Worst. Flight. Ever.

As you know from my last posting, I took a quick jaunt down to Florida for a weekend of sun and fun on the beach. Not to worry, fun and entirely too much sun was had, but the trip did not start out the way I had planned. I got to the airport early, as is my usual custom. I like to stake out my gate, grab something to eat, and perhaps find a perch in the bar and enjoy a cocktail and watch the travelers. MDW to TPA is the perfect flight for a good nap. A little over two hours, when I fly in late knowing that we will be going out straight away, the nap is perfect.

Well.

The airport was packed. No spots at the bar for me to sit. Oh, and all flights to Florida were delayed, causing me stress, thinking that I was going to be delayed. After a nice chat with my mom, I was relieved to note that my flight was only five minutes late. I found that the Greek place in Midway offered Greek yogurt and fruit, so I had something healthy to eat, boarded the plane with ease and settled in for my planned two-hour nap.

But I was thwarted. I pretended that the baby that boarded during the "Family Boarding" hadn't let out a horrific shriek as he boarded. I pretended that he did not make that same shriek as I sad down several rows behind him. But as I put in my headphones, I realized with horror that the baby would. not. stop. crying. Despite cranking up my ipod to a relatively loud volume, that baby shrieked every five minutes or so for the entire flight. Oh, and turns out, there were some sorority girls sitting two rows behind me heading down to Tampa for a beachy weekend too. I realized that about an hour into the flight when their squeals of "I am SO ready for the beach, Courtney," began to pop out of their mouths, adding another dimension to the baby shrieking. Oh, and twenty minutes before landing, something really hilarious began happening because I discovered I was sharing the plan with a clap-laugher. You know what I am talking about, the guy that punctuates each "ha ha" with a loud clap.

Needless to say, with the baby, the girls and the clap-laugher making such a disruptive symphony of annoyance, I did not get my nap.

Rest assured, I did have a cocktail to recover soon thereafter. And vacation was back on. Thank goodness.