Last Friday, after a tough football loss in overtime to Middlesex School on our home field, I found myself slowly walking back to the locker room with my teammates. As I began to take off my pads and get ready to shower back in my dorm across campus, I heard my name being called, “Jed! Jed! Is he in here? The bus to Logan is leaving now!” Being very weary and slightly annoyed, I made my way out to the Athletic Center lobby, still sweaty and wearing my eye black from the game. I realized that the double overtime took the game far past the time that it was supposed to end.
I was informed that I had three minutes to run back to my dorm across campus to try and gather my belongings in order to make the bus to Boston Logan airport! I knew in the back of my mind that I had made a mistake in not bringing my bags to the locker room, and I was surely going to miss the bus, but nevertheless I jogged painfully back to my room to get my bags and came back to the Athletic Center. As I expected, the bus was nowhere in sight. Ms. Harlan was forced to be the bearer of bad news in this situation, and she informed me that three other students would have missed their flights had the bus been delayed for me. I was not angry, but rather resigned to the fact that I would now likely not make my flight back to Huntsville.
However, as luck would have it, the Kandels (the family of my roommate) were loitering around the lobby, surely waiting for Matthew to finish showering so they could go to dinner. They kindly asked me if I was all set to get to the airport on time, but I told them that I had missed the bus. We all knew that, with the Friday afternoon traffic, it would be very slow driving and we would not get to the airport on time, so they invited me to come eat with them, and even spend the night at their house nearby. I informed both of my parents of the unfolding events, and my dad said that he would try and hunt down a flight in the morning so I could still get home in the afternoon on Saturday. To make a longer story short, I ate sushi with the Kandels, went to bed early that night on their extra twin bed, and woke up very early to get a ride to the Manchester airport in New Hampshire. I got home around three in the afternoon and then began my long weekend. It was great to see my dog and some friends, but it really felt like a “short weekend,” because I had to fly back up north around lunch on Monday. I hope that things go more smoothly next time, so I can get home more quickly to make the trip really feel worth it! Looking back, I made quite the mistake by not leaving my bags in the locker room.