Story of the Day 7/ 18/ 2012 part 1

Today is the day that we travel to Rochester. Sarah and I.

Sarah won a small cash prize in a film competition, and the prize also happened to include two plane tickets and a night's stay in a hotel so that she and a parent or guardian can attend the awards ceremony.

We packed carefully.
Very carefully.
I am one of those neurotic mothers who makes a "packing list" and gives it to my child, and then I add these little instructions like, "Don't forget to pack an extra pair of underwear!" and "Don't forget to pack an extra pair of socks!" and "Don't forget a sweater!" Even though it has barely been under 100 degrees in recent memory.
Well, you never know.
And I pack snacks that cause my daughter to roll her eyes, because, of course, there are no places to buy food on the way to New York, and we might starve.
Not.
And I pack a deck of cards and two books and 5 pens because, well, you never know.
By the time I am done, my carry on bag weighs 147 lbs and contains enough provisions to get us through being marooned for 3 weeks on a desert island.
But I, at least, am calmer.

I have printed out our itinerary.
I have cash and charge cards and my AAA card, and AAA maps and a GPS and a lot of kleenex.
We need the AAA card, and the maps.
In Rochester, where the awards ceremony is, we wil be renting car.
You see, we are using this trip as an excuse to go and annoy Ely.
I mean to visit my son, Ely and annoy him.
I mean to visit my son Ely and have a wonderful time, and hopefully, NOT annoy him.
Too much.

The awards ceremony is tomorrow.
We will arrive in Rochester at about 5:35 PM, spend the night in a hotel, attend the awards ceremony, tomorrow, at lunch time, and then take off in the rental car for Binghamton.
Binghamton is about 3 hours and 15 minutes from Rochester.
Don't worry, I have also packed my wrist splints, my glucosamine and extra assorted arthritis medications for the drive.

The first part of our trip is bumpy.
There is air turbulence.

We are on a fully loaded plane with bunch of Ball State students headed to the east.
The real east, not just Philadelphia or Boston.
They will spend their first night in Thailand and then travel to Malaysia. It is a field work trip.
Apparently, that means it is a field trip for which you get either college credit or an inflated grade. I am not sure which.
I know all of this because the woman in the seat in front of me is quizzing the student sitting next to her.

I would think more kindly about this learning experience, except that I can also easily hear the conversation going on behind me.
It si a conversation between two of the young women going on the field trip I mean field work trip.

The one behind me makes an occasional comment. The conversation is largely being carried on by the 20 something in the seat behind Sarah. She is loud enough that turning off my hearing aid doesn't help.
During the 2 hour and 7 minute flight I learn all kinds of things.
Her friend (not the one she is sitting with) is getting married. "Gosh, everyone is getting married. But that friend is having the world's most hideously awful juvenile wedding. Can you believe it? She is letting people bring their kids to her wedding."
And she has decided to make it family-friendly and have paper tablecloths and crayons to keep people amused.
"And Oh My God! (which is the second most used phrase by this young lady. The first being "and like...") She is going to have, can you believe it? paper flowers. You know those origami things. Have you ever heard of anything so juvenile?"

Apparently juvenile is the worst word this young lady knows, and she keeps repeating it in a drawn-out, disgusted tone.

And,"Oh My God, do you believe that she had to go wedding dress shopping with her?" And she wanted to get this really nice lace dress, but, of course, her "friend" sitting behind us told her that the nice dress didn't go with such a juvenile wedding. Of course, she emphasized that she didn't say it that way, she said it didn't match the theme.
And, on top of that, there were 7 bridesmaids, but only 5 groomsmen. And you need to have the same number of groomsmen as bridesmaids. What was wrong with that couple, don't they understand anything?
Apparently, the friend sitting behind us does understand that this simply is NOT done.
And she made sure to explain to them about that, because you can't have a girl walk down the aisle by herself or with another girl. It isn't "balanced" and "it just doesn't look right", and the whole thing is going to be so awful and unbalanced, and "doesn't she know any better?"
And they still won't draft two other guys! Can you believe that they just won't listen to this "friend"?
She certainly can't believe it.....

And, on top of that, "Oh My God, she didn't even pick out elegant bridesmaid dresses, she picked out a color and told all the bridesmaids to go pick out a dress they liked in that color, and this is going to look so incredibly rag-tag!"

And then there is this guy the "friend" behind us is dating.
He is the brother of someone or another who was stupid enough to fix him up this this young woman.

His sister must really not like him. Or something.

Anyhow, she starts complaining, I mean talking, about him.
Apparently, while she was working at a camp, he offered to drive down and visit.
To take her someplace in the nearby town for dinner.

She told him "No." Sheesh, she only has a few free days and she has friends there and she wants to spend her time with them.
And this guy doesn't get the idea, so he calls her every week. Three times, can you imagine that! And he expects her to make time to see him, when she has friends she is doing things with. And then, camp was over, and he hasn't called about coming and visiting her.
Can you imagine?

"Oh My God", and then there is her friend with the kid, and her friend lets the kid go out places, like to the store with them, and the kid is not wearing an outfit that matches! Can you imagine wanting to be seen with someone whose kid's outfit isn't coordinated.

I, meanwhile, am wondering if the young woman she is telling all of this to is either wearing ear plugs or is planning on putting some ground glass in this girl's Pepsi. Okay, maybe just a very powerful laxative.
It could be a very long field trip for whomever has to share a room with her.