here & now

It was yesterday at 9:45pm at Brussels airport that we had passed miscellaneous counters and security lines, an hour of delay time and finally reached the last desk separating us from our plane. There it turned out that we (and all check points before) were ignorant of being 24 hours late for the flight I had booked us on. And even though there were still seats available on the current plane it was impossible to book us two new tickets (no tickets to book at the final desk and not enough time to walk back to the main counter on what had felt like 5 miles of treadmill walking, no credit card numbers accepted through the phone, due to the flight being delayed no online booking possible etc.pp.). After 15 minutes unsuccessful suggestions, which were all denied, and frustration began to settle in with the rather unattractive prospect of a late night hotel hunt becoming more and more likely, a final attempt was made: Ask the pilot, he’s the boss! And indeed the pilot’s words ruled out any doubt: ‘If you have made it here without a valid ticket you shall not be stopped’. And on we went as stand-by passengers, for free. Thank you Daniel!!!