Stand-by

I flew from Orlando back home to Dallas earlier this week. It was one of those situations where I got to the airport much earlier than my flight was scheduled to take off. So I got on the stand-by list to catch an earlier flight. The earlier flight would get me home four hours before I was supposed to land. Four hours may not seem like much, but these were no ordinary four hours. This was the difference between 6 pm and 10 pm. If I get home at 6 pm, then I get dinner with my family, time to play with my kids, a chance to connect with my wife and... it was a Wednesday night - so I also had to watch LOST. Now getting home at 10 pm would mean dinner on my own, the kids already asleep, and Robin waiting up for me with LOST already recorded and the pause button being utilized. Watching LOST is not an option at my house...

So I am at the airport and the new handy technology will post a list of passengers and their number on the stand-by list. I'm at slot 16. This doesn't sound good. I approach the counter and ask how many empty seats they have on the flight and I am told that there are six. So basically, 10 people have to not show up for their flight for me to make it. Not looking good. As our departure time approached they begin to calling people on the plane. You know the routine: Group One, Group Two, etc... They don't do the stand-by people until the end. It's now 10 minutes until departure and they rattle off the first six names. A lot of people have gone down that hallway onto the plane. I'm not feeling good about this one. They call out for three more. Then two. Then another group of three. Now we are talking. My name is number two on the list. It's four minutes prior to departure. The images of dinner with family vs. dinner alone are racing through my head. Will they call me? I'm waiting for the beautiful words to come through the mic - "Passenger McCartney, Passenger Marc McCartney would you please see the attendant at the counter."

They call the next name. It's a minute before departure - they look like they are wrapping things up and ready to go. But don't feel bad for me - I've been here before. The stand-by list can be cruel. She offers the hope of catching the earlier flight, but she rarely comes through. I've been the next one on the list more times than I care to count. I can handle it. It will be a late night, but at least I have my iPod and PSP. I'm gonna be okay.

You see you have to tell yourself these things because you don't want to get your hopes up. You don't want to get disappointed. But deep down inside, you do still hold out hope... And then it came. My name. My time.

I made the flight. I ate dinner with the family. Yes - we ate at Chiloso. I played with the kids. Robin and I took time to talk about stuff. We watched LOST and talked about Jacob. It was good.

I love that stand-by list.