CROSSROADS

3

Mckenna shifted her position in the uncomfortable airport chair. She noticed a white couple sleeping, their legs hanging off the ends of the row of three connected chairs, their duffle bags worn and dirty. Mckenna figured they must travel a lot. She couldn't imagine falling asleep in an airport. She wouldn't be able to protect her bags if she was 'sleep, and the idea of someone stealing even the smallest of her belongings would get her a one-way ticket with airport security.

Mckenna looked down at her watch. Two hours to spare and she had nothing to do. The airport was virtually shut down, she should have been in Atlanta by the time her flight was going to board. All because she forgot to print her boarding pass. Mckenna made a mental note to never do that again.
She arrived an hour early, only to find all the kiosk stations at the AirTran station broken and only one ticketing agent, who seemed to be moving at a pace equivalent to a snail. The three people in front of her were becoming restless. The couple next in line walked up to the ticket counter. Mckenna wanted to laugh. There in front of her stood a real-life Norbit and Rasputia.

The large woman was loud, making sure everyone knew how tired she was of waiting. She constantly shifted her weight from one overrun flip-flop to the other. Mckenna felt sorry for the frail, little man with her. He looked so unhappy. Mckenna wanted to tell the woman to shut the fuck up, and tell the man to run as fast as he could.

As soon as the man made a quiet gesture for the woman to calm down, she went off.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Hell, we gon' miss our plane, dealing with this bullshit. But I'd bet you would like that, wouldn't you?" She hissed at her husband.
All he could do was turn his head and sigh. Mckenna knew that it couldn't be her. She would have to pull a
"Chris Brown" on a woman like that... and she didn't believe in hitting women.

The couple's turn came. The agent's face dropped, knowing he had a headache headed his way. The agent typed their information in, printed their tickets and proceeded to check their five bags.

"OK, that will be one hundred and ninety dollars," the tall male agent stated. "What! Why?" the Rasputia look-alike snapped. The man in front of Mckenna looked down at this watch and huffed. He shifted his weight from his right leg to his left. Mckenna knew exactly how he felt. "Ma'am, airline policy states that your first checked bag is fifteen dollars, a second one is twenty-five, and each additional bag is fifty dollars."

The woman rolled her eyes. Mckenna wanted to scream but remained calm. She still had thirty minutes to get to her gate. She could make it. The reaction on the man's face in front stated that he didn't even have that long to make it to his destination. "I didn't know anything about that. It didn't say that when I booked the damn flights. I don't think I should have to pay that much to check my bags. Hell, I bought the plane tickets. Y'all always trying to get over on us. That's why your companies are going under." She rolled her neck while her hand flew around.

"Ma'am, the policy has been in effect for a very long time. It is included in the information you are supposed to read before you accept your ticket, and" —the man handed her the reservation page she brought with her-"right here, right on the bottom of your page, it even says it." The agent didn't budge as the gayness in his voice responded in a nasty/nice tone. That only irritated her more.

"See, this man about to ..." she whispered under her voice, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Well, I need to talk to a supervisor because that is ridiculous.
That's more than I paid for the ticket. And I don't like your bad-ass attitude"

"I told you not to pack all those damn bags to begin with," the woman's frustrated husband chimed in.
Mckenna smirked, he had a little backbone after all.
Rasputia shot him a glare that would scare children.
The agent rolled his eyes. "One moment please," the agent said, walking over to another booth to call for a supervisor.