April 19, 2009. Chevy Chase, Md. Solutions..

Everyone roared when the announcement was given on the plane. By now the same people had been together since six o'clock and as it was now twelve thirty these same people had bonded and were not happy, so they roared out NO. Instructions were told to us. No flights were leaving that night, so we could line up at the counter outside the gate, where one one person would help, or go to the Continental Service Desk for help or phone Continental Airlines. Ken and I had already seen the lines at the Service Centers as flights had been cancelled all afternoon and the line outside the gate already had twenty people waiting patiently, so we opted to phone the Continental Airline Representative. Within five minutes we had booked our flight home, leaving Houston at 9:30, again travelling first class. On our way out of the airport we passed several Service Desks. Each one had long lines waiting to speak to a representative in person. I believe that every person in line also had a cell phone, so why were they waiting in line? It crossed my mind to go over to the good folks who were in line to tell them to call Continental, but I was so weary myself that I could only think about myself.

The next task was to decide where to spend the night. One option was to stay at the airport and many people chose that option. The bars were still going strong when we walked out of the Terminal. We decided that we were too old to spend the night in the airport. Actually, we have never had that experience and we did not want to start now. We walked down to the baggage claim area thinking there would be a list of local hotels, but there were at least fifty folks waiting to use those phones, so we decided to just get on one of the hotel shuttle buses. The first young man we spoke to asked us if we had a reservation. Of course we did not which we readily admitted, but he took pity on us and took us into his little bus which turned out to be the Best Western. On the way back with the full bus, he called the personal cell phone of the desk clerk to save us a room, which she did. Within thirty minutes of being told that the plane was not flying, Ken and I were in our hotel room and grateful to be there. Evidently, the hotels were not answering there phones at all, just giving the rooms to who ever came in the door, so the young driver of the bus did us a real favor. The next morning, at 6:45, the shuttle took us back to the airport, ready for our 9:30 flight home. Of course, the plane was delayed until 10:30 but at least it left for home.

One man we spoke to did a clever thing. He went directly to the car rental booths, and rented a car and drove to a non-airport hotel. That was smart. Ken and I discussed that option and rejected it, as the night was late, the rain was falling very hard and we are old. The next morning we overheard many sad tales of folks who were not able to book flights home, except as a stand-by. Getting in long lines is always a bad idea, at least we don't like them. Other options are always available. And that is the story of being stranded in Houston.