We stayed in a charming vacation rental last week and really enjoyed the comfort of plush furnishings, pretty outdoor spaces and high end decor. However, when we read the comments in the visitor book, we found various comments complaining of the quality of the pillows, number of towels, or lack of specific items of furniture. I was irked by the nit picking. The way I see it, if you require certain comfort items when you travel, you should bring your own, or stay home. And staying home was starting to look pretty good to me yesterday as I sat alone in a Walgreens parking lot at midnight.
I was on my way to our family's annual 4th of July stay at the lake. On the I was dropping off one passenger and picking up another in the Cities. On the whole, road travel in Minnesota is a breeze. I was not at all worried about traveling at night, because I have a phone and a credit card. And as I had a bit of time to kill before picking up my son at the airport, I stopped for gas in west St Paul. This is a residential area I am unfamiliar with, but my phone directed me to the nearest Holiday station which turned out to be small with old pumps. The screen prompted: 'Card or Pay Inside'. I inserted my card and got 'Sale cancelled'. I tried again and the screen went blank. I tried to start fueling and got 'Sale cancelled'. Once again I inserted my card, and this time it approved the sale but only gave me the options: 'Club card or Other ID'. I chose other ID and it asked for my phone number in order to send me text messages. It started to feel like I was in an alien country... why couldn't I just pump gas? I dubiously put in my phone number just to get 'Sale cancelled'. I was about to give up and go elsewhere when I noticed the keypad had a CANCEL button. I kept pressing it until I got a 'Begin fueling'. I filled the tank and expected payment instructions but instead the screen just flashed: 'Thank you'. So I left with a tank full of gas that I might or might not have paid for.
I realized that I was lost and needed directions and a place to wait until the plane's arrival. So I pulled down the darkest side street in the city with no street lights or signs of life. I started to feel my aloneness. I pulled up the directions to a nearby Walgreens that advertised being open 24 hours. Driving in the dark is already a challenge, but having to hold my phone in one hand to follow directions made it worse. I think I probably ran a couple of red lights because I was concentrating so hard on Google maps. To make things worse, I started to received text messages which popped up and covered the directions. Any one-handed attempt to swipe them away made me lose everything and I had to reopen the app. I tried to prop the phone on the dash, but it kept falling to the floor. My progress was erratic, but I eventually found the Walgreens where I rolled up the windows and locked the doors.
By reading the texts I found that the flight had been delayed and I began to wonder about how safe my choice of waiting spot was. There were plenty of people around, but not people like me. They were skateboarders and several smokers. When one party came out with a pizza I decided to explore the store for a snack or drink while I waited. I was surprised to find all the shelves covered with plexiglass displaying the shampoo and deodorant in locked display cases. They must have a problem with shoplifting... maybe another reason not to hang around here too long. So when I received a text about another lot by the airport provided for cars waiting for passengers, I took off.
The
Cell Phone Waiting Lot is bleak and hastily constructed with concrete barriers in the no-man's land between the terminals. However, this time I was surrounded by people like me. The heat forced people outside, pacing and talking on their phones. Although I felt safer, I also began to realize that I could just turn my car around and drive home to the comfort of my home. The flight had been delayed until the next morning, so I had 6 hours... I was very tempted to call it a day (or a night). But we don't travel just to find the comforts of home in another place. Travel should be an adventure, exploring the unknown that might take us out of our comfort zone. It should provide us with a story to tell, of the new things we discovered. So I checked into a cheap hotel, slept a few hours before picking up my son and continuing up to the lake where I am writing this account.
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