When I traveled to Florida in February of this year, I had a scheduled flight home on Delta Airlines at 3:45pm after a nine hour drive from Orlando to Atlanta’s airport, where my plane awaited me. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I left the house we were staying in far too late – I was still hundreds of miles from the airport I was scheduled to depart from when my plane took off – and wound up missing my flight and having to rent a car to drive home from Atlanta, Georgia to Brooklyn, New York – which was a total distance of 829 miles.

When I traveled to Ohio this week, I had a scheduled flight home at 4:05pm from Akron to Cincinnati – but wound up missing the flight due to long lines at the security gate, new security procedures that went into effect that morning – and the fact that thanks to road construction – I arrived at my airport five minutes before my flight was scheduled to depart. After checking in with the Delta representative who told me that he would radio the plane to tell them to wait for me, I ran as fast as I could to the security checkpoint – only to have my name called throughout the airport, stating that I had one minute to reach the gate – despite the fact that there were 25 people in front of me waiting to go through security…

…needless to say – I missed my flight.

Personally, I think there should be accommodations for passengers who show up late due to circumstances beyond their control. It’s not like I headed to the airport lounge and sat there until I got drunk – the truth is that I stopped to have lunch at Scorchers in Canton for some chicken wings – and then headed straight to the airport for my flight home. And if not for the road construction, the new security procedures that went into effect that day – and the fact that they only had one security lane open – I would have been home when I was scheduled to be home instead of the next day.

After I missed my flight, I went back to the Delta check-in window and told them that I had an item for their suggestion box. I suggested that they should allow people who are minutes away from missing their flights the opportunity to move to the front of the security line – so they do not have to pay the exorbitant fee that I had to pay for missing my flight. The response to my suggestion was, “the Federal Government does not reward people who arrive late by moving them ahead of everyone else.” Well, thanks very much for the courtesy – and the kind response to my suggestion.

After I changed my ticket to a 10:14am flight the next day, I did get to spend another night in Ohio with the remaining members of my South Park family, which was an unexpected bonus. But it did mean that I had to say goodbye to them all over again the next morning, which was even harder the second time around.

I love those wonderful people so much that I sometimes wonder why we do not all move to the same town and into the same house. What amazes me about all of us is that despite the fact that we live so many miles from each other – we still manage to be a part of each other’s lives as if we all lived in the same apartment building. I know what is going on in most of their lives more than I do the friends that live here in Brooklyn – and vice versa. We are always there to cheer one another on in times of great joy – and comfort each other in times of great sadness. We are overjoyed when we are together, and lonely when we are apart. I think if we had our way, we would all chip in for an airplane so we could all get together as often as possible. If we did that, then we wouldn’t have to go months without seeing each other, we could plan gatherings at the drop of a hat…

…and I wouldn’t have to miss another flight.

I’ll see you guys soon. I love you all and miss you all already.