Welcome to America!

One thing I completely forgot to mention over the past few blog posts is my parents’ visit.

They arrived last night.

Of course, nothing ever goes completely smoothly, and I was already on pins all day waiting for them to arrive. This was especially nerve wracking for Sunny as this is the first time she’s met her new parents-in-law in person.

So we set off to pick them up from the airport. We headed to the airport, giving ourselves plenty of time to arrive in plenty of time to meet them at the gate.

We’ve had three days of very clear, sunny weather.

What’s the weather like 5 minutes after we leave?

Severe Thunderstorm.

So we’re driving along, and I’m already worried about my parents being up in a plane in this kind of weather. I turn to Sunny.

“All we need now is a Tornado Warning.” I say, with a smirk on my face.

No less than three seconds later the radio chirps:

“There is currently a tornado warning out for Anderson County until 8:15. If you’re in Anderson County, you should seek shelter immediately.”

Bugger.

We arrive at the airport at exactly 8:30. The time the plane was due to land.

Now anyone who’s ever been expecting someone who’s flying in, it’s not the most pleasant experience. There’s lots to worry about. Like, what if the plane arrives and they’re not on it? If they’ve missed their connection, how are we going to arrange when we need to pick them up?

Basically, if my parents missed their connection, I’d just have to go home and hope that they remembered to write down my phone number. Otherwise, they’d arrive in Greenville with no idea how to get to my house.

It’s also not a pleasant experience when you’re stressed as hell, and the help desk guy is comedian:

“Excuse me, can you tell me where the passengers of US Airlines Flight 1234 leave the plane, please?”
“Usually through the door! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“No. Really. Where do they come out at.”

“Down the ramp! Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Sunny speaks:

“Seriously, I’m meeting my inlaws for the first time. Where do we need to go?”

“Oh, you’re meeting your new in-laws? Well, in that case, you need to go out through these doors, head to the parking garage, get in your car…”

I speak again:

“Look. We’re late. Can you actually, you know, give us some information?”

“What flight was it again.”

I growl, slowly…then tell him.

“Oh, it’ll be a while, they’re still over Virginia. That flight was delayed.”

It seems you have two choices in air travel. You can either land in a massive city-sized airport, like Atlanta, where everyone is so rushed and busy, you never get a clear answer…or you can land in a little puddle-jumper airport like Greenville-Spartanburg, where everyone is so laid back and relaxed, they think you want a 15 minute comedy routine, when all you really want is to know is the answer to your question.

Eventually we met them at the gate, came home, grabbed something to eat…and then didn’t get any sleep all night, due to probably the longest and loudest thunderstorm I’ve experienced since I’ve been here.

On the upside, my work permit arrived today…and I can finally get a job!

Work Card, Bitches!