The Written Podcast: Surely, It Can't Be My Fault

The butterfly effect was minimal. My flight got delayed due to a faulty part, I arrived into England (Heathrow, London) 3 hours later than I should have done, resulting in me missing my scheduled coach to take me back to Ipswich. If there were further ramifications stemming from my plane being late, I either haven’t noticed them yet, or they haven’t happened yet, but let’s just hope nothing further will happen. After all, it generally didn’t affect anything important at all. Strictly speaking, I was just pleased to be on familiar territory at this point after spending hours on end getting steadily and continuously uncomfortable.

Emphasising that my plane being late is of no importance to me once back in England is important to what happened when I went to the National Express booking desk where you’re required to show your ticket so they can then let you through the gates and board your scheduled coach.

There was a bit of a line, but the staff were quick with processing the people as most had valid tickets so didn’t need much attention. When it was my turn, I explained exactly what happened regarding my delayed flight and that unfortunately, my ticket has expired.

From my perspective, the plane being delayed due to a faulty part wasn’t my fault. There was nothing I could have done to prevent that part from becoming unreliable. Everyone on that plane were in the hands of the airline who - credit where credit’s due - acted quickly to get the problem sorted. It might have felt like an extremely long time, but that’s only because I was so tired. Looking back, if I included the flight itself, walking through the terminal at Heathrow, I concluded that I’ve never been as tired as I was then. Also, from my perspective, I missed the coach because of something that wasn’t my fault.

National Express, working in tandem with an airport must experience frequent delays every day, especially considering just how many planes go through Heathrow every day. They must understand that sometimes people missing their coaches does happen and therefore should sympathise with those affected because not everyone is only heading for home, but instead could be rushing towards something important. Unfortunately, National Express didn’t sympathise with me, didn’t understand that my plane was delayed through no fault of my own, and requested I pay the full price for another ticket to get home. It was £20. I had that in my wallet. I did pay that, but not after attempting to stand my ground. I asked them why I have to pay for something that wasn’t my fault. If I were messing around and got caught by the security, then I’d understand that it was my fault, but since I missed my coach through an innocent act on my part, it felt unjustified to pay for another ticket. National Express must make a killing each day from delayed flights.

As I mentioned, I did pay for it because all I wanted to do was go home, and I knew that if I continued to stand my ground they’d take things further. It’s easy for them to call security, and airport security is definitely the type of security you do not want to mess with, because they can cause complete and utter chaos to your life. Search through your belongings, ask umpteenth questions, contact relevant people to prove who you are… I’ve never been through nor do I know anyone who has been through it, but from what information I’ve picked up here and there, it’s a lengthy and thorough process which could take hours, and if you’re uncooperative, it can escalate even further from there. The looming possibility of being stuck at Heathrow for hours forced my hand. I paid. But I wasn’t happy.

I did complain to National Express but haven’t heard anything back. For the sake of getting home, £20 is payable. But it’s the cheek of it to eradicate any and all sympathy. What would National Express do if someone couldn’t pay for the ticket - prevent them from boarding entirely until they acquired the money? In hindsight, I should have played that game to see if they’d send me away with directions on how to get to an exchange counter to change my dollars into pound sterling; without an ounce of emotion in their eyes.

Once I was on the coach, I was on the home stretch. The trip to the airport to three hours. The trip back to Ipswich took 4 hours, purely because of the dense traffic on the M25. The coach seats were comfortable, but by this time, I had reached the point of being over tired, where you’re so tired, your adrenaline has kicked in and that’s all what is keeping you awake, subsequently making you feel wide awake. Have you ever tried to get to sleep when you’re wide awake? Sure, some people can do it instantly, but for most, it’s difficult. Your mind doesn’t understand why you’re trying to get some sleep when you don’t need any, and due to the amount of adrenaline soaring through my system, it has tricked my mind into believing it’s wide awake, hence the expression, “over-tired”, because you’ve reached the point where you feel you have gotten over the tiredness. Gone full circle back to being wide awake again. Once the adrenaline runs out, I knew I would crash immediately. I was just hoping that would be in my own bed at the time so I can get a decent night’s sleep.

When the coach pulled into Ipswich and my mum and dad and my dog, Jerry, was waiting for me to take me home, I was so relieved to finally be on the last few miles before stepping in through that front door and collapsing in a heap on the sofa, something I’ve been wanting to do ever since they announced my plane was delayed. My holiday was over. Once I wake up tomorrow, that’s it; it’s just another day. I will never forget that holiday, especially now that I’ve written it down.

It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and I’m so glad I grasped it with both hands. Going to New York, especially on my own, was a momentous achievement for me, someone who, at college, would never, ever, dream of going to New York on my own. I even surprised a few people when I stated I’d be going on my own, because they never saw me as the type of person to do so… I’m glad I proved them wrong, unintentionally speaking of course since I didn’t go to New York to show those who believe I couldn’t do it, but instead as it was an opportunity I knew I needed to experience otherwise I would regret it forever.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)