Delta, delays, and Duluth
On July 19th, 2024, I witnessed history. It was the day of the worldwide computer glitch, the CrowdStrike meltdown that would rattle travelers across the world. Walking through the crowds of distressed families that lined the halls of the Cancun airport, tired of buffet food and the Yucatan humidity, I was praying for a miracle. By some seemingly random stroke of luck, our first flight left the tarmac and thus began our journey home.
Four hours later we landed in our layover destination, the grand city of Minneapolis. WIth every step through the terminal, it became seemingly more and more apparent that we would not be making it home any time soon. With no rental cars or hotels available, we begrudgingly accepted our fates, and braved the long night ahead. The flight attendants passed out complimentary pillows and blankets to passengers who lined the halls, as a last ditch effort to provide any possible source of comfort. There were sleeping mats too, but those were quickly snatched up and commodified.
The customer service line closed at 3 am, and silence befell the terminal. The lights never turned off, and their subsequent buzzing kept me company as I wondered, could this night get any worse? To which I say, if you have to ask, the answer is definitely yes.
I woke up face down on the carpet, hair knotted and mascara clumpy. My alarm was the sound of snickering pedestrians on their way to their morning flights. I envied them, for they had the privilege of sleeping in their own beds the night before. I pitied them, for in a few mere moments the situation would quickly lose its novelty as they met cancellations at their own gates.
With the next available flight three days away, we sat on the airport floor planning how we would spend the time. It’s situations like this where coincidence gives way to fate, as my best friend whom I was traveling with happened to be raised in a nearby suburb. I had always heard stories about her upbringing in a small Midwestern town, and I jumped at the opportunity to have a peek into the years that preceded our friendship.
The next day, we made our way a few hours north to Duluth. We stopped by their old home and elementary school, picked up some necessities at the grocery store, and made a mandatory stop at Caribou coffee. As we continued to drive through their hometown, childhood stories of sledding in the neighbors backyard and bundled bus rides to school warmed my cold Californian heart.
Perhaps the most heartwarming sight was the excess of love to spare. In California we chase love away, finding power in our nonchalant demeanors and so-called meaningless endeavors. In Minnesota, they welcome it in and proudly put it on display. Every other teenager in the mall was walking hand in hand with their significant other, a sight rarely seen to be seen back home. Their mid afternoon milkshake walks around the lake put our midnight Dutch runs to shame.
It’s a sentiment that extends far beyond romantic love. Young boys walking proudly with their mothers. Smiles from strangers and small talk in grocery store lines. Please, thank you, and excuse me echoing down the streets like bells on Christmas morning. People in Minnesota wrap themselves in love like a warm winter coat, they worship it like a crackling fireplace, and they share it because they have no other choice.
To me, the Midwest was always a land of corn mazes and confederate flags, bible thumpers and boot barns. Thanks to Delta Airlines and our five day extended layover, my predispositions have been challenged and I now know that it is so much more than that.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned this past year of traveling is that the most meaningful experiences exist in the unexpected. This story is so special to me because it perfectly encapsulates this lesson, and shows how the value of learning about other cultures and ways of life is not exclusive to traveling abroad. Taking the open mindedness and willingness to try new things that I adopted overseas, and applying it to life in the United States has brought new meaning to my experiences. This mindset has encouraged me to lean into last minute plans and changing circumstances as opportunities to add to my catalog of knowledge, instead of dismissing them as inconveniences. Rather than wishing my layovers away, I’m beginning to accept that the value of every journey lies between where you are to where you want to go.
With love,
EHB x
