Embarrassing Mistake - by Dad

Embarrassing mistake, Personal hx , Kent McDonald


An embarrassing mistake?? What? You want me to embarrass myself? I have to think of something funny and not too embarrassing. Let me think.
Ok, here is one.  I'm afraid this is one you all know about. It was spring2010, my year to go to the ACP meeting and mom and I are really excited because the meeting is in Toronto, Canada. We have never been to Toronto or to Canada for that matter, it is supposed to be beautiful in the spring and we have some friends we are going to hook up with and mom gets tickets for an exhibit that is in town while we are there for us and our friends. Boy we are excited. So a week before the trip, we have already made our plane and hotel reservations and researched about Toronto, the art and music that will be there, etc. so we start to pack and I go to the file cabinet where we keep our passports to gather up our paperwork. Guess what? Of course you know. Our passports expired 6 months ago. We scramble, we make calls, we figure and finagle. Th ere is absolutely no way to get our passports renewed in time. We call friends who have traveled to Canada recently, the Birds , etc. it used to be before 9/11 you could go in without a passport. Then you just needed one to get back. We thought if you got into Canada, we could then go to an embassy or consulate and get it renewed. We tried to figure every angle. Finally we decided to just try getting onto the airplane. Before we did, we went to the immigration office at the airport the day of our flight. No help.
So we go to the airline desk to try checking in to the flight. You know the answer. No negotiating or begging or pleading is necessary. The answer is just plain no. No way. Can't be done. What a let down. But we can use our credit flying on canada air within a year. So now I have 5 days off work, about $2500 in plane tickets and reservations that we can't use, and we are sitting in the las Vegas airport.
Well, I did feel pretty bad.  But mom and I have learned to make the best we can out of a bad situation . We called and cancelled what we could and ended  salvaging all but the airline tickets. Of course, we had to confess to our friends that I was too dumb to check our passports before planning a trip to another country. But we ended up going to California and having artery fun vacation. So all was not lost.
The moral of this story? Check your pass or be an ass...
Love, Dad