By “close” he meant Los Angeles! I’ve noticed that many people east of the Rocky mountains don’t have a very good perception of western distances, especially on the East coast where their provincial horizons seem to be limited to local neighborhoods. The supervisor was actually shocked that Seattle was 2000 miles from LA. Finally he agreed to provide us with tickets from LA to Seattle but we had less than 10 minutes to catch the “limo” in order to catch the flight to LA.

This seemed the best arrangement we could get so grabbing our tickets, vouchers and bags (from experience we traveled light and never checked our bags) we rushed to the limo loading dock. Riding in a limo sounded pretty good and I was resigned to riding in air conditioned comfort but it was at the loading dock that our adventure truly began.

The “limo” turned out to be an old, decrepit, rusty, brown-colored 15 passenger van that was baking hot in the sun. Almost filled to capacity we’d just made it or so we thought. Squeezing into the last two available seats at the back of the van we expected to leave immediately for International airport since time was short. As usual, it was not to be.

We sat in that hot, humid oven with rivers of sweat cascading off our bodies for an interminable time waiting for the driver to close the doors and get moving. The van was idling and the exhaust wafted through the open side doors right into our nostrils. With the heat, humidity, and exhaust aroma I rapidly became sick and weak. It was a wonder that I didn’t throw up.

Clearly the driver was intent on asphyxiating us all. The general feeling in the van was “Where was the air conditioning?” which quickly degenerated into a discussion on the best way to hijack the van and catch our flight (most of the other van passengers had also been booked on the same flight as ours and were also trying to catch the plane to LA). The discussion got particularly lively when we all chimed in with our favorite gruesome punishment to be inflicted on those in charge of American Airlines responsible for our predicament.

Eventually the reason for the delay was revealed. The driver was waiting for a family that had been stranded by the canceled flight! I had no quarrel with waiting for them but I was concerned that we would miss the promised flight to LA .The airline had refused to hold the LA flight for us and time was getting short.

I also wondered where they were going to seat the new family. We soon found out. They sat on the floor, on laps and anywhere the could find a space (there were no load or seat belt laws in those days). Even so there wasn’t room for everyone. To the driver the “solution” seemed simple. Split the family up! This didn’t sit well with the parents of the young girl that would have to be left behind. Finally they squeezed her in by having her sit on the front floor straddling the gear shift lever.

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