Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Heading back to Toronto, I got more adventure than I wanted. Just as the train pulled out of the station around 5:30 pm, word came that an Idle No More related strike would delay the trip. The Mohawk activists were occupying the tracks around Belleville and it was likely to last for several hours.

After a quick conversation with a fellow traveler, a Londoner via Montreal on her way to a friend's wedding in Hamilton, we hopped into a cab and sped to the airport. On the way, I booked two cheap tickets with Porter on my smart phone. Printing out the boarding pass using the self-served kiosk on arrival, we breezed through security and were aboard the 7 pm flight. No doubt her travel tale, including the quick-witted stranger, will enliven the reception.

Sadly, reality wasn't quite so easy. With my typical wishy-washiness, I wasted 20 minutes second-guessing my options. By the time we left at 6, fearing we would miss final boarding, we decided to wait to buy physical tickets. With the lineup at the airport for an agent, the cheap tickets and the flight were gone. The next flight at 8 pm costed twice as much. I bit the bullet but she balked at the price. She eventually resigned herself to a similar flight with Air Canada. The good news was that hers was leaving on time. The bad news for me was that mine was delayed. I forgot from experience that Porter flights to Toronto in the evening will always be late as there is always some issue leaving the Halifax leg. We wished each other good luck and I settled down for the wait.

I wasn't airborne until 10. By that time, I was worried that the plane might miss the noise curfew and have to divert to Pearson or even the Hamilton airport. I got into a Toronto taxi close to 11:30. At home, I found out that the situation back in Ottawa had resolved around 7:30. Ms. S_ still benefitted from her flight but I would have arrived in Toronto not much later if I had stayed put on the train. So it was a wash and I spent $300 unnecessarily.

Looking back bemusedly, what would have been a satisfying and enjoyable result (cheap and quick flight instead of waiting out an uncertain delay) fell apart due to my usual anxious reticence. Given similar precedents, and happening on almost the last day of the year, I think the universe is trying to teach me an important lesson for 2013.