Day 17.151: Frustratingly close

I arrived at Boston Logan airport about twenty minutes before Exile #2's mum's flight's* scheduled arrival time. By the time I'd parked and made it to the arrivals area, another ten minutes had passed, and the flight had landed - about fifteen minutes early.

After a quick check of the area to ensure she hadn't got out spectacularly quickly, I settled in to wait.

And wait.

After about 90 minutes, I was beginning to wonder if there had been a problem, and attempted to contact both the airline and the airport assistance lines to see if there was anything they could tell me. There wasn't.

Fortunately, someone else meeting someone from the same flight overheard part of my conversation and was able to give me an update. Apparently, the flight, having landed, found the gate they were due to use blocked by an unrelated broken-down plane and no other gates were available. Eventually, they found a spot at another gate - but only after a two hour wait. It was certainly a relief to know what kind of issue was causing the long delay.

While we continued to wait, I spoke my informant a bit. He was from Italy originally and was meeting an Italian friend who lives in Wales (where Exile #2 and her family are from) - explaining why he was wearing a "Cymru" hat. Then it turned out that his mother lives in England - and not just that, but in the small Yorkshire town where I lived from one to eleven years old.

Soon enough, his friend came out and they left and shortly after, Exile #2's mum emerged as well, and we had a fairly uneventful drive home.

* I enjoyed this little possessives' party