#hereicome

“Hi, I’m here to check into my flight,” I say as I hand over my passport.

“Thank you, let me find your information,” the attendant replies. “Ah yes, here you are. Will you be checking any bags today?”

“Yes,” I say, putting three massive bags on the scale.

“Are you going to carry-on a bag too?” she asks.

I blush and nod slightly.

“Okay, let me tag your bags, print your pass, and you should be good to go.”

“I know it’s a lot, but my brother’s getting married. Some are gifts, wedding outfits, and shoes. I don’t usually fly with this much stuff,” I feel the need to explain.

The attendant just smiles and continues typing away at her keyboard. “When’s the wedding?” she asks as she hands me my boarding pass.

“In a few days. Tomorrow’s the rehearsal dinner, and I can’t wait!” I exclaim.

“Have a good flight,” she says, already turning to the next person in line.

My phone rings.

“Hi, Mom. Yes, I just checked my bags. Yes, my flight is on time. No, I’m not through security yet. Yes, okay, I’ll call you when I’m through,” I say quickly before hanging up.

The Portland Airport is one of the most unique airports I’ve visited. Even the carpet is cool. It depicts the north and south runways from a bird’s-eye view. It also has a movie theater inside and restaurants with not-your-typical airport food. It’s one of the reasons I love flying out of this airport. I find my way to security.

“Shoes in one bin, laptops in another. Make sure your liquids are in a sealed plastic baggie and in a separate bin,” I hear on repeat.

When it’s my turn, I move on autopilot, separating my items into bins. As I approach the scanner, I realize I still have my watch on. I hold my breath as I walk through the scanner. I do not want it to go off, I hate this part. I continue walking and wait for an alarm to ring, but nothing. What a relief! I gather my things and head toward my gate. My phone rings again.

“Geez, Mom, it’s been only 20 minutes. Yes, I just got through security. I was going to call you, but I literally just got through. I don’t know. I haven’t seen a flight board since I last called. You know you could look up my flight too instead of asking me. Okay, fine, I’ll find a flight board,” I tell her.

Looking around, I easily see a board and look for my flight. “Still on time, so don’t worry; in a little over three hours, I’ll be seeing you. Okay, love you too. Bye.”

I see other people taking selfies of their feet with the airport carpet and decide I need one of those too. It would would look better with more feet like others, but my solo shot will have to do. #onmyway #brotherswedding #portlandairportrocks #momlookimfine, I tag my photo as I post it to Instagram.

My stomach rumbles, so I decide to eat. Pho sounds good, but it might send me to the bathroom- bad idea with a window seat. A burger and fries is pretty greasy and might make my stomach feel even more queasy than it already feels about flying. I’m not a big fan of prepared lunch meat sandwiches because they might have been sitting there for days. So I choose a rice bowl. Nothing could go wrong with that choice, right? Oh shoot, beans can make me gassy. I guess we’ll just hope for the best as I take my first bite!

My phone buzzes. It’s my flight notifying me that it now has an hour delay. Well, that’s a bit of a bummer, I think to myself, but now I can just eat slowly and enjoy my meal. I take a few bites, check my Instagram. I have a few likes on my photo, and start to zone out. 

Suddenly I’m interrupted by an announcement, “Attention all customers, all flights are currently indefinitely postponed. Please remain calm, and we will update you shortly.” And that was it.

“What does that mean?” I hear the people eating next to me say.

“That’s weird, right? I’ve never heard them make an announcement for the entire airport. One or two flights, sure, but the whole airport? Something must have happened,” the other person replies.

Okay, no need to panic. I think to myself. I grab my phone and I search ‘Portland Airport cancels all flights’—nothing. I try ‘Why does an airport cancel flights?’ and get hits. Bad weather? But it’s sunny outside. Safety issues, possible, but the entire airport? Seems unlikely. Not enough staff? I mean, maybe? I decide to walk toward my gate and check. As I approach the gate, there is a long line already in front of the counter. Not sure why this surprises me, of course other people want answers too. Time to join the line!

Fifteen minutes later, I haven’t moved very much, and people around me are getting a little more vocal.

My phone rings. “Hi, Mom. Actually, no, I’m not waiting to board because my flight is delayed. They made an announcement for the whole airport, and no planes are flying anywhere. I don’t know, Mom, I’m actually in line right now trying to find out. I know that James’s wedding is in three days, and I’m trying to get there. I don’t know what you want me to do about it, but I have to go; I’m next,” I say as I hang up the phone.

The same airport employee that checked my bags is now behind this desk. When I was little, I thought the airlines just hired twins so they could work in both places at the same time. Now I realize it’s the same person, and the reason you have to check into your flight by a certain time. It’s also why if you get to the gate too early there will be no one there.

“That doesn’t answer the question!” the person in front of me yells while pounding his fist on the counter. “Just refund me my money, and I’ll find a different way there.”

“I’m sorry, sir, we can’t do that,” the attendant replies.

“The hell you can’t. You can’t steal my money like this. I paid for a flight, and you aren’t providing that flight. I want my money back!” He screams.

“I’m sorry, sir, this is a unique situation, and our policy doesn’t allow refunds this close to the flight. You can try calling our 1-800 number,” she offers.

“I don’t want to call your stupid number because you can’t do your job,” he bites back before turning away.

“Next,” she calls.

“Hi, umm, I just kind of wanted to know what’s going on,” I utter.

“Yeah, you and everyone else. I don’t know, I can’t even get this stupid computer to connect to the internet anymore. If you call our 1-800 number, they might have some answers,” she directs me.

“It’s just that I need to get to my brother’s wedding. Remember how I told you that at check-in?” I say.

“I checked in over 200 passengers for this flight, and I do the same exact thing every day. Do you honestly expect me to remember you? Do you think you’re the only person who has somewhere to be?” She admonishes me.

“Okay, I’ll call the number. Thanks for your help,” I squeak.

“Next,” I hear in the background as I walk away.

I type the numbers into my phone and hear the following message: “Thank you for calling High in the Sky Airlines. Your estimated wait time is two hours. You can stay on the line or leave your number, and we’ll call you back when it’s your turn.” There’s no way I’m waiting on my phone for two hours, so I type my number and hang up. What’s actually going on, I wonder? I decide to distract myself by finding the microcinema in this airport. Sure, I could watch something on my phone, but I think sitting in a theater might calm me down a bit.

  As I approach the theater, it seems like a lot of other people had this same idea since there’s already a significant line. Looks like there are a couple Oregon Short Films playing so that will be a good distraction. My phone rings again.

“Hi, mom. Yeah, there’s no update. I don’t really know why everything is delayed, but it’s really weird. All the pilots and flight attendants are just sitting around. They even had people come off the plane and back into the airport. I know, they never let you come back through the boarding tunnel!! I don’t know if I could get back out through security. I haven't tried. I’m kind of in line for a movie right now. Mom, there’s nothing I can do right now, so I might as well not freak myself out and watch a short film while I wait. Oh, you saw my picture on instagram? Yeah, that was before everything got messed up. Okay I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

The line in front of me starts to move a lot faster. Finally! As I approach the front I see a handwritten sign taped to the door. “Movie Theater Closed.”  

“That’s weird,” the man behind me says. “I’ve never seen this theater close before. Not to mention I just finished watching a film not even an hour ago.”  

He turns to go.

 Maybe I should go check security?  I suppose if I leave now, I could still drive to Vegas in time for the rehearsal dinner. But how can I get my bags? I bet they are on the plane already, and I really need my things. One step at a time I think as I approach security.

TSA agents are now shouting through megaphones, “I repeat, no one is allowed out of this airport. Leave this area and remain calm.”

This time, I call my mom. “Hey, umm so they aren’t letting people leave the airport either. I’m starting to worry. This is really weird. What did you say? How would the TV know? Did they say why? What kind of security breach? Did they say how long it would take? I don’t know what to do.”

Just then another announcement came over the loudspeakers. Everyone please remain calm and please go to the gate that you were assigned. There has been a cyber attack and we are working on restoring communications. I repeat please remain calm and slowly go to your gate.”

“Hey umm Mom, what’s a cyber attack?. Yeah I’ll keep you updated. Love you too. Bye.” I reply. 

“Please go to your gate, and remain calm,” is the new mantra of the security guards. 

I turn towards my gate and take a look at the carpet again. Ironic, here I am standing on the birds-eye view of the of the airport, meanwhile air traffic control has no way of communicating with the rest of the airport. I shake my head and start to leave. 

“Let us out!” A stranger yells.

“You can’t keep us here!” Proclaims another. 

“We have rights, you know, and if there’s a threat I have a right to leave!”

You can’t make me stay!” a man screams and he runs towards the security line.  

He’s instantly tackled and restrained to the ground. I decide I should leave before things get worse. 

“WAAAAAHHH!” Is the sound piercing through the crowd. I turn and see a young child in the middle of the walkway by themselves.

“Hi, where is your parent?” I ask.

“My payrent is bye bye,” the small child responds.

“What do you mean bye bye?” I continue.

“Momma said she has to go bye bye and weft,” sniffles the kid.

“Okay, let's go find her? I bet she’s close,” I reassure.

With a look of uncertainty he nods and grabs my hand. We walk towards the closest store so I can get some help, and there is no clerk on site.  I watch a woman walk in, grab a bag of chips, and leave without paying. 

 I lean down to the boy and ask, “What does your mommy look like?”  

“I don’t member, she’s gone now,” he replies.

A small mob of about five people run into the store.

A big man yells, “Grab all the supplies you can! We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck here, and I am not going to be the one who starves. 

I face the child, “Hey ummm, we should probably leave this store. They were telling people to go to their gates so maybe we can find your mommy there.” 

We leave the store as quickly as a little legs can go. Just as we’re exiting the store, a woman comes up and slaps me in the face.

“How dare you kidnap my son!” She yells at me.

“Momma!’ The little boy yells and runs to her to give her a hug.

Still in shock from the slap, I just turn to leave. I just need to get to my gate. Everything will be fine at the gate I tell myself.

“Excuse me, we’re not done here,” the Mother yells at me.

“I think we are,” I shake my head and leave.

I’m not sure why I was expecting my gate to be any more normal than the rest of the airport, except there is no one working the counter. She’s curled up in a ball in the corner refusing to talk to anyone. Suddenly my phone rings.

“Hey mom, it’s really crazy here; I can’t talk. Oh, wait sorry I thought you were my mom. Yeah, I am on the flight departing from Portland. The person at the desk said to call this number to get some answers. Okay, so you don’t know what’s going on either? Okay, I guess. Thanks? Yeah, bye.” 

Maybe hiding is best. I grab my headphones to drown out the chaos, but the lights go out as soon as I put them on. Thankfully there’s a lot of natural light, but it’s still really eerie here and I don’t feel safe. I’m going to be okay, I think to myself. I am fine, this is all normal. I repeat this over and over again wishing it to be true. 

I don’t know how much time has passed, when another announcement wakes me up from my trance. “Thank you for your patience, the threat has been cleared. All flights can resume as regularly scheduled.”

The lights turn back on and just like that, the airport is back to normal. The airline worker comes out of the corner, the pilot straightens their uniform and walks through the tunnel, the store clerks returns to whatever is left to sell on the shelves. 

Not too long after I hear, “Now boarding from Portland to Vegas.”

I snap a picture of the boarding sign. #weddinghereicome #whatjusthappened?