) of the past few days, I was enlisted by his wife, TLC (The Lovely Carole) do her a favor and go to the airport to pick up a relative. It seems she was going to send her Dad, a kindly and funny gentleman, but she didn’t want to go through the hassle of the directions. TLC also told me that her Dad would tag along to find the her sister-in-law who was flying in. “Sure thing” I said and off we went.

Well, grandpa was very amusing on the way down, and we talked about his children and how proud he was of them. He made some jokes about women and marriage, and as we approached the airport, we discussed his hip that was surgically fixed. He asked me to leave him at the curb, and he would meet me there as I parked the car. “No problem” said I, as we stopped at the curb, he got out and I drove to the hourly parking lot.

Parking the car, I walked toward the spot where he was to meet me, but he wasn’t there! I looked up and down the curb, but no grandpa! I entered the terminal, and walked the distance of the arrival section, checking all the carousels at Long Island Mac Arthur Airport, but no grandpa! I kept hearing the words of the airport namesake; “I shall return!” I hoped so. I looked some more, up and down the arrivals section and decided to go to the core of the building. I thought, “Oh my God! I lost Carole’s father! She asked me to do her a simple favor, and I lost her father! To my relief, there sat Grandpa, with some lovely lady he managed to induce into talking! He invited me to sit as he chatted it up with the woman, who by the way was enraptured by his charm! Since the plane had arrived, we decided to look for Carole's sister-in-law. But could we find her? No. Back to the arrivals section we went. Up and down, and back again. I glanced out the window and notice a woman standing at the curb; a worried look on her face and figured that had to be her. I motion to grandpa and out I go to the woman. Sure enough, it WAS her!

At the funeral parlor that evening, TLC asked me to go once again to the airport to pick up her brother and nephew. Once again, I assured her that it was no problem, but told her to keep her dad at home; I would carry a sign, since I had never met her brother or nephew.

To the airport I go. I park the car and head for the arrivals section, and immediately check the status of the flight. It is ten minutes early and the tote board says the flight is on time. After ten minutes, I check again and the board says the plane is still on time. There are two people standing next to me, and I figure they are departing and are checking the departures end of the tote board. After another ten minutes, the board says the plane has arrived and after a few more minutes, says the carousel is #4. Great! I go to where the passengers would be arriving and now hold up a sign with TLC’s last name on it. No arrivals, and #4 Carousel is void of people and activity. I wait some more, still nothing, and I notice the same people roaming the airport. This young fellow comes up to me, and holding his cell phone says: “I found him!” (Ever notice how more and more the people are young!)

The airport never properly updated the arrival and departure board. Their flight was ten minutes early!

Please remember all those that need our hopes and prayers, including my brother-in-law, John.