I was walking in Memphis

I like that song by Marc Cohn. He is married to Elizabeth Vargas of abcnews and survived a shot to the head during a carjacking. Why did I tell you that? So I could put all those links in there. The real purpose of my post is to tell you what happened on my latest business trip to Little Rock, Arkansas. But your post title is about Memphis, Pook. Ahhh, yes, it is.

The latest training session was scheduled for Little Rock, AR, home of the Bill Clinton Library. Our training was at the VA Medical Center, built at the top of a big hill that was once Fort Roots, the base for the Arkansas Army National Guard. There was very little excitement in Little Rock.
It was the trip home, through the Memphis airport that I want to share with you.

When we landed in Memphis around 12:30, the snow had started. Over the next hour, it continued and by our departure time of 2:15, we had no idea when or if we'd leave. We boarded the plane, then we got off. Around 4:00 or so, several travelers banded together and rented a car for the 8 hour drive to Indianapolis. I decided to test my luck, and in fact, we soon boarded the plane again.

Away from the gate, we were 734th in line for de-icing. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the deicer, they were out of fluid. Out of deicer. Back to the gate we went. I think it was around 8:00 or 8:30 that they finally canceled our flight. The gate agent told us the next flight they could book us on to Indpls would arrive at 10:00 the next day. Actually 10:00 pm --the next night. We had to wait for our luggage to be removed, and then away to customer service with hundreds of other distressed passengers.

Right away I called Hilton for a hotel room and booked at a Hampton Inn. I told them I'd arrive by 10 or so, and the rep assured me that while the hotel did not have a restaurant, the nearby Applebee's was within walking distance. After about 90 minutes in line (during which I met lots of irate people trying to get resolution on their cell phones), I got to customer service. There was a flight in the morning to Indpls, but it went through Detroit. I was in a Redwings sweatshirt.

While my on-and-off tale was exciting, a yong lady next to me was shouting to everyone who would listen about how they nearly took off until a passenger had a panic attack and they had to return to the gate. By the time the affected passenger was removed, the airport was closed. She felt that a medical emergency, not the weather, were to blame and that the airline owed her something. In fact, most passengers were incredibly angry that American was not paying for their overnight hotel stay. I thought everyone knew that weather was not a reason for special consideration. Apparently not so. Anyway, back to the terminal.

New itenerary in hand, I passed several restaurants on my way to the taxi line. With thoughts of Applebee's adult beverages and spinach dip appetizer swirling through my head, I stepped into the cold snow to find 300 people in line for the very few taxis that were running. You see, while Memphis averages around 5 inches of snow per year, on 2/10/06, 3.2 inches of snow fell. All at once. The only measurable amount since Dec 2004. Apparently taxi drivers felt it too dangerous to drive. And the guys in the yellow shirts were only allowing one person per taxi. This is the "walking in Memphis" part of the story. I walked about 300 feet in 90 minutes.

I struck up a conversation with the lady behind me. A victim of Hurricane Katrina, she had relocated to Memphis as the Regional Manager of Build a Bear Workshops. She had lost everything, everything!, in the storm and had turned down a relocation to Myrtle Beach because she wanted to be landlocked. By the time we reached head of the line, a female yellow shirt had arrived and pursuaded her colleagues to combine passengers into the taxis. Because she lived in a Memphis suburb, and Hilton had apparently sent me to the furtherest Hampton Inn from the airport, we got to share our cab. Another fellow joined us and we discovered that the refugee family had visited his church. Small world. Ms. New Orleans had never seen snow, so she was excited about our adventure. I must mention here that the snowfall didn't cover the grass. It looked like 3/4" or so. The airport was shut down and taxis weren't running because of 1" of snow.

Finally, after paying the full cab fare, I was at the hotel. I didn't see an Applebee's. The desk clerk giggled. There was nothing within walking distance. How about pizza? The clerk wasn't sure they would deliver. Holy cow! Was my neighborhood THAT bad? No, said the clerk, with eyes wide, "It's the snow." Dominos agreed to deliver. "We weren't delivering an hour ago. The snow shut us down." They agreed to take AmEx, and I was set. Last words before hanging up? "We should be there in 90 minutes." Ninety minutes?

My pizza arrived just before midnight. Exhausted, sleepy and rather grumpy, I ate a couple of pieces and crashed. Didn't touch the cinnamon dots.

Next morning the snow was gone. My flight through Detroit was uneventful; they can handle a winter storm. Lessons learned:

1. Never check luggage when you have a connecting flight. You'd have thought I learned that back in December.
2. Don't believe the hotel customer service people. They don't know what "close to the airport" means, they don't have accurate directions, and they make up stories about nearby restaurants. Call a relative and have them book online.
3. Just because you get on the plane doesn't mean you are leaving. Just because you get on the plane AGAIN doesn't mean you are leaving. When they say things are delayed and please stay in the gate area, you should seriously consider getting in the rental car with those four people you've never seen before.
4. People blame the airlines for everything (snow, medical emergencies, etc.). Be nice to the customer service agent. They need a break.
5. Travel stories make interesting blog reads. I hope :)