The "Big Airplane Strike" Story

It was an ordinary day. We had just finished our stay in St. Martin for the year. Had a
great time, but you know, it's always sucks when you have to come back home after such a great time. We pack our bags early then headed to the beach for our last breakfast and dip in the Caribbean Sea. Water today is 85 degrees and so is the air. Can't imagine having to come back to the sub-freezing temperatures and snow. We stop at the Tap 5 convenience store which is across the village from our hotel for our usual chocolate croissants and apple pastries. Picked up a drink to go with the breakfast. Head to Kakoa Beach on Orient Bay where we have free blue chairs and umbrella. Chairs are padded and the umbrella is extra large. Just a great place to watch the waves and babes. Breakfast is fantastic as usual. How can it not be with the great French delights (I'm talking about the pastries now). We still have two hours before we must head back to shower and return our rental car. One last walk up and down the mile and a half beach to grab final memories of why we love coming here so much. The stray dog that has been our constant companion for two weeks seems to sense we are leaving him. He stretches out under our chairs. After a final relaxing dip in the ocean we throw away our trash, pack our bag, say good-bye to the beach boys and rub our friend a final time. He watches as we head back to our room. After showering and checking under the bed and in the drawers for left behind items, we put our suitcases in the car and head back towards the airport to drop off our rental. They check us in and drive us to the airport. Don't you just hate the lines you have to endure? In Princess Julianna Airport you stand in line until the rubber gloved security person calls you and then you plop your suitcase down on the table and they proceed to look through your belongings as everyone else watches. Kind of neat to see what everyone else has in their suitcase. Souvenirs, dirty wash, license plate, bottles of rum, medicine and anything else you may have in the bag is fair game for everyone to see. They hand check your check-in luggage on the spot at this airport. Your body check and carry-on is screened with X-ray later in the process. We are now three people from the ticket counter and a loud siren sounds. "What the s*%t is that," I ask Carol. Then the people at the ticket counter put everything down, walk around the counter and join the big parade that has rounded the wall at the end of the airport. Seems like they are.......GOING ON STRIKE!! Yep! At first it was kinda neat to see their signs and hear their chants as they paraded back and forth, then we realized we had a plane to catch. We were told that management would be here in a few minutes to help with check-in. Yeah, right! About a half-hour later we had our tickets and were told that no one could go through final security screening, because all those people were part of the union that was on strike. We got in the line and waited. And waited. Warm. No air conditioning in this airport. Another hour. Then two hours. Big crowds were building up. The time for our departure came and we were still in line. Then.......the announcement that a settlement had occurred and we would start moving again. After another hour we made it through screening and headed to our departure gate. We could see that the plane was still at the airport, but they were moving the steps away from the doors. "No, hold the plane," I shouted as we ran for the door. There was another couple running with us and we all yelled loud enough that they slid the steps back and opened the door so we could board. The other passengers were none too happy that we made them sit in the plane for so long. One of them yelled, "Get to the airport on time will you!!" "Hey, it was their fault," I said quietly as I pointed at the other couple who boarded in front of us. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top: Kokao Beach sign, panorama of Kokao, breakfast and our friend guarding Carol in the water.