We want plans to not work out.
We are crazy. Bored and under-stimulated by the monotony of consumerist culture, we create obstacles for ourselves to give ourselves the illusion that we are doing something special. It’s fun.
Today we had a great time at the Helsinki airport where we arrived one hour early for our flight to Berlin. We don’t have photos from this special time because I checked my camera with my baggage, stupidly assuming that we’d only be missing what in a regular traveler's life would be mundane moments waiting for their flight. But not for us. This is when the magic happens. We keep lamenting the fact that we don’t have a third party with us to film and document. Here Jesse pushed me around in circles in a child’s cart. We mocked a gift shop and made a joke about every item being sold in it, from Reindeer rugs to troll magnets. But of course we can’t remember any of them.
Then, since it was time to board, and everyone else was lining up like good drones, we figured this was the perfect opportunity to just sit and read. “I didn’t even read I was just sitting and staring,” says Jesse in disbelief of his own lackadaisical detachment.
When we notice the crowd has dissipated we figure they are ready for us and approach with our boarding passes. The smug Finnish clerks seem pissed and inform us that the gate is closed. We will not be going to Berlin. We delayed the flight. We don’t accept this:
“The plane’s right there, we can just walk on!”
“We waited for you and your luggage has already been removed from cargo. My job might look easy but it’s really, really hard.”
We learn this is a “silent” airport and we are just too content and have no sense of urgency anymore, expecting that we would be audibly summoned if there were any delays. We usually pull this routine off without a hitch.
We assume we cannot replace our tickets for a later flight since it is our fault. The excitement of a new plan takes hold and we embrace this as some kind of divine intervention and decide to make our way to Estonia by ferry.
We book our ferry tickets and take a seat in a cafe at the terminal, prepared for a four hour wait. We purchase provisions assuming we are going on a long hitchhiking adventure that it seems we really want to do, just stopping for wifi to blog. Of course, we have to contact the One World desk in America, to deal with our error, which wasn’t open when we made these decisions at the airport.
Rescheduling is a simple matter for them, and as usual, the friendly American agent on the phone is always happy to waive the surcharges for us.
In other words, we get most excited, when we make mistakes. Wish it would happen more often.
