Because I am a good mother, I was up at 4:30 a.m. this morning.  Because I am a girl scout, I sent Day back to college in better shape than I found her.  She came with a horrible cold.  She went back healthy.  I think she did not pass it on to us but it is too early to be absolutely certain.

She had a 7:30 a.m. flight to Hartford.  Her travel agent (aka me) put her on that flight in case of bad weather.  There are very few flights to Hartford, planes often fly full, and I wanted as much leeway as possible, especially as Hartford is just under two hours away from her college and she must rely on school shuttles which run at pre-arranged times.

In any event, we were all ready to leave even earlier than we planned and we just went ahead to the airport.  We were thrilled to discover that the coffee places open quite early.  Day had her last Starbucks white hot chocolate for a while.  There is no such place in her neck of the mountains.

At 6:30 a.m., we realized that the line to get through security was getting very long so Day picked up her things and got in line.  We got in line with her and figured it would be quite a while.  We were wrong.

After Day went into the security area, FogieKnight and I hung out.  Because Day is not 18 yet, we tend to hang until her plane leaves.  If, for any reason, there was a problem and she had to rebook, she does not have a credit card.  We hang around to help, if necessary.

 And so we people-watched.  (Actually, FogieKnight examined the inside of his eyelids for a time, but then joined in watching the people.)  It was then that FogieKnight realized one of the reasons the security line was moving so fast.  Only approximately 75% of the people in the security line were actually flying.  That security line was the “college special.”  Approximately 25% of the people in the line were parents who stood in line with their kids and then stepped out at the last moment with a quick hug.  Amazingly, the hugs were very quick—whether from child embarrassment or fear of security personnel.  The real line was much shorter than it appeared.

Eventually, the flight board showed that Day’s flight had left and FogieKnight and I drove the 45 minutes home and then went back to bed.  Day is gone for another few weeks (although Kat is already on break.)  But we won’t do it again next time.  The morning flight was full for January and she’ll go back in the afternoon next time.