The Substitute

This year's birthday party for Jim and Eric was set to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at Jean's house. Jim was due to fly in from Houston for the shindig that morning. We purposely booked him on the first Delta flight out that day so if there was any sort of delay, he would at least arrive in Detroit mid-afternoon on the second flight. Almost as if we were experiencing some sort of self-fulfilled prophecy, the aircraft for Jim's early a.m. flight developed a mechanical problem before take-off and the passengers were shuffled back into the terminal to await further information. There were still hours until the next Houston-Detroit flight was scheduled, so we were confident that the issue with the first plane would be fixed long before we had to concern ourselves with rebooking Jim. When the mechanical problem lingered on without resolve for 30 minutes, then 60 minutes, then 90 minutes, I began to check out alternate flights for Jim on the internet. Unfortunately, I noticed that the second IAH-DTW flight was already running three hours late that day. Jim then phoned to inform me that his original flight had just been officially canceled and he was in a huge line waiting to rebook. I suggested that he either call Delta or wander down to a different gate agent. A short time later, he let me know that he had successfully confirmed himself onto the next flight - but, wait a minute, that was the one that was delayed three hours. By then, Jim was tired of waiting in lines, so he simply phoned Delta and was able to rebook onto the third Detroit-bound flight of the day, which didn't arrive until 6:34 p.m., but that was still earlier than the second, now-delayed flight. Whew!

So, the party started at 2:00 p.m. without one of the birthday boys. We ate, chatted, and laughed. Eric opened his presents, while Jim's gifts sat in a pile awaiting his arrival. We had cake, with Jacob sitting in to pinch hit for Jim during the ritual singing of "Happy Birthday." Jim's flight got in around 6:45 p.m., and he joined in the festivities around 7:30 p.m. He received a Delta voucher for his troubles, but can you really be properly compensated for missing your own birthday party?

Jacob blew out Jim's candles in his absence. We then sent this picture to Jim's cell phone. He was still in Houston at the time.