Everyone seems to have an excuse for being absent-minded. Expectant mom's blame it on the pregnancy, the elderly attribute it to old age. Myself? I've got a serious case of Plane-Brain. Something about the altitude and the lower concentration of oxygen in the cabin affects my ability to remember things and occasionally hinders my common sense. Or at least that's the story I'm sticking with. This summer, I had to take full responsibility for my stupidity, but now I'm back in the skies and Plane-Brain is back in full force. Only a week back on the job, and I've already made myself look silly a few times. First, I opted out of stopping at my temporary home in Calgary after my flight to save time and head straight to Red Deer. In the process, I realized that I'd forgot to bring my shampoo, camera, and any type of handbag. No big deal, I coped. After that, I got lost several times in my attempts to meet Ryan after work. I made it, after having some unkind words with my GPS. My finest moment, however, came today.
I've been looking forward to my next flight since the day that the schedule came out. Today I left Edmonton bound for Red Deer, where I packed my bags, bought a travel-sized sunscreen, and considered myself almost set to go to Hawaii. Tomorrow would be so exciting! I procrastinated driving to Calgary, finally giving in and hitting the road. Coffee in my cupholder, I was heading for the highway when I my phone buzzed with a text message. Now I know, I shouldn't be reading my messages when I'm driving, but in my defence I was at a red light, and I'm glad that I did! It was Ryan, asking why I was leaving so early when my flight wasn't until Thursday and today was Tuesday. What did he know, that silly boy?! I surely could keep track of my schedule better than him. I shrugged it off at first, until I stopped to think about it. I'd known all along that my flight was on November 3rd, and I was well aware of the fact that today was only the 1st. I'm not quite sure why I'd assumed that we'd be skipping poor November 2nd, but it finally dawned on me that Ryan was right. I didn't have a flight tomorrow. Why was I driving to Calgary?
I turned around and drove back to my mom's place, where I told her my story as she laughed at me. I'm not going to Hawaii tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow.
I'm just relieved that I realized it before showing up at the gate ready to board the aircraft. Now that would have been a rather awkward situation!
It was a ridiculous mistake that any smart person would have never made. Well... you know what? Whatever. I blame the altitude. Even if I've spent the past week on the ground.
(A bit of photographic evidence of altitude-induced craziness amongst the crew... long haul flight on my former airline.)