Exuma Bahamas III Or Why I Hate American Airlines

1999

April 19th through April 24th, 1999 

I had a rough time getting to the Bahamas this year. My mum had graciously bumped our tickets up to first class and I was excited to be actually flying first class...never done it before. When we got to the airport at 5 AM, the first class ticket agent at AMERICAN AIRLINES screwed us. They were completely overbooked. This bald butthead with an attitude told me that my son could not get on the plane because his birth certificate didn't have a stamp. Oh really...I've only been going to Exuma for the past four years with no problem, that we practically know the Customs folk by their first names, that my mother who was accompanying us was a landowner down there made that no problem did not fly with the middle aged, sexless jerk. Yes. Nothing worked. He was so condescending. He absolutely refused to allow us on board. I hugged my mum and told her to go on without us. As my son cried because he wasn't getting to go to the Bahamas, I called my dad to have him pick us up. He had just gotten home from dropping us off.

My mum said that not only were they completely overbooked, but they had no food to serve first class. I HATE AMERICAN AIRLINES.  We were stranded in Boston 200 miles from home. When I told the bald asshole this, he didn't care. FUCK HIM.

Needless to say, we needed to get through to Concord NH to get a fax of something that showed that the real piece of paper in my hand along with the fax should be viewed as having been really stamped. It was stupid. Dad had to come all the way back into Boston to pick us up because we were stranded. It also meant getting up at 4:00 in the morning AGAIN, the next day. I felt so bad for my dad. When we showed up on Tuesday, I had all the right paperwork for my son, according to what the idiot from yesterday had said. This time, I was first in line at the ticket counter as they opened. The woman said she couldn't let me on the plane because my passport had expired. First, you don't need a passport for the Bahamas, and second, it wasn't a problem yesterday. I told her in no uncertain terms that there was no fucking way I wasn't getting on that plane, that we'd been bumped the day before and you might as well get airport security because my son and I were not leaving. AT that moment, while she was shaking her head "no", my birth certificate fell out of the back of my passport. "Aha! Now what can you say?" I said smugly. She said there were no more seats left in first class and that we'd have to ride coach. I looked around the airport. We were the first people signing in. Who were they kidding? I should have continued to harass her about this, but, hey, we were on our way to the Bahamas and we'd already lost time.

Luckily, my mum took all of the luggage with her the previous day, including mine and Will's, so we only had the carry ons. This made the trip so much easier. We landed in Georgetown early afternoon. It was warm and sunny and the water was a deep aqua. I was so glad to be here.

The townhouses...we stayed in the middle one, instead of up at the White House this year. The construction quality was fair, and some of the ergonomics were bizarre...the whirlpool tub in Mum's room had the faucet on the back wall - you had to step into the tub to get the water flowing. The tile was really slippery as well. The layout was okay and it came with all the modern conveniences, a full kitchen, laundry, dishwasher...I didn't see a water filtration system, but if there isn't one, the lime in the water will kill that dishwasher in six months.