popped balloon@MAN

today i was to set out to geneva to see dear peeps. planned a bit ago, i thought it would be a perfect timing to start out the year, post-audition, to take an advantage of u.k. location. and from the very first mention of it, the plan took a shape quite rapidly and all the sudden, i was en route to the land of fondue, swiss-army knives and ridiculously good chocolates (though the belgians also do justice to cacao products, yes). ah well, forget it, it could have been land of- ooh i dont know, shoes-leather-tanning industry, but i would have gone happily anyways because i wanted to be with people. who, all the sudden, seemed a lot closer.

plane tickets were well-priced. and i got my papers in order. all i had to was show up at the terminal, as usual dull air travel protocol. after a quite a fizzy drive to the airport and the lovely security checks (it was no pain at all! im getting too good at packing), there i was, on the hub, just waiting for the gate number.

then came half hour delay notice. oh fine then.
i broke down and bought a bottle of water.

then another notice of delay of two hours.
i went to the duty free and bought a rather nice jar of strawberry preserve from fortnum & mason. funny, i used to sell these posh jars of mashed fruits back in toronto, when i was working at the ridiculous high end kitchen store. haha. as a frugal traveler *by necessity, i couldnt really splurge and bring two big bottles of grand cru, but a nice jar of jam would be rather fitting for overgrown musical children who refuse to conform. what could be nicer than a good piece of toast, slab of butter and a heaping spoon of sweet jam *i would add a sprinkle of salt as well- along good conversations and simple tea?

then killing more time, i picked up a real trashy paper- the sunday mail it is called. a proper tabloid paper. mr. salamander was mentioning that they used to wrap chips with these news papers. i thought it was miraculous that chips stayed in the paper. considering the contents!!

by this point, i was noticing familiar faces staring at the same point on the 'departure' screen- we were hoping to head to geneva. old. young. busy. bum. short. tall. sweet. savory. whatever. each with stories and expectations. no doubt a few with sad stories, as a few would have been full of happiness and fizzy excitement, like monkey here, being completely foolish, full of hope and heaps of joy.

and then the red strip came across the screen:
flight to geneva cancelled.
the O.N.L.Y.F.L.I.G.H.T.C.A.N.C.E.L.L.E.D.
in this entire afternoon/evening.

we all stared at the screen like a puppy who just dropped his favorite toy to the water, knowing that there is no way that he can retrieve it. it's gone! and it is not replaceable! i must looked real pathetic. okay, i just dropped a tear and my nose was red and a bit soggy.

there was an old man, with yorkshire cap (i just learned this term. in north america, we just call it poorboy or newspaper boy cap, the ones i wear all the time) and a old-fashioned square glasses. i was not aware of his presence in particular until his hand appeared across my eyes: holding a fresh sheet of kleenex.

mumbling some sorts of thanks, monkey took it and blew some snot. some tear. some disappointment.

lots of disappointment.

and as she was trying to refocus her contact lenses after rubbing it off her face, she saw now the familiar hand, holding a piece of werther's original candy. warm light brown, buttery candy in crinkle yellow cellophane wrapping. and when i turned my eyes, he held another one, one for monkey and one for himself.

i took it. unwrapped and ate it.

mustve been a funny scene. two strangers. one with flaming red hair and a yorkshire cap. one with greying, bare hair and a yorkshire cap. staring at the long strip of blue screen of departure information with one red stripe- geneva: cancelled. in milieu of people running frantically to the gate 51, where 'further info' would be released. two puppies with their tails down. the younger one with a faintly red nose and soggy cheeks.

once home, tried to rebook the flight but now the date does not work. so it's put onto 'depressing' pile for now. eventually it's develop into excitement for the next trip i hope. what are the chances that the next plan will be foiled? this is my first ever really cancelled flight. i was due i think. just. really. unfortunate. but is there any great time to have your flight cancalled? nah. and next one on schedule is city of light. on a bus journey. it'll be an epic *trying very hard not to be so pissed off.

love to you all who are dear to me. i would love to be there with all of you. i like where i am but i cant help to think it wouldve been nice to laugh about the kind offering of old school butter candy, slathering great heaping spoonful of jam onto a buttered toast.