Sometimes, ladies and gents, a pair of wet jeans marks the beginning of a long and exciting journey.
For the next five days, I will be exploring the ins and outs of Dublin, Ireland- a city and country I have always desired to visit and admire. Yet, to get there, I had to endure a very interesting morning. I began my day at 4AM where I proceeded to get ready to leave at 4:30 for my thirty minute walk to the bus station downtown, which would consequently bring me to Edinburgh Airport for my flight. In retrospect, not choosing to take a taxi downtown was an incredibly stupid decision, but I choose otherwise with the thought that walking for a while would wake me up. Well, it did do so...in its own way.
I woke up with eyes still half-closed and struggled to get ready, leaving my flat five minutes late. Yet just as I walked a few blocks, I realized I forgot a few essential items and rushed back. I was now 15 minutes late and only had 30 minutes exactly until my bus left. I walked like a cheetah, pacing my step off another man who appeared to be late for a bus as well. The walk took much longer than planned and so I was forced to sprint about 6 blocks and charge up a hill with fierce intensity. Did I forget to mention it was pouring rain out as well? Well yeah...that too.
After finally reaching my bus and removing every layer of clothing possible, without being inappropriate, to relieve my sweaty body, I passed out for the entire ride, waking up in a comatose-like stupor once we got to the airport. I got through security with no issues and ate breakfast, passing by the hour and a half wait I had until my flight boarded.
Now in reference to the wet jeans... Let me summarize: I washed all of the clothes for my Irish adventure last night but despite two rounds in the dryer, all of my clothes were still soaking wet. Yes, I could have waited for another dryer to be open and dry them then, but as I believe we have established, I have not made the best life choices in the past twenty-four hours. Consequently, my jeans throughout this whole morning have been soaked and with every step, felt more and more like I was wearing a diaper. The fact that it was raining as well did not help my situation.
Back to the present. Eventually I found out what gate I was at and walked to it all the way at the other side of the airport, far away from security. So there I sat, waiting for them to commence the long and arduous boarding process when I started looking through the photos on my phone. I had screenshots of various things I had to remember for my trip- directions, times, etc. I started deleting the ones I did not need and came upon one which I did not recognize. Just as I am about to zoom in and read it, a lady with a perfectly shaped bun on her head calls out for boarding.
I wait in line for about ten minutes as this lady comes around to check on tickets. At the moment, it is precisely twenty five minutes until the plane takes off. If you have been paying attention, you will know what comes next. The lady, with the impeccable bun that it almost seems fake and actually could anger you at how much time she obviously spent doing that bun that morning and is still as cheerful as an elf on Christmas Day while you are tired and wet, looks at my ticket and says I need to check-in my visa paperwork down by the main entrance. Oh yeah, and she says, "You best move quickly."
Words cannot describe the intensity with which consumed my body for the next thirteen minutes. It took me about 5.2 seconds to comprehend what she said, after which I began to sprint faster than I ever have beforehand. I ran by people boarding flights to London, Belfast, and multiple other cities. I passed so many cafés and restaurants that their smells began to simply meld together. I frantically asked every security personnel where to go, shortening my story down to, "I screwed up. Where's the visa place?" I ran back and forth on the main level to find a short line, got my boarding pass stamped without having to show any documentation, and ran through security in two minutes. With every little muscle in my body, I sprinted back to my gate, only running into one person.
I was the second-to-last person to board the plane and the last to sit down. I sat right next to the lovely bathroom and a couple who slept on one another the entire flight until, right before we began descending, they decided to get drunk on teeny-tiny bottles of vodka. Once I was sitting comfortably, I unlocked my phone and, as usual, my most recent page was up. It was the picture. And as I zoomed in, I remembered what it was. It was a reminder from RyanAir and Edinburgh International Airport to check-in my visa at the service desk by the main entrance, the same desk I was at only a mere five minutes ago. And what did I do then? I laughed. I hysterically laughed like never before at everything that just went down. In thirteen minutes, I accomplished the entire boarding process. I needed a laugh.
This entire venture lasted no more than four hours, and it all began with a pair of wet jeans. Sometimes little things like that really get on our nerves and force us to work through an uncomfortable or unpredictable situation. Yet these moments could turn out to be the best. Sure, I nearly missed my bus and my flight, but I didn't. Looking back, it was a great morning.
I would now like to thank the woman at the security desk, who, in my frantic state and giving my best puppy dog face, allowed me to cut past nearly fifty clearly pissed-off people in the security line. In addition, I would like to apologize to the man who I ran into on my way back to the gate outside the coffee shop, preventing an obviously endearing hug between his wife and him as I ran between them.
It should not be a surprise that life will, ever so often, throw us a curveball. We instinctively want to try and work around it, but sometime it's just fun to go along. Be risky and crazy and spontaneous. Therefore, my word of advice, dear readers, is to not always be afraid or worried about life's curveballs. You never know what adventures lie ahead when you put on a pair of wet jeans.
