Karma is a Bitch

A reminder to listen to your mother.

I woke up in my childhood home. I was procrastinating getting up when my mom peeked her head into the bedroom. “Don’t you need to get up?” she said, “Didn’t you say you were leaving at 7am?” It was 6:35 and I had 25 minutes. Plenty of time to get out the door. I immediately regressed to my teenaged self and obnoxiously said, “Really Mom? I’ve got this! Don’t you think I know how to make a flight? I’m 55 years old and I’ve never missed a flight.” It was like I had traveled back in time to when my mom would nag me to get out of bed for school.

“Ha. Ha. Ha,” said Karma. “We will show you not to disrespect your mother!”

I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. With the water saver shower head dribbling down it occurred to me I might have screwed up. If my flight was leaving at 9:53am, how would I reach Seattle by 11:10am?

Turns out my flight was at 8:53am not the 9:53 which I had built my morning schedule around. But it was only 6:50 so I had over two hours to get to the airport. Not the usual time padding I like for the unpredictable Bay Area traffic and SFO security, but I was still pretty confident. I have TSA pre-check after all.

“Ha!” said Karma. Things went down from there…

Bay Area traffic was horrific, my chatty and conspiracy addled Uber driver was pokey slow, the clock kept ticking.

When I realized I might not make my flight I called my son Jacob who works for United. He found a flight two hours later for a reasonable $98 with his discount. He offered to book it for me. I was still optimistic I would make my flight and declined.

“Ha, ha,” said Karma again.

Jacob in Chicago

When I was 100% sure I would not make my flight I called Jacob back. The seats were gone. Next United flight was at 4pm and more expensive.

“Ha, ha, ha,” repeated Karma.

What now? Should I take the late afternoon United flight? It was sunny in Seattle and I had lovely afternoon plans that seemed to be circling the drain. I started looking at other options.

I found a 11:30am flight on Alaska Airlines. It was infinitely more expensive than the free flight I had initially planned to take. It was definitely more than if I accepted Jacob’s offer of the $98 flight. Whatever decision I made, I would miss a fun lunch I had scheduled upon arrival.

I conferred with Mike. He graciously said, “Just bite the bullet and buy the ticket.” So I did. And then I cancelled my lunch, bought a latte and indulged in TikTok since I felt sorry for myself and needed a distraction.

Very happy to finally be on a flight.

I am fortunate to be able to travel at all, and even more fortunate to have the resources to solve a travel snafu with money.

My experience reminded me of my mom’s saying, “If you can’t handle a fuck-up don’t leave home.” My mom taught me that, but more importantly to pay attention to the details including knowing where I am going and what time I need to get there. And whenever she can she has always been there to wake me up and get me on my way.

This was definitely a refresher that you should always listen to you mother. And, if you are too old to listen to your mom, Karma will prove you wrong.

My wise mom in front out my childhood house in Berkeley.