DC: Identity Crisis

Let me first start out by saying, I’m not usually a good liar.  In fact, I have a pretty hard time holding a secret for longer than a minute.  Kyle has learned this the hard way, and as a result, he rarely shares top secret stuff with me (friends’ impending engagements, etc.).  I’m not a gossip, I just like sharing information!  Let that be a lesson to everyone. 

So.  Backing up to Thursday. 

Our flight was set to take off around 1 pm, so Kyle and I woke up early, ate breakfast, finished some last minute packing and headed to the bus stop.

 

Kyle and I are both the kind of people who account for tons of extra time should anything go wrong in transit.  Since we were trying to precisely time a meet-up with Kyle’s mom and grandma at the curbside to help with luggage/wheelchair/parking coordination, we arrived at the airport extra early.  In other words, we had more than enough time to check in, etc. 

I stood guard with the bags we weren’t checking while Kyle took his mom’s car to long term parking.  He then had to bus back to the airport at which point we flagged down the handicapped helpers.  75 minutes later we were in business.  Wheelchair ready, boarding passes in hand, off we went!  Not so fast…

As everyone (else) got their IDs out, I quickly realized I didn’t have mine.  You know that feeling?  As you frantically tear through your purse hoping that your gut isn’t right, but really you know it is.  My suspicions were right.  No wallet.  SH!T. 

At this point, all our “extra” time had been used up, and the chances of going back home and returning in time were nil.

While Kyle gave me a death glare, Kyle’s mom and I started scheming solutions.  I’m the kind of person you want on your team in an emergency.  I don’t panic.  I think it’s because I am eternally an optimist.  Never once did I think I wasn’t getting on that flight.  Beverly is also a master manipulator, so I knew between the two of us, I’d get through security someway or another. 

At first, I wasn’t planning on being shady about it, but when we asked an information person for advice, she almost suggested we take the (less legal) shortcut.  First, she asked how old I was, which led me to believe maybe I could actually pull off being 17.  Then she pointed out that we had the same last name and it was uncommon to travel with your parent without an ID.  So it was decided.  We split ways from Kyle and his grandma and I channeled my immature baby face as best as I could.

We approached the podium, Beverly handed her ID and boarding pass to the security person, then I gave my pass.  And we were through!  No questions!  Nothing*!!

On the other side, we reunited with the rest of the fam and headed to the gate.  Kyle was both mortified (that he was married to a minor) and relieved (that I made it through). 

And no, the thought never occurred to me to take off my wedding ring.  Both my mom and Kyle’s grandma pointed that out afterwards.  Oops!  With a little time on our hands before boarding, we found our way to a bar for a pre-flight lunch.  My focus during the meal was finding a form of ID on my iPhone (for drinking purposes over the weekend…and the flight back home). 

Kyle has sugarsync on his iPhone/iPad so we had access to all our files.  Between that and my email archives, I really thought it was a mission I could conquer.  And if nothing else, maybe facebook would work?  Challenge extended. 

I could have sworn I had scanned a copy of my passport prior to travelling to Argentina, but we couldn’t find it on our iPhones. 

Then I remembered post-name change, I had photographed my new ID and sent it to my parents and in-laws as proof.  And after several different attempts I finally found the email.

 

Score! 

Turns out, being a blogger (and having my camera around to photograph everything) really came through for me in this case.  I never ended up using it over the course of the weekend, so I don’t know if it would have worked but now I am way more prepared. 

If you learn anything from this post, let it be this, always have a backup form of ID.  Go scan your passport or driver’s license right now and email it to yourself.  Then archive the email and you’ll be set in the future when you leave your wallet somewhere. 

 

The flight wasn’t bad.  I snacked on my fave bars, dozed off a bit, ate some sushi, read mags, and took photos of Kyle sleeping drooling (he wasn’t pleased). 

At long last, we arrived at our hotel.

Kyle’s dad was already at the hotel and had totally hooked us up in the grocery department!!! 

 

He lugged all this back from Whole Foods, which wasn’t exactly around the corner.  [Izze soda, fresh bread, Earth Balance, berries, wine (x4), tofu and veg stir-fry, curry cauliflower salad, General Tso’s vegan chik’n]

But my sweet tooth was the one that needed to be fed. 

I had a vegan carrot cake from LPQ first, and then once the chocolate was unloaded I had some with nuts for dessert.

 

These Blue Diamond roasted nuts are out of control salty.  I felt like I should have taken them with a gallon of water and lasix.  Dear blood pressure, I’m sorry.  Love, Elise.  And then it was time to get our beauty rest for a packed day of sightseeing.

*While this check in process was easy peasy, the returning security charade was horrible and involved excessive questioning water boarding and probably took a year off my life.  Beverly is convinced I have gotten her added to the TSA no-fly-list.  I don’t recommend following in my footsteps.