You can count on me
"I'll be home for Christmas... you can count on me..." and Aer Lingus.
Taxi arrives 7:05 a.m. and I take very sad leave of my dearest Paddy. I'm well early for the 7:45 a.m. bus to Dublin. Talk to an older couple heading with massive cases to Australia for 3 months to see their son. I notice all the young people put their big cases in the hold of the bus first without a backward glance. The man had a bandaged hand and the woman was on a cane. So I turned all the young people's cases sideways to make room for the last two big cases and hoisted them in. The hold isn't very big. My point isn't that I'm a saint but that so many people walk through the world oblivious to what's around them.
On to the bus and resigned to my fate at the airport. I enter terminal two at the Aer Lingus check in. There's a line snaking back and forth on itself 10 times. The end of the line then runs the length of the terminal all the way to the United check-in desks at the other end. Hundreds of people. I'm panic striken. I have arrived 2 hours, 45 minutes early, which should be enough, normally. But I don't see getting through this line in less than 2 hours, then there will be lines at security and then pre-clearance US customs. Luckily, the woman behind me in the queue is the loveliest, most upbeat, glass half full person you could meet. She would say the line was moving nicely. I would say, but the line folds back in on itself 10 times once we get to the Aer Lingus end of the terminal. Anyway, we talked about her siblings who had moved to Princeton and Philadelphia. We talked Derry Girls. We talked about what we're going to do next year to celebrate turning 60 (both born in April). We talked about how stressed we had been about this trip for weeks. And eventually I reached the desk.
The test result with the wrong year wasn't an issue (no birth certificate needed). The online form listing where I would stay in the US was OK. I don't remember her even asking for the proof of vaccine form, which a neighbour printed for me. The problem was the CDC's attestation form, which I had filled out on my phone but was stuck in the app, which was confused by my birthday. The woman told me to scan a QR code on one of the multiple signs in the queue I had just stood in for 1.5 hours. I tried and my phone camera didn't pick it up. She asked if I had signed in to the airport wifi. I hadn't b/c I don't know how to do this if a message doesn't pop up asking me to sign in and giving the URL. None had. Poor woman. She signs me in. I go back to the QR code. Nothing. She comes from behind the desk and does the same thing. Nothing. I have never successfully scanned a QR code. So the woman prints out the stupid CDC form, which she tells me to fill out before going through security.
The lines at security were massive. I stand in them, shuffling along, resigned to my fate. I just go into sheep mode in airports. A man near me collared a security worker and showed that his boarding pass said the gate closes at 11:15. It was 11:15. My boarding pass said the same thing. The security guy let us both through to the front, we skipped a very long line. I ran through duty free--no gin for mom's neighbour, as I had planned. Then through US customs. No one looked at that stupid CDC attestation form. I ran to the gate, sweat pouring. I just had time to go to the bathroom and the plane was boarding. It was just after noon. I was in the last boarding category. So I had about 15 minutes to listen to everyone tell their VeriFly war stories. Apparently the app crashed. Aer Lingus was trying to get us all pre-cleared and it backfired. Despite that, we pulled away from the gate at 12:30, right on time. Although I think some people missed the flight.
On the flight I watched Minari, a depressing film about Korean immigrants trying to make it as farmers in Arkansas. Then A Promising Young Woman, about the ways men manipulate and exploit women who have had one too many drinks. Also depressing. Then one episode of Mare of Easttown, which has a lot of buzz due to Kate Winslet's performance. Also depressing. I left the flight with severe nausea and a blinding headache. I watched the baggage carousel for a while – NOT HELPING. I went and got Advil, finally got my bag, then the shuttle to the Marriott. I laid my weary head to rest, very glad I had abondoned a plan to rent a car upon arrival and drive 50 minutes to Frederick. I had wanted to start the day there by having breakfast with a friend, however I wised up and we agreed to connect on my eastward journey.
Dec. 19