Always a Bridesmaid: I'm Not a Puppet, I'm a Real Blogger

Previously...

• So it Begins
• You're Just an L.A. Girl
• My Way or The Our Way

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If you're wondering, "Hmmm... the title of this post sounds familiar...", let me point you in the direction of Shrek.

Remember now? Make sure you keep that in the back of your mind for now. It'll come up later in this post and round it all up in a nice, semi-intelligent, semi-witty manner.

The last time I had to do two flights back-to-back was when I was on a family trip to The Gold Coast and our flight from Auckland to Brisbane was cancelled. We did a flight from Auckland to Sydney and then had to grab a connecting flight to Brisbane. We were so tired by the end of the first flight, that when the second flight came about, we were so tired that we pretty much slept the entire time.

I felt a similar way getting on the second flight, only unlike the flight to Brisbane, I was weirded out that it was the middle of the day and there was sun streaming in through the windows. It was easy to pass out on the Brisbane flight since it was at some ridiculous hour, but this time, it was a little bit more difficult. Only a little, though.

As the plane was about to take off, the stewardess made an announcement over the in-flight PA system.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome onboard this afternoon. In a few moments, we will be dimming the cabin lights in order to make our attending staff more attractive. In the event that this is not successful, we will be serving alcohol to further facilitate this."

Everyone on the plane burst out laughing; noone saw it coming, and I loved how the airline staff were able to crack a joke, and make an otherwise routine shuffle between two cities amusing and entertaining.

I zoned in and out throughout the flight, though at one point, I needed to go to the bathroom. A few of us were clustered around the toilet door waiting, and at one point, an air hostess wanted to go past us to get to the drinks trolley at the back of the plane. She said in a loud, authoritative folks, "Could'ya folks move outta th'way so I'z can git through?" I felt a little bit jilted... did I just get told off? Apparently not, since as soon as I moved out of the way to let her pass, she - again, rather loudly - "Thank y'all!"

I had a lot of subtle differences to get used to, and the loud, boisterous mannerisms were very different to what I'd experienced in Australia and New Zealand. Before you think I'm saying it's rude, that's not what I'm saying - it's different. In fact, a loud air hostess is nothing compared to some of the experiences I had in Asia. But I'm digressing.

The end of the flight drew remarkably close remarkably quickly. A girl sitting next to me asked me if I knew where to get gift cards for Costco. Heck, like I'd know where on earth you'd get those from! I explained to her that I wasn't from the USA and had just landed in the country a few hours ago, and she seemed a bit miffed that I couldn't help her. The guy sitting on the other side of me found this whole exchange rather amusing, and gave me a chuckle at my exasperated expression. She definitely had places to be and a strict timeline to be on.

As it turned out, our flight was denied access to landing for about half an hour, since there were thunderstorms at the airport. Ground control instructed the plane to circle in the air until clearance was given to land. I looked down and saw the 'thunderstorms' and thought, "Flipping heck, we would've been on the ground by now if we were in Wellington!" Time went on, and the girl next to me got more and more irritated. She had booked to get on a connecting flight to another city half an hour after this flight landed.

Uh... not the smartest move! I wouldn't do that in New Zealand where there's zero security to get through in domestic airports (Seriously, check in your bags and just walk onto the plane. Freaking awesome. Not sure how long it'll stay that way, but freaking awesome for the now.), so I have no idea how on earth that girl thought she was going to get onto her next plane. She was swearing and hissing and spitting next to me, and as soon as the plane touched down, she was up out of her seat and tearing out of the aircraft.

As the plane landed and I turned on my cellphone to text The One Whom I Was In The Country For, there were several messages from her, mainly instructions on how to get onto the arrival hall - very clear instructions, good for a northern hemisphere noob like me where left is right and right is left and everything feels different. One of the messages said, "We're in the arrival hall, how far away are you?" I had to say to her, "Still on the plane!"

Whoops! I hate having people wait for me, I really do.

What was this destination, this destination that I was at?

It was Denver International Airport, in Colorado. And from the very beginning, I was pretty damn impressed with it. It's a pretty airport, and was several levels up from what it was like at LAX.

I made my way to the arrivals hall, easily following The One Whom I Was In The Country For's instructions - the arrivals hall is landmarked by a massive fountain that greets the arriving passengers.

The fountain wasn't turned on when I arrived, so it wasn't as spectacular as it could have been, but honestly, fountain or no fountain, I was excited.

I had been incredibly close friends with this blogger for years - the sort of friend I never thought I'd deserve to have. Both her and her best friend were standing near the 'fountain', waiting for me, and I saw them through a wall of glass as I came up the escalators into the arrival hall.

Had I the ability to leap over the escalator railing, defy gravity, and smash through glass without being cut to get over to them both faster, I would've. That's how excited I was to see them.

I tore through the masses of people towards them - quite possibly knocking over several small children and grandmothers in the process. Civilian casualties, I'm afraid; absolutely unavoidable. They were in the way of an unstoppable force!

Goodness knows what Christie and her best friend Triple S were thinking as this big, jetlagged beast steamrolled towards them!

As soon as I was in striking distance, I gave Christie the biggest of biggest hugs that you can imagine.

And then she said to me with sheer delight and excitement...

"You're real!!!"

She took the words right out of my mouth. I'm not a puppet, I'm real.

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To be continued...