Raise your hand quick

I had a business trip to Spokane today. I have a project under construction that I haven't seen since before bids. Now the cmu walls are up, but the steel hasn't been put in yet. So it's just a big concrete room under the blue sky. Stark but nice. I think the client will want a roof, though.

For my return flight, I'd booked the 5:30, just so I wouldn't feel rushed at the site. I returned to the airport at about 2:15. The ticket agent said she couldn't put me on standby for the 2:30 since it was less than 30 minutes before the flight. So she put me on standby for the 3:30.

I walked over to the gate and saw that they were just starting to board the 2:30. The agents at the gate counter had a stack of a dozen or more standby tickets, but they started calling names out. After all the ticketed passengers boarded and they still had several standby tickets they were calling, I asked if there was a chance I could get on. One of the agents said, "No, all the seats are taken." So I sat down.

But I kept watch on them.

They called the last few of their standby tickets, but one guy wasn't showing up. They called him a couple more times.

And then she said, "We have one seat remaining. Whoever can. . ." I start to stand up. ". . . raise their hand the fastest--" My hand shot up like no tomorrow. She pointed at me. "I saw you first." And I got on the plane. She didn't even bother to print out a boarding pass.

Anything to get out of Spokane.