Yesterday, about 1:30 am Missouri time, I flagged down a bus on the streets of Madrid, Spain and took it to the Madrid International Airport. I’ll admit I was a little bit excited for this day! After being gone for six weeks — away from my family, away from the ministry that I love — I was ready to get back home!
I checked in at American Airlines, cleared security, and had plenty of time to make it to my gate. I boarded a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but as the plane was just about ready to taxi to the runway, all of a sudden this spitfire of a tiny, older, Spanish lady jumped out of her seat and started railing against the flight attendants.
From where I was, I couldn’t understand everything she was saying, but she was obviously very upset about her seat assignment. She was taking the opportunity to voice her extreme anger to several of the flight attendants. This went on for quite a little bit with different ones trying to calm her down, without success.
About then, a very official-looking lady got on the plane and walked straight to her. I heard her say, “Ma’am, you bumped a flight attendant and, just so you know, that is a federal offense! And what’s more, you are currently keeping this plane from departing.”
Then she got closer to her, and I couldn’t hear what else was being said, but this conversation went on for quite some time. What I gathered was that she was basically giving her a choice of sitting down and behaving herself or they would escort her off the plane and she would be charged with a federal offense. For her own sake, she made the right choice, sat down, and decided that her seat was okay after all!
With that matter resolved, that big wide-body jet taxied its way to the runway assigned to it. It soon took off and we headed over the North Atlantic Ocean, towards Dallas/Fort Worth.
One thing I would bring up is the matter of the food served during air travel. Maybe it seems a little bit unfair to make a judgment on this matter, but I really believe that those who are in charge of preparing airline food have to go to a special culinary school! The goal at said school is surely to train people how to prepare the worst-tasting food in the world! I’m serious! You can’t accidentally make food taste so horrible.
Now, I’m a person who can eat any type of food, and usually enjoy it. But the last few times I have flown internationally, the food has been of such poor taste that I don’t believe it is by accident. So, I’m sure there’s a super-secretive culinary school that regular citizens like you and me don’t know anything about, whose goal is to teach chefs how to prepare the most unpalatable food possible. Now understand I am partially joking, but only partially! 😆
I will have to say that American Airlines did treat us well in every other way. The flight attendants were kind and professional, the cockpit crew did their job well, and we actually landed about 45 minutes early! There in Dallas, I had about a 4-hour layover before I boarded a Boeing 737 and headed to KC, home of the world-champion Kansas City Chiefs, where my wonderful wife was waiting for me at my 9:36 pm arrival. She was my excellent personal chauffeur for the trip home, where we arrived a little after midnight.
As I wrap up this series of blogs, I just have to say, what an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trip! God protected me on the roads. God protected me in the air. God protected me on the Camino. He brought me home to continue the work that still burns deep within my soul! I can hardly wait to work together with you to do our part to see more lives changed by the Good News of Jesus! Let’s continue to be unified. Let’s spend plenty of time on our knees in prayer. And then let’s jump to our feet in action.
Thanks again for joining me on this amazing sabbatical, as we together walked the Camino de Santiago.
But it is good to be home!
The End